Women’s football is on the up and should be encouraged – but it’s miles off the men’s game
THIS is a man’s world — but it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl - or so the James Brown song goes.
How relevant that is in professional football given the level of interest surrounding two international fixtures.
England’s women’s team were watched by 77,768 fans at Wembley on Saturday for the defeat to Germany.
The men’s side can expect a similar crowd for tomorrow’s Euro qualifier against Montenegro, which is also a celebration of their 1,000th game.
What about women’s football? Is it getting the focus and attention it should do?
Given "diversity" is the trendy word in today’s society, shouldn’t women’s football be moving to a parity with the men’s game?
There is a lot of lip service being paid to the growth of women’s football.
Even the former FA chief Greg Dyke recently waxed lyrical about the women’s game but tellingly, when asked if he would watch it, answered with a knee-jerk ‘No’ before catching himself.
There’s an argument being advanced in tennis about prize money, especially at Wimbledon, between the women’s and men’s games.
Well let’s be clear. When women play best-of-five sets rather than three, then perhaps that’s an argument that has resonance.
Let’s return to the world of football and the undeniable growth of women’s football.
CROWD SORES
When I owned Crystal Palace we had a real interest in the development of women’s football and Selhurst Park hosted the women’s FA Cup final three years in a row from 2001.
We had crowds of 10,000-15,000 but the problem was we had to give away half the tickets and charge next to nothing for the rest!
Tickets for the women’s game at Wembley were a flat tenner for adults and a quid for kids.
For tomorrow’s men’s match, the cheapest price is £25 and the average is nearer £50.
Average attendance figures in the Women’s Super League (the only fully professional league) last year included 1,864 (Chelsea) and 1,409 (Man City).
In France, champions Lyon have an average crowd of 1,428 fans and PSG 1,010. Wolfsburg, the German champions, averaged 1,010.
So currently it’s not working financially.
There are examples of bigger attendances. Atletico Madrid in Spain got 60,000 for a visit of Barcelona.
Alas, nearly 60 per cent of these tickets were given away free. Their average is just over 600 fans per game.
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Women’s football is on the up and, of course, this should be encouraged.
But having watched the women’s World Cup, the standard and the acumen of players is miles off the men’s game.
The commercial aspects of the game are getting little — if any — traction.
So, bottom line, let women’s football grow and reach its natural level before drawing parallels and comparisons with the established men’s game.
*Simon Jordan's final word is on talkSPORT every Sunday from 5-8pm...