“This is just the beginning”

Jedi boro

Jedi boro

Well-known member
I see this phrase is being trotted out again for attendances at he womens game as they got record crowds at the emirates.

But what exactly is the debate and how big do they think it will get. As surely there’s only a finite number that wstch womens football.

Not an opinion by the way I’m opening up the debate on what exactly this is just the start etc means
 
The top and bottom of it is that these attendances have happily coincided with an international break in the men’s game. If Arsenals mens tram had been at home this weekend there is no way the women’s team would have even have got a quarter of what they got yesterday.

Ultimately I can’t see any circumstance where people will pay to see a men’s game and a women’s game in the same weekend, especially as ticket prices continue to increase.
 
Mayor Goldie Wilson said:
The top and bottom of it is that these attendances have happily coincided with an international break in the men’s game. If Arsenals mens tram had been at home this weekend there is no way the women’s team would have even have got a quarter of what they got yesterday.

Ultimately I can’t see any circumstance where people will pay to see a men’s game and a women’s game in the same weekend, especially as ticket prices continue to increase.
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That’s my point, as surely this is the reason the gates were so high.

As you say where can the womens game fit in will people go to two games in the same day.
 
Exposure. Education. Connection.

The broadcasters like it - it's a cheaper contract

the sponsors like it - it's a broader market

families like it - there is no violence, little profanity and R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

the sheeple-male football 'fans' will like it because they will be told to - as we all saw last week there is a very large market for shouting for R.E.S.P.E.C.T. there is just the Education part to appease.


should people such as the OP not wish to partake - no one in the women's football industry will give a monkey's toss.

The Future is Female - God save the King.
 
Looking at the crowd yesterday (and at the Euro final) it's largely a different demographic. There'll be a decent chunk of crossover but I'd imagine most regular attendees at the men's game who are taking daughters etc. to the women's will continue to do so. Mother's taking kids will definitely continue as long as they get the pricing right. The atmosphere and behaviour at women's games is far less toxic/hostile than the men's.

Yesterday was the result of a bunch of happy coincidences. No men's top flight games meaning the Emirates being available.. England playing on the Friday (no all-dayers to 'prepare' for that). The recent Euro Cup win with a bunch of the stars playing. North London derby (it'll be interesting to see what happens with the other big derbies and whether the same rivalries appear (or are transplanted)).

It's in some way reminiscent of the upsurge in attendance (and changing demographic) at the men's game after Euro 96.

The game had been in decline due to nealy two decades of neglect from above. The running battles on the terraces that led to Heysel were becoming a thing of the past but Bradford, Hillsborough and then the Taylor Report could have seen the game (in England at least) stagnate further. New stadiums weren't going to fund themselves but they were definitely needed. Apparently (I just looked) we were the first completley custom built new stadium built for a top flight club in 72 years.

The shift to the Premier League brought more money into the top end of the game. Sky had gambled big on football and would have continued to improve things but the landscape would have been a lot different. It could have quite easilyended up more closely resembling the Scottish Premier with only one or two clubs ever in contention.

Euro 96 breathed life into football and the game changed almost overnight.

It'll be interesting to see how the women's game develops. At the top end the football is definitely watchable. When they started showing games a decade or so ago it was very hit and miss (no pun intended).

With more exposure to better quality there's no reason not expect bigger crowds at key games. Bigger crowds means more advertising revenue. More money means better facilities etc.
 
Muttley said:
Do the increased lower league attendances (for similar reasons) worry you?
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Not a single thing about women’s football worries me so I am not sure what you are referring to. I watch football for one of two reasons 1) I have an emotional attachment to a team, so I watch Boro, or 2) it is elite athletes at the absolute top of their of their profession. So I watch the top teams when the play in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A etc.

I have no issue whatsoever women’s football, it’s just not for me, for the reasons explained above.

My argument is that describing it as a new dawn and a shift in the psyche of the national sport because of one good attendance when the elite men’s game have the weekend off is jumping the gun.

It reminds me the reaction to track and field after London 2012 when everyone was slating footballers and the way they acted, but as soon as the Premier League returned nobody was interested any more, and the next Diamond League meeting had hardly anybody there.
 
Michael Scarn said:
It's very much emperor's new clothes when it comes to women's football.

We all know it's crap but you have to say otherwise.
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For me, it’s like watching kids football, an under 15s teams playing on a full size pitch for the first time. The intensity is miles away from the men’s game cos the pitches are too big. That’s not sexist in any way, but if there are serious about bringing it into the mainstream they need to take a leaf out of women’s cricket and makes the pitches, and possibly the goals, smaller. That way the intensity will automatically go up and the ridiculous goals the keepers concede cos they are far too small will stop.
 
£12 tickets on an international break weekend with no football for the top 2 leagues.

Was it even economically viable? How much does it cost to run the stadium for a game at the Emirates? Will they have even broken even at the price they charged?

£66-£99 is the usual general admission price for an Arsenal match for reference.
 
Aside from my undying and irrational love for my beloved Boro.
Im only interested in things that are good:
Good films
Good TV programs
Good food
Good sex
I would liken womens football to watching something like- Love Island or eating Asda’s own spaghetti hoops.
I’m not interested because it’s not good.
Mind some people like Love Island, spaghetti hoops and womens foootball. Each to their own. However, don’t tell me those things are good because they’re not.
 
It could go very far, lower ticket prices along with the absence of idiots that follow the mens game makes it far more attractive for young families to attend will give crowds a huge push on the back of the euros.
With sky now involved and pushing it to as many as possible, sponsors will likely be very keen to get involved too which will hopefully bring further investments.
With significant amounts of money the quality will inevitably improve
 
Maybe, just maybe, the phrase is referencing the start of a new period in the women's game?
Maybe the intention isn't to appeal to the fans of the men's game at all?
Maybe it's a nod to the potential of the women's game to grow and encourage more grass roots participation which will no doubt improve the standard going forward?
I don't see women's football as a threat to the men's game as they clearly appeal to a very different demographic.
If I had a young daughter who liked to play football then I'd be over the moon to see the progress in the game overall and the potential enjoyment she could gain from this new popularity
 
JM14 said:
It could go very far, lower ticket prices along with the absence of idiots that follow the mens game makes it far more attractive for young families to attend will give crowds a huge push on the back of the euros.
With sky now involved and pushing it to as many as possible, sponsors will likely be very keen to get involved too which will hopefully bring further investments.
With significant amounts of money the quality will inevitably improve
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This type of demographic will attend one off events. Football attendances need long term, regular attendees. People will pay £30/£40 for a family day out but they won't pay £500-£800 for a family's season tickets.

It's a novelty for most people. They could never sustain the level of interest. If anything you'd probably find that getting women and children interested in women's football will actually benefit the men's game more because once people are interested in the sport they will gravitate towards the highest level/standard which is the men's game.
 
Nano said:
This type of demographic will attend one off events. Football attendances need long term, regular attendees. People will pay £30/£40 for a family day out but they won't pay £500-£800 for a family's season tickets.

It's a novelty for most people. They could never sustain the level of interest. If anything you'd probably find that getting women and children interested in women's football will actually benefit the men's game more because once people are interested in the sport they will gravitate towards the highest level/standard which is the men's game.
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It won’t cost anywhere near that for season tickets for most clubs though, but for a family wanting a season ticket at a football league club will be looking at well over 1k, I really wouldn’t be shocked if the attendances took off just from the affordability side

I can’t see that many moving over to mens football just because they have an interest in football, the huge costs plus it’s not the place to take a young family will put loads off
 
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