The Growth of Women’s Football

For the last 15 years I have seen first hand the growth of women’s football at both the grassroots and then the professional level. It has been a long journey, but what an amazing amount of progress the sport has made in that time.

My daughter started playing football as a nine year old in 2010. By the time she had finished playing for her team seven years later she was the only original member of that team left and she played 150 games without missing a single one through injury or illness. At the end of the first season the team reached the cup final for the Under 10 girls and I wrote a report to go into the local paper. For the rest of the time the team played together, another seven seasons, I wrote a report for every single one of their games. When I missed the odd game I got the details from the players and parents and then used my knowledge of the players to write a report that would fit in with the rest of those I wrote first hand. At the end of each season I put the reports together as a file and sent it through to the club chairman who printed them out. The girls were presented with the reports at the end of the season and, I was always pleased to note, immediately looked for their names, statistics and, for the last four seasons the short paragraphs I wrote about their playing style, their contributions to the team and their standout moments of the year. It was a labour of love and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I also tried to mark special occasions with something that money couldn’t buy. For my daughter’s 100th match I organised a card from the Lionesses which contained messages from all the players and for her 150th match, a congratulations card from Sir Alex Ferguson the manager of Manchester United, her favourite team. In the last couple of seasons we had a striker who was so good that she scored two goals a game and obliterated all our previous scoring records. She was a huge Chelsea fan so I got her a card from the Chelsea Women’s Team at the time. I was emotionally invested in the team to an incredible extent and I regard it as an absolute privilege to have given something back to the them. Actually, one of my previous posts reflected on my organising of Boxing Day matches to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce and the football matches in No Man’s Land. https://davidgpearce205.wordpress.com/2022/12/22/the-christmas-truce-1914/

I suppose that has given me a huge amount of interest in the rise of Women’s Football at the professional level especially over the last four years. I am a regular visitor to the Emirates Stadium to watch Arsenal Women and it has given me a love of football that the Men’s game never engendered. The atmosphere of enthusiasm and the shared love of the game comes without the aggressive tribalism and nastiness of Men’s Football. The mainly female, mainly young and wholly inclusive crowd is always totally safe and utterly enjoyable. I am always so pleased to see young girls with their replica shirts on and I have noticed that in the past three seasons, the previous split of about 75/25 in terms of names on those shirts of men’s team players to women’s team players has completely reversed. Even I go along proudly wearing the name of my favourite player on my back!

Alessia Russo is not only one of the hardest working forwards I have ever seen, but she displays none of the petulance of her male counterparts and plays the game with the same joy I saw with my daughter and her team mates. The other players, who I also love watching never lose sight of how lucky they are to earn their living at the sport they love. They are always wholly appreciative of the fans and play the game without the tiresome play acting that has scarred the men’s game. I have lost interest in the Premier League and the rest of the male game. For me, football is now all about the young women who play with smiles on their faces and a realisation that they are the role models for a sport that is on the up with our amazing Lionesses leading the way at international level, Chelsea dominating at domestic level with amazing players like Sandy Baltimore and Erin Cuthbert, and of course our Champions League winners, the Arsenal team with players like Leah Williamson, Katie McCabe and Mariona Caldentey  showing skills that take the breath away at times.

It’s the Women’s F A Cup First Qualifying Round today and I am in Eastbourne. Why? My daughter, who has carried on playing, joined a new team that was being set up two years ago by Hollands and Blair. They have been promoted twice in those two seasons, got to a Cup Final, beating a number of higher ranked teams and today they face Eastbourne Town in the F A Cup. It’s been an incredible two seasons for them and this is just another huge step for a young team who have been inspired by the trailblazers of the Women’s game over the last decade and a half. Win, lose or draw (although I am not sure if I can go through a penalty shootout!!) the Hollands and Blair Ladies can be incredibly proud of themselves as they write a new chapter in their own story.

UPDATE!! Eastbourne Town Ladies 2 Hollands and Blair Ladies 6 (SIX) Through to the 2nd Qualifying Round! What a proud Dad moment!