But the bigger picture is this; in the last decade there has been a visible increase in the number women interested in football, be it for the game or the players. Now with high profile footballers flaunting their Va Va Voom for Armani and beyond, they are creeping up there with the Hollywood hunks and music machos as the females favourite. So what affect has this had on those women who watch football for the game? Being told you only support a team because they have an attractive striker would shake most real fans to the core. Can you imagine accusing Norwich City’s majority shareholder, and TV cook, Delia Smith, that she only supports them because Jamie Cureton is a bit of a ‘looker’? I think if anyone was to question Delia’s true feeling towards her team, especially after her infamous ‘Let’s be having you!’ outburst against Man City in February 2005, then they must be completely devoid of reality. (Norwich went on to loose the match and were relegated that season, but she is still their main shareholder.) Delia was also quoted in The Times, March 1992, saying, ‘When I go to football matches, I am at my most misbehaved. I sing rude songs about the opposition, such as "Stand up if you hate the scum." But I don't sing the ones with swear words. I don't think they are very nice.’
So why is it that in the 21st century some men refuse point blank to talk to women about football? As if inter-team hostilities weren’t enough, now its evolved to inter-gender? From personal experience I can tell you that these men do exist, and they are shameless in their refusal to talk football with girls. As a 19 year old Chelsea supporting girl I came up against a brick wall when trying to discuss the game with a middle-aged male Liverpool supporter, his reasons being ‘I don’t talk to girls about football, they don’t know anything. And I don’t talk to Chelsea supporters, they too, don’t know anything. Sorry, it’s just my rule.’ Obviously I was enraged. It’s not hard to decipher between what women are watching the football because they love the game and those who love the men, so there is no excuse behind that sort of prejudice. But, as far as I’m concerned, and I believe it to be the case for many women like me, any man who decides not to talk to me bout football is denying themselves a decent debate, which is all part of the fun with being a sports fan. It savours very slightly of 2006 Luton Town manager, Mike Newell, who after a match against QPR criticised female assistant referee Amy Rayner using sexist comments. Although he apologised he was reprimanded by the club, who clearly wanted to distance themselves from the incident. Criticism is fair enough, but sexist remarks are just the gateway to trouble.
Another fine, yet possibly controversial example of an influential woman in football, is Karren Brady. In 1993 she was appointed as the managing director of Birmingham City (despite being an Arsenal supporter) and in 2002 was the first woman to hold the position in the top flight. She married Paul Peschisolido who played for Birmingham for two seasons (92/93 and 93/94), so does this mean even women involved in the finances of football have ulterior motives? The evidence suggests not as her involvement with the club was a business venture with one of her old clients from when she worked for Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency, and nothing to do with a romance with the player. But you can guarantee some men will believe otherwise. In 2006 she was named in Cosmopolitan’s category ‘Woman Who Has Changed The World.’
Of course women in football has been portrayed on television, albeit not completely accurately. The fictional worlds created by series such as Footballers Wives (tongue in cheek drama about the WAG culture mentioned before) and The Manageress (started in 1989 about a female football manager) may have tainted the opinion people have on women getting involved in the game. In Footballers Wives, the women were either tacky, adulterous wives of star players or ruthless, lesbian agents. No happy medium there, and while we all know it’s just fiction, its hard not to envisage these characters in real life, even for me. The Manageress however was groundbreaking. First aired 20 years ago it quickly became a ‘glossy-haired feminine fantasy’ and was pitched as a serious drama, worlds apart from the back stabbing world of Footballers Wives. Helen Chamberlain, co-presenter of the hugely successful Soccer AM, won the hearts of all football enthusiasts, male and female, upon revealing she is a massive Torquay United fan, and has the club emblem tattooed on her left buttock! (At this point I would like to say it could be deemed far more likeable for women to support the smaller teams. As soon as you confess to be being a supporter of one of the more successful teams - the top four - the term ‘glory-hunter’ tends to be banded about very casually).
Most women get into football via there dads, brothers or partners, either in an act of unity or rivalry (my boyfriend supports Man United, which makes for an nice bit of competitiveness throughout the season). And even if women do only get involved in football because they have the hots for one of the players, surely that is then a fault of the player, I mean we are but only human at the end of the day. If women get involved in the financial or managerial side of the game that must mean that the men there are not doing their jobs properly and perhaps a woman is better suited. And with the WAGS, well, the footballer chose to be involved with these designer obsessed minor celebrities. So does that mean that if it weren’t for the faults of men, women wouldn’t even really show an interest in the game? It’s a question that is well worth asking. Or perhaps maybe it all boils down to men’s need to be competitive?
Summing it up is this, a quote from a Cardiff City fan in her 30’s, “Football only really presents a picture of society as it is - rules made by men, with women trying to 'fit in' as best they can and chip away at the edges. Until basic social attitudes of male superiority change, all the pretty toilets in the world won't make any difference.”
I have written a feature article about the attitudes men have towards women who get involved in football, which I believe to be suitable reading for the magazine 4-4-2. This idea for a feature came to me after I became involved in a rather heated argument with a man at my local pub, he refused to talk to me about football because I was a girl. The incident initially irritated me, but afterwards I saw the humour behind it and became interested in what affect women have had on football and what opinions men may have towards it. I hope the issues raised, and I haven’t been unfairly critical to one specific sex, will create a debate amongst readers, as I am certain there are increasing numbers of female reader to your magazine. This is in no ways a feminist article, no strong opinions are being enforced, I have left sufficient room for the readers own opinion to be formed. I have made it tongue in cheek at parts as to appeal to both sexes. I have thoroughly researched all the aspects of the feature and have made no assumptions or said anything out of line that could get the magazine or myself into trouble. Even if the article should not appeal to some readers, hopefully that will ignite an interest in the magazine for forthcoming issues as people continue to debate the points raised. Furthermore I believe the article to be an interesting read, perhaps even educational. The feature is 1432 words long, including title.
