If you remember, a few years back I was a big fan of women's football, I went to a shedload of games and was quite vocal in my support for it. However, now I feel that it is a total joke. Why? Not because I've become sexist. Not because of the players' abilities or skill... but simply because of where the game is going and how it is governed.
For me personally, the initial signs were there in 2013 with the expansion of the WSL. Teams were invited to make an application to join, of course more applied than spaces. Portsmouth missed out, a bit disappointing, but oh well. However, three events really set the tone.
1. The relegation of Doncaster Rovers Belles, after one game of the season.
2. The replacement of the Belles in the top division of the WSL (as now there were two divisions) with Manchester $ity.
3. The relocation of Lincoln Ladies to Nottingham, where they were rebranded Notts County
Now bare in mind, up until this point Manchester City had never played in the top tier, they had gotten promotion to the second tier the previous season but had been roughly mid-table. Heck, they even lost to Portsmouth. Yet suddenly they go straight into the top 8 teams in the country? Why because they had ****loads of money, but most galling of all was the fact that a team that got to the top on merit (and had never been relegated once in their history) were relegated to make room for them. Furthermore, it is said that apparently Man $ity threatened to disband the club if they were not put straight into WSL1, which is a shockingly arrogant attitude.
Anyhow, surprise, surprise Manchester $ity go out on a spending spree and sign like half the England teams including captain Steph Houghton and some other internationals too. But even then I still liked women's football and followed it. However, I started realising the the system was rigged. And boy how was it rigged. The FA seemed to show nothing but contempt against the teams not in the WSL. With the way transfers work, if a selling clup is not in the WSL, there is no transfer fee. There is no compensation, there is nothing. If a player's been on the books since they were 13 and are now captain playing for the senior team with 200 caps... or if they were a youth player who has become a fully-fledged international, it doesn't matter. They would get nothing in return. A WSL club will just come swooping in, pick off the player and swoop out. Now you could argue that happens in men's football, but but bear in mind there is only a one tier difference between the WSL and the WPL but the financial backing given by the FA, the media coverage and so in is so vastly different. You don't see all the best players in the Championship being swooped up by PL clubs (not saying some aren't sold) for no compensation. It's a joke and both WSL transfer windows are in the middle of the WPL season (because the WSL is a summer league and the WPL a winter league, although they're moving both to a winter league - another idiotic decision by the FA) so it can happen at any times. Shedloads of players have been picked up for nothing by WSL clubs. For Portsmouth alone, there's been Simmonds, Kirby, Umotong, Quinn, Kempson, McGee (now Reading's captain), and so on.
Of course, then there are the play-offs. Even before we played in them, I was against it but the whole concept is just ridiculous. The winners of the northern WPL and the winners of the southern WPL play off against each other with the winner getting promoted and the loser staying down. However, as well as being unjust in the sense that if a team wins their league they should be promoted, no if's, no but's, no maybe's... It also has a big effect on the loser. Think of it, if a team has won their league, clearly they'll have a good bunch of players and this'll come to the attention of other WSL clubs. No doubt many clubs will have scouts at the play-offs... so what happens if you lose? Half the players will be signed up by WSL clubs. Portsmouth have lost loads of players since they lost in the play-offs and are now a lower mid-table side, more likely to be relegated than even challenge for the title. Same with West Brom who lost in the play-offs last year. It's a bloody stupid system. People said I was only against the play-offs because we lost, but I was still vehemently opposed last season when we weren't even in them and I still think they're awful.
Now I don't follow football so closely, but I still follow a few journalists on Twitter who cover women's football so I can see what's happening. And every days it seems to be Chelsea or Man City or Arsenal have signed x or y. And often they're international players. The number of international players has increased dramatically. I have nothing against international players but if the lack of English players is seen as a reason for the poor performance of the England team, the exactly same process if occuring in women's football. Furthermore, even within the WSL there are some clubs who can just outspend everyone else. Chelski are apparently offering a 400k per year contract to a French international, Carli Lloyd, the American international is apparently going to join Man City, swooping a league with way higher attendances and a much stronger history and so on for the WSL... hmmm I wonder why.
Meanwhile, you have teams like Notts County being given winding-up orders: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38881575
Watford had to conceed a game due to a shortage of players:
http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/watford_fc/15072772.Golden_Girls_pull_out_of_Women_s_FA_Cup/
And lower league clubs keep folding left, right and centre.
It seems to me like women's football is repeating exactly the same mistakes as men's football, it's turning into a elitist, money-driven game where you just buy your way to the top, as Manchester $ity did. What I liked about women's football is that it wasn't so money driven but that's the way it's going now and in relative terms, it's actually way worse than men's football. But hey, the FA don't care as long as long as Chelski and $ity can buy all the best players and give them insane contracts which other teams could not even come close to matching while the WPL only exists to provide ready-made players gift wrapped for the WSL. Yet the FA does nothing. If I wanted to watch a team buy a title, I'll just watch Chelski (men) on Sky Sports.
Sorry for the rant, but it just angers me that the FA are so blind/incompetent.
For me personally, the initial signs were there in 2013 with the expansion of the WSL. Teams were invited to make an application to join, of course more applied than spaces. Portsmouth missed out, a bit disappointing, but oh well. However, three events really set the tone.
1. The relegation of Doncaster Rovers Belles, after one game of the season.
2. The replacement of the Belles in the top division of the WSL (as now there were two divisions) with Manchester $ity.
3. The relocation of Lincoln Ladies to Nottingham, where they were rebranded Notts County
Now bare in mind, up until this point Manchester City had never played in the top tier, they had gotten promotion to the second tier the previous season but had been roughly mid-table. Heck, they even lost to Portsmouth. Yet suddenly they go straight into the top 8 teams in the country? Why because they had ****loads of money, but most galling of all was the fact that a team that got to the top on merit (and had never been relegated once in their history) were relegated to make room for them. Furthermore, it is said that apparently Man $ity threatened to disband the club if they were not put straight into WSL1, which is a shockingly arrogant attitude.
Anyhow, surprise, surprise Manchester $ity go out on a spending spree and sign like half the England teams including captain Steph Houghton and some other internationals too. But even then I still liked women's football and followed it. However, I started realising the the system was rigged. And boy how was it rigged. The FA seemed to show nothing but contempt against the teams not in the WSL. With the way transfers work, if a selling clup is not in the WSL, there is no transfer fee. There is no compensation, there is nothing. If a player's been on the books since they were 13 and are now captain playing for the senior team with 200 caps... or if they were a youth player who has become a fully-fledged international, it doesn't matter. They would get nothing in return. A WSL club will just come swooping in, pick off the player and swoop out. Now you could argue that happens in men's football, but but bear in mind there is only a one tier difference between the WSL and the WPL but the financial backing given by the FA, the media coverage and so in is so vastly different. You don't see all the best players in the Championship being swooped up by PL clubs (not saying some aren't sold) for no compensation. It's a joke and both WSL transfer windows are in the middle of the WPL season (because the WSL is a summer league and the WPL a winter league, although they're moving both to a winter league - another idiotic decision by the FA) so it can happen at any times. Shedloads of players have been picked up for nothing by WSL clubs. For Portsmouth alone, there's been Simmonds, Kirby, Umotong, Quinn, Kempson, McGee (now Reading's captain), and so on.
Of course, then there are the play-offs. Even before we played in them, I was against it but the whole concept is just ridiculous. The winners of the northern WPL and the winners of the southern WPL play off against each other with the winner getting promoted and the loser staying down. However, as well as being unjust in the sense that if a team wins their league they should be promoted, no if's, no but's, no maybe's... It also has a big effect on the loser. Think of it, if a team has won their league, clearly they'll have a good bunch of players and this'll come to the attention of other WSL clubs. No doubt many clubs will have scouts at the play-offs... so what happens if you lose? Half the players will be signed up by WSL clubs. Portsmouth have lost loads of players since they lost in the play-offs and are now a lower mid-table side, more likely to be relegated than even challenge for the title. Same with West Brom who lost in the play-offs last year. It's a bloody stupid system. People said I was only against the play-offs because we lost, but I was still vehemently opposed last season when we weren't even in them and I still think they're awful.
Now I don't follow football so closely, but I still follow a few journalists on Twitter who cover women's football so I can see what's happening. And every days it seems to be Chelsea or Man City or Arsenal have signed x or y. And often they're international players. The number of international players has increased dramatically. I have nothing against international players but if the lack of English players is seen as a reason for the poor performance of the England team, the exactly same process if occuring in women's football. Furthermore, even within the WSL there are some clubs who can just outspend everyone else. Chelski are apparently offering a 400k per year contract to a French international, Carli Lloyd, the American international is apparently going to join Man City, swooping a league with way higher attendances and a much stronger history and so on for the WSL... hmmm I wonder why.
Meanwhile, you have teams like Notts County being given winding-up orders: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38881575
Watford had to conceed a game due to a shortage of players:
http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/watford_fc/15072772.Golden_Girls_pull_out_of_Women_s_FA_Cup/
And lower league clubs keep folding left, right and centre.
It seems to me like women's football is repeating exactly the same mistakes as men's football, it's turning into a elitist, money-driven game where you just buy your way to the top, as Manchester $ity did. What I liked about women's football is that it wasn't so money driven but that's the way it's going now and in relative terms, it's actually way worse than men's football. But hey, the FA don't care as long as long as Chelski and $ity can buy all the best players and give them insane contracts which other teams could not even come close to matching while the WPL only exists to provide ready-made players gift wrapped for the WSL. Yet the FA does nothing. If I wanted to watch a team buy a title, I'll just watch Chelski (men) on Sky Sports.
Sorry for the rant, but it just angers me that the FA are so blind/incompetent.
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