Hayes on Frozen Pitches

Boroheath

New member
"The WSL is the same level as the Premier League - just because we're women, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be afforded the same access.’

Just can’t understand statement like this and why they are not challenged.

Nobody has set out to freeze the WSL teams pitches to sabotage them.

One Championship game on Saturday and three League One games last night postponed due to pitch inspections. These club managers are not in the press complaining that they do not have the same facilities to get pitches to a playable standard as Premier League clubs yet are arguably teams of a better standard of football than the WSL.

Seems to be non-stop at present.

 
Yes. They are deluded because the media give them disproportionate attention for actual interest people have but the fact is that they don't have the fans or the revenue to support a stadium that can afford PL standard facilities. As you say, that is no different to the smaller championship and below teams.
 
They scrapped the established women's game to create the WSL - linked to the men's teams, due to financial backing - yet there is little support / interest, despite its huge promotion..

Just because it's listed as Premier League & is on Sky & BBC, doesn't make it the same level.. if funding from the men's game was removed, they'd be back to amateur level game..

They've built their game from the cherry on top, & decimated their foundations.. the game doesn't - yet - have the depth of participation to be self-sufficient..
 
They scrapped the established women's game to create the WSL - linked to the men's teams, due to financial backing - yet there is little support / interest, despite its huge promotion..

Just because it's listed as Premier League & is on Sky & BBC, doesn't make it the same level.. if funding from the men's game was removed, they'd be back to amateur level game..

They've built their game from the cherry on top, & decimated their foundations.. the game doesn't - yet - have the depth of participation to be self-sufficient..
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Seems to have all stemmed from that pink haired bee in her bonnet Yank who claims women are just as good at football as men. Although she always seems to neglect to mention the under 13 boys team who destroyed the USA women's national team in a friendly.
 
According to Vivianne Miedema, "Only way to fix this is to demand undersoil heating or playing our games in men’s stadiums."

Absolutely laughable
 
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Seems to have all stemmed from that pink haired bee in her bonnet Yank who claims women are just as good at football as men. Although she always seems to neglect to mention the under 13 boys team who destroyed the USA women's national team in a friendly.
Give them some credit, I'm sure it was an U15s team
 
"The WSL is the same level as the Premier League - just because we're women, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be afforded the same access.’

Just can’t understand statement like this and why they are not challenged.

Nobody has set out to freeze the WSL teams pitches to sabotage them.

One Championship game on Saturday and three League One games last night postponed due to pitch inspections. These club managers are not in the press complaining that they do not have the same facilities to get pitches to a playable standard as Premier League clubs yet are arguably teams of a better standard of football than the WSL.

Seems to be non-stop at present.


Nothing arguable about it.. every single Championship team would demolish every single WSL team by 10+ goals.

She's a proper self righteous doyle Emma Hayes. Needs to wind her neck in.
 
"The WSL is the same level as the Premier League - just because we're women, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be afforded the same access.’

Just can’t understand statement like this and why they are not challenged.

Nobody has set out to freeze the WSL teams pitches to sabotage them.

One Championship game on Saturday and three League One games last night postponed due to pitch inspections. These club managers are not in the press complaining that they do not have the same facilities to get pitches to a playable standard as Premier League clubs yet are arguably teams of a better standard of football than the WSL.

Seems to be non-stop at present.

I think it's reasonable to suggest that teams respresenting Chelsea and Liverpool, two of the biggest clubs in the world, should have the infrastructure to tackle a frozen pitch.
 
I think it's reasonable to suggest that teams respresenting Chelsea and Liverpool, two of the biggest clubs in the world, should have the infrastructure to tackle a frozen pitch.

Any professional football club should be able to put in place infrastructure to avoid cancellation of games due to the weather in an ideal world.. but sometimes it's really bad and you can't play. Happened for years and years in the men's game.

She shouldn't be using the weather as a drumstick to bang the equality drum with. Absolute gobshite.
 
"The WSL is the same level as the Premier League - just because we're women, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be afforded the same access.’

Just can’t understand statement like this and why they are not challenged.

Nobody has set out to freeze the WSL teams pitches to sabotage them.

One Championship game on Saturday and three League One games last night postponed due to pitch inspections. These club managers are not in the press complaining that they do not have the same facilities to get pitches to a playable standard as Premier League clubs yet are arguably teams of a better standard of football than the WSL.

Seems to be non-stop at present.

Agreed, once they can fill the facilities they want to play in then it’s a non starter for me.

Only arsenal getting something close to a premier league attendance
 
Any professional football club should be able to put in place infrastructure to avoid cancellation of games due to the weather in an ideal world.. but sometimes it's really bad and you can't play. Happened for years and years in the men's game.

She shouldn't be using the weather as a drumstick to bang the equality drum with. Absolute gobshite.
No they shouldn't, it's too costly for many smaller clubs. But Chelsea and Liverpool are a totally different ball game and are happy to promote and affiliate with the womens teams when it suits.
 
How is it rammed down your throat?
Clearly a figure of speech from DanBoro4499

But the amount of coverage the WLS gets on SSN now is quite ridiculous. The program has fast gone downhill anyways - but that's a different subject altogether.

The amount of coverage it gets compared to the amount of interest in WLS doesn't add up. Sky (along with a lot of other media/outlets) are clearly promoting it far too much.

For example, the WLS is ahead of The Championship on SkySports website when looking at 'football'.

The Championship is probably in the top 10 most watched leagues in the world....?

Isn't The Championship one of the best attended leagues in the world too?

And yet, SkySports choose to promote WLS ahead of it....when the interest for The Championship is clearly higher.
 
No they shouldn't, it's too costly for many smaller clubs. But Chelsea and Liverpool are a totally different ball game and are happy to promote and affiliate with the womens teams when it suits.

I'd imagine they'll filter the necessary infrastructure and resource to their women's team dependent on the revenue it brings back to them. As it grows and the inward sponsorship/merchandise/ticket sales revenue grows, they'll invest more. That's just commercial sense.

They get about 7,000 at their games.

Do you think they should be build them a 60,000 seater stadium, just because the men's team have one?

It's really a non-story this for me. Game called off due to frozen pitch leads to an argument about equality. Nonsense.
 
"There is no doubt that up and down the country, frozen pitches are cancelling games in every league outside the Premier League, so these things happen," she said.

"But the WSL is the top division in the women's game as far as I'm concerned and should be afforded the same access and opportunity that is there at the top division of the men's game.

"The WSL is the same level as the Premier League - just because we're women, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be afforded the same access.

"What that reflection is not for me to determine. I think that is about a consultation between the FA and the clubs to ensure those fixtures happen. It should be a non-negotiable and if not, don't schedule them.

"I think in general, if this is the top division of women's football, then we should be afforded exactly the same opportunities.
"As far as I'm concerned, this isn't about Chelsea, it's about women's football and being in a place where we are working hard to build a fanbase, build a business and all of these things with many years without equal access to things.

"Undersoil heating is not environmentally friendly so an environmentally friendly option for pitches in an ideal world so that we can play in a top division is what I think we can all expect. Let's hope we can continue to work towards that."

Hayes also questioned why current measures in place to help unfreeze pitches do not work, while offering her thoughts on potential solutions.

Groundstaff at Kingsmeadow try to remove ice from the pitch before the WSL fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool

Image: Groundstaff at Kingsmeadow try to remove ice from the pitch before the WSL fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool
However, the Chelsea manager does point out that the final decisions on anything related to pitches and undersoil heating do not lie with her.

"We've got pitch covers and heaters that are designed to prevent frozen pitches. If they don't do that job, then we have to have another solution," Hayes added.

"That's not my job to do that, that's for the leagues and clubs to find a solution so we never cancel games. I've said this for years, cancelling games has a detrimental impact on our sport.

"Whatever that takes to ensure that fans travelling up and down the country are not showing up and having a game cancelled six minutes in is something we should all work towards.

Chelsea vs Liverpool WSL

Image: Hayes has questioned whether current measures are enough to keep WSL clubs from having to cancel fixtures
"Maybe we schedule winter games in stadiums that we know have undersoil heading, for example. Maybe that's a next step. If we can't get them into every stadium, this isn't about one team, this is ensuring every fixture happens and maybe that's something the league as a whole has to consider.

"We had a warmer winter last year and maybe we didn't face threat. But I thought the whole idea behind having a dome and blowers was to prevent those things from happening.

"So if that's the case, either the equipment isn't good enough and we need something better or we need to play at another stadium."

"Action needs to be taken, possibly an investigation into what's actually happened and why and how the FA and clubs move forward to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future," Christiansen told Sky Sports.

"Without sounding like a broken record, the weather at this time of year in England is cold, so there needs to be decisions made for clubs from the FA that enables games to proceed, because again we speak about scheduling in the women's calendar, and backlog of games towards the end of the season - and that comes back to a player welfare issue again.

"Talking about player's welfare, when it comes to women's football, we're used to dealing with a lot more issues than men's football and the battles in our careers.

"Whether a game is on or not is nothing new to a lot of players because of the weather or another circumstance, I feel like it's something that as women players we're used to, the uncertainty around games.

"We're talking about a real dark weekend in the WSL where a lack of clarity, a lack of decision-making has represented where the game is at the moment and it's a really worrying situation for us as players and for the authorities as well that that's happened and the spotlight that is on the women's game and brighter than ever at the moment."
A Women's Super League spokesperson said: "We worked hard with the clubs and the match officials to safely play the Barclay's Women's Super League fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool as scheduled. Following inspections before the match, the pitch was deemed to be playable by the matchday referee.

"However, shortly after kick-off, the referee made the decision to abandon the match in order to protect the safety of the players, which is paramount. We sincerely apologise to all fans who travelled to the match. The fixture will be rescheduled in due course."
 
Clearly a figure of speech from DanBoro4499

But the amount of coverage the WLS gets on SSN now is quite ridiculous. The program has fast gone downhill anyways - but that's a different subject altogetehr.

The amount of coverage it gets compared to the amount of interest in WLS doesn't add up. Sky (along with a lot of other media/outlets) are clearly promoting it far too much.

For example, the WLS is ahead of The Championship on SkySports website when looking at 'football'.

The Championship is probably in the top 10 most watched leagues in the world....?

Isn't The Championship one of the best attended leagues in the world too?

And yet, SkySports choose to promote WLS ahead of it....when the interest for The Championship is clearly higher.
Does it really matter though? Let's be honest most sports journalism, news and general chat on TV is boring either way.

My daughter has no interest in mens football but her attention perks up when she sees women/girls involved and the Englasnd games in the summer got her interest going and got her joining in our kick abouts in the garden. If it's presented with a bit of gloss and importance they are the tangible benefits, whether that's the intent of sky sports or not. Pitch it as league two/no league and that's where it'll stay forever, and the level of participation and interest will stay low forever. Lets be honest you can absolutely saturate with news on the championship if you wanted online, there's not exactly a shortage. I don't really see the harm personally and can see clear benefits.
 
A lot of anger and frustration aimed at the WSL .

Maybe, and its just an idea, if you dont like womens football, then maybe dont watch it?

I dont recall ever being forced to watch it. The over the top Sky promotion is no different to the stuff they do for the NBA, or the NFL etc, and I dont watch those either.

And yes, they do have some 5hit female commentators and analysts on Sky, but jesus wept, have you listened to Don Goodman or Jamie Redknapp lately? All equally 5hit.
 
A lot of anger and frustration aimed at the WSL .

Maybe, and its just an idea, if you dont like womens football, then maybe dont watch it?

I dont recall ever being forced to watch it. The over the top Sky promotion is no different to the stuff they do for the NBA, or the NFL etc, and I dont watch those either.

And yes, they do have some 5hit female commentators and analysts on Sky, but jesus wept, have you listened to Don Goodman or Jamie Redknapp lately? All equally 5hit.

Nobody is saying anyone is being forced to watch women's football.

The thread, and conversation, was centered around the Chelsea women's manager complaining in the national media that everything's not equal between the men's game and women's game after her team's game got called off due to a frozen pitch... which is absolute codswallop.
 
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