Miami Seagull
Grandad
Excellent post.
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[Albion] Brighton Women Final Home Game this season to be staged at the Amex on 28th April
- Thread starter zeetha
- Start date
Excellent post.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Firstly, many thanks for your reply here.
Now where exactly did I clearly state that the men's game was watched by only men? Or that the women's game was of lesser value?
Show me and I'll retract those comments. If not, there is a possibility that you're projecting and reading into it what you want to.
I deleted the your "Excellent response. Well done." comment as your views on another post weren't relevant to my reply to yours.
Me and my Monkey
Well-known member
- Nov 3, 2015
- 3,351
Gosh, I wasn’t expecting that, and I bow down to your clearly superior knowledge of the women’s game. However, I still maintain that your post was over-analysed, condescending, in fact even a little insulting. The team don’t play their home games at the Amex, that would clearly be ridiculous to have them rattling around in a huge stadium in front of a few hundred people, the Crawley stadium is a better fit. This is a one off. As many people on this forum have pointed out before, Crawley is just too far for them to get to. It’s a great opportunity for people to get along and watch them, in a lovely stadium, a bring along some friends (men, women, and children) to enjoy the experience.
You seem to suggest that the women’s game should survive on its own merits and shouldn’t be subsidised. All the WSL teams are supported and subsidised by big clubs, or it wouldn’t exist. Brighton and Hove Albion football CLUB have chosen to invest a lot in their women’s team, and consequently we are now one of just a handful of clubs that have a team playing in the top women’s league in the country. I’m very proud of our club for doing so. Women’s football is fast growing in popularity, and our club has a duty to encourage and generate interest in our team.
I agree that there is naturally going to be a higher proportion of women and girls attending the women’s games, little girls will naturally want to watch players who inspire them and who they will want to emulate, but men really DO go and watch too, I’ve seen them at the games, and as I’ve already said, my Monkey loves to go along too. No-one is being force fed anything. To suggest playing a game at the Amex is force feeding the poor, hapless male supporters is frankly ludicrous.
Do you object to the U23s playing at the Amex too, is it not force feeding youth football to us? I’ll be going along, incidentally, but I’m an Albion geek.
But you are being selective with your figures - a match played miles from B&H at a stadium that's not even in the same county. If we follow your argument, we shouldn't have built the Amex because we were only getting 3,000 at Gillingham.
If you want to make a more accurate comparison, look at the last time Albion Women played at the Amex - a record attendance of 3,256. And that was in a lower division on a day where it was pissing down. I'm sure that the Arsenal match will beat that attendance.
You make valid points about growing the game organically - and there does need to be more of an effort there - but growing the professional game is important too. The coverage given to women's sport by the media is pitiful. Yes, the BBC has a women's football programme on but it's around midnight and some people do have to work. Newspapers can certainly do more: The Telegraph is to be applauded here for appointing an editor for women's sports, other papers should follow.
Things will change. You seem to be forgetting that women's matches used to get attendances in the tens of thousands until the FA banned them from playing. It's a slow climb back from that but I'm sure we'll see women's football grow and grow.
Agree. It's ridiculous playing women's football at the Amex. It will look pretty bad with 500 fans in the stadium. It should be played in stadiums appropriate for the number of people watching.
Now you’ve edited your original post, you don’t.
Beach Seagull
New member
- Jan 2, 2010
- 1,310
Ha ha love it, you are brave putting that with all the PC liberal types on here. Totally agree with you btw. Most of those who go and watch women's football are probably bored s***less with the match but pat themselves on the back as they are showcasing their PC credentials...........'oh look at me I'm so committed to diversity I go and watch women's football'. The sort of person who would do or watch anything as long as the PC brigade deem it the 'right' thing to do.
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 70,184
I think there are suitable case studies available to, er, study, to see how to organically grow the women's game in this country. This is from a news report from a couple of weeks back:
https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/juventus-women-draw-italian-record-39027-crowd/
'Juventus Women drew 39,027 fans for their game against Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, smashing the attendance record for a women’s club game in Italy.
The latest landmark moment for women’s football came just a week after the world record for the highest attendance at a club game was set.
Last Sunday 60,739 supporters watched Atlético Madrid’s women’s team lose 2-0 to Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Juventus Women normally play matches at the club’s training center in Vinovo. All tickets for Sunday’s game were free. The previous record for a women’s game in Italy was 14,000.
Meanwhile, a record nine countries have told Fifa they want to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, while Barclays has signed a multi-million-pound deal as the first title sponsor of the English Women’s Super League.'
So there patently IS a market for women's football out there. Gotta start growing it somehow. And the women's team playing a competitive match at the Amex seems like a good early step, if only to test the water. Certainly beats the prospect of getting on a replacement bus to go and watch them in Crawley.
https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/juventus-women-draw-italian-record-39027-crowd/
'Juventus Women drew 39,027 fans for their game against Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, smashing the attendance record for a women’s club game in Italy.
The latest landmark moment for women’s football came just a week after the world record for the highest attendance at a club game was set.
Last Sunday 60,739 supporters watched Atlético Madrid’s women’s team lose 2-0 to Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Juventus Women normally play matches at the club’s training center in Vinovo. All tickets for Sunday’s game were free. The previous record for a women’s game in Italy was 14,000.
Meanwhile, a record nine countries have told Fifa they want to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, while Barclays has signed a multi-million-pound deal as the first title sponsor of the English Women’s Super League.'
So there patently IS a market for women's football out there. Gotta start growing it somehow. And the women's team playing a competitive match at the Amex seems like a good early step, if only to test the water. Certainly beats the prospect of getting on a replacement bus to go and watch them in Crawley.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Impressive number, but its perhaps worth pointing out that all the Atlético STH's were afforded free entry to this particular game, and they were also giving free tickets away for kids.
The attendances for Atlético's previous 5 games before that were 442, 467, 346, 1085 and 216.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
I edited my original post for typos within 7 minutes of posting, long before any replies came in.
You wrote something about this all being 'aimed at men' (despite it being aimed at all Albion fans / season ticket holders - many of whom are not)
hart's shirt
Well-known member
To get more than 3,256 in a one-off game at the Amex? Yes, it’s possible, especially if Arsenal are going for the title and bring down some extra support.
But would the women regularly get 3,000+ attendances (only 10% capacity) at the Amex?
Let’s look at last Sunday’s WSL attendances (figures from the BBC):
2,854 - Chelsea v West Ham
1,568 – Man City v Liverpool
1,520 – Birmingham City v Arsenal
391 – Bristol City v Reading
230 – Everton v Yeovil.
.
Whichever way one looks at it, the numbers (at least currently) don't add up when it comes to justifying women's teams playing regularly in large stadia.
What is the only likely catalyst to radically change these numbers in the short-term?
An England World Cup win in France. So let's hope they do it.
- Aug 8, 2005
- 26,548
Great post, should be the end of the thread really.
Only thing I'd is that when you look at the attendance numbers the majority of the crowd must be family friends of the players/management plus a few club officials. Can't be many people actually going for enjoyment.
Me and my Monkey
Well-known member
- Nov 3, 2015
- 3,351
Now you’re contradicting yourself.
“Money, attention and success follow popularity not the other way round.”
“What is the only likely catalyst to radically change these numbers in the short-term?
An England World Cup win in France. So let’s hope they do it.”
I think you’ve dug yourself into a bit of a hole.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Not really. The world's biggest women's football tournament is always going to be the exception to prove the rule.
Away from this exception, organic growth aimed at the primary target market of women's sport (i.e. women) is the best way to grow the game.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
You wrote something about this all being 'aimed at men' (despite it being aimed at all Albion fans / season ticket holders - many of whom are not)
Of course, that's true enough - many are not men. But I'd hazard a guess to say the majority of supporters up in the stands still are.
If WSL attendances aren't seeing a general increase across the country, the targeting of these mainly-male supporter groups with marketing isn't working.
Furthermore, just by looking at the numbers, I'd suggest that plenty of female supporters don't have a comparable passion for attending women's games.
How does that change? Target a different audience who are predominantly female.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Thanks! For lower WSL teams with attendances in the low hundreds rather than thousands, there would seem to be some truth there.
That said, I'd politely disagree with you a bit on the enjoyment aspect. It may be hard for a few on the thread to believe, but I absolutely loved coaching women's football at strictly amateur expat level here. It was a great way for ladies of all ages, size and abilities to get out of the house and play a sport that they genuinely loved. And most thought it was much more fun and less shaming than the gym! At the peak, we had over 200 ladies here training and playing at Jebel Ali which is where many of the Premier League sides come to have their warm weather training during international breaks. Great facilities, lawn-like pitches. What's not to like?
We did have a few spectators, but they were mainly friends and family there to support. But they all enjoyed themselves as they were coming back week after week. Now admittedly that's a marked difference from WSL, but further down the women's leagues there are increasing parallels to be drawn. The game's meant to be fun, after all.
So would I go and watch the Albion women? Sure. If I'm back at the end of April, I'll go along and happily support them.
But let's not kid ourselves on the core supporter base involved here. It is what it is, for now at least.
Beach Seagull
New member
- Jan 2, 2010
- 1,310
Nah get the birds to play topless.