Playing our part in the growth of women’s football in the UK
The opening weekend of the Women’s Super League saw record attendances, in part on the back of the successful World Cup in the summer. The Manchester Evening News’ Charlotte Duncker was at the first Manchester City v Manchester United derby:
Off the back of another high profile World Cup the interest was always going to peak at the start of the Super League season and it was a very sensible decision by the FA to schedule big games in big stadiums to capitalise on the inflated interest and put out a good advert for the women’s game.
And the first competitive women’s derby held at the Etihad on Saturday certainly did that. Before the game both managers were asked about the importance of playing at the men’s stadiums, something that had been suggested by England manager Phil Neville last season as a way to increase attendances.
United manager Casey Stoney isn’t sold on the idea of playing at the larger stadiums on a regular basis until they sell out their own home of Leigh Sports Village and Nick Cushing’s view was that it didn’t matter where they played as long as the advert on the pitch was good enough to make people want to return.
A new league record of over 31,000 was set and with nearly 25,000 turning up to Stamford Bridge on Sunday it showed there is an appetite for the women’s game.
The advert on the pitch at the Etihad was good. Newly promoted United were superior in the first half while Cushing’s side, who finished runners up to Arsenal last year, were far better in the second and the record crowd saw the goal settled by a wonder strike from Caroline Weir. An outstanding save from Ellie Roebuck in the first half also put pay to the antiquated argument that the goalkeeping levels in the game aren’t up to scratch.
The test now is how to keep the crowds going back to the Academy Stadium and Leigh Sports Village week after week. The players did their job on the pitch providing an excellent advert for the game but as the players and managers pointed out that’s all they can do.
The women’s game can keep on growing and attendances can keep on increasing but initiatives need to be put in place to make it work properly. The answer isn’t playing in men’s stadiums each week. The FA announced it’s inaugural women’s football weekend taking place in November in the men’s international break and events such as that are key for growing popularity. There’s also the responsibility at club level to keep pushing the games and the more more marketing and publicity that can be put into it the better.
The opening weekend was a great advert for the game and the clubs and FA just need to make sure they continue to capitalise on that and increase its popularity.
