Joanne O’Riordan: The future is now for women’s football

I’ve been writing this column for five years now. I’ve been through many landmark tournaments and watershed moments and heard the word `legacy’ thrown about multiple times.

Every year there’s a new record-breaking audience, a new viewing figure record, participation is growing, and more and more people can name more female athletes than ever before.

So, let’s take it back to last Sunday then.

Just imagine, for over six decades, English football supporters craving a major football title. It is a women’s team that got them over the line.

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For context, that women’s team wasn’t even established when England last won a major tournament, the World Cup in 1966. The last time that England as a nation won a major football trophy, women couldn’t even play football, they were banned.

Now, just one year after the men lost a European final on home soil, a women’s team had to step up and bulldoze their way through a tournament, winning a major trophy for England after years of failure from the men’s point of view.

In fact, this women’s team won in the same spot where the men lost. This is a nation where anyone other than a straight white male will encounter hardships on their path to a football career.

This is a nation where hooliganism is common and football is associated with rowdy male crowds (we will never forget you flare-up-the-bum guy). This is where girls must continuously fight for their place, whether as a player or a fan. I am far from an English fan. In fact, my Irish feminism tells me I’m allowed to be happy for women but sad that it’s English women.

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Additionally, well over 17 million people watched the final of the Euros on German TV, 64.8 per cent of the overall viewers. Most importantly, the viewing figures for the 14- to 49-year-old demographic was at 71 per cent. According to so many football administrators, a demographic which no longer has an interest in football.

Of course, this European Championship reminded us how fantastic women’s football can be, but also how decades of prejudice, misogyny and refusal to acknowledge women held back the development of one of our generation’s most exciting high-level sports.

There are so many incredibly annoying arguments associated with the women’s game. Despite the Euros being on, I heard time and time again how the women’s game doesn’t attract as many spectators or as much income as the men’s game, so they don’t deserve the spotlight, nor do they deserve equal pay.

This has been proven wrong on so many occasions. Women’s football was at its highest popularity in England after the first World War. In fact, on December 26th, 1920, more than 50,000 people were coming to watch the women’s game at Goodison Park, along with a further 12,000 who lined up outside.

At the time, it was to raise money for soldiers coming home. But the FA viewed this as a threat, and less than a year later, the FA banned women’s football for over 50 years. So, you could say it was the men’s side of football that hampered the growth of the women’s game.

Then I hear that the women’s game has less quality compared to the men’s; therefore, it doesn’t deserve interest or investment. I have no idea what the definition is of a beautiful game. I am not going to deny that men are faster and stronger.

But there is plenty of research that shows that women resort to the tactical side more, keeping the ball in play for much longer, creating time for more elaborate attacks and committing fewer physical fouls (although the last few minutes of the European final said otherwise).

So now, what do we do going forward? It is crucial to acknowledge the game we have right now, market it, back it, and stop talking about legacy for the time being.

Unfortunately, discussions about growth and legacy don’t hook new people in. People just want to watch a sport and the competition and they now know it is a great competition with some incredible talent on display.

The biggest factor from the biggest game across Europe was the fact that over 90,000 people went to watch it, got involved, got frustrated with the referee, whistled and went ballistic every time something happened.

The exact same theories and principles can be applied to all games. Entice the fans that are there now, let fans be fans and focus on selling the product that’s before us now. Make the match-day experience consistent, from round one to finals.

We can have discussions about the future and all that later, but what matters is the now. Go to the games now, boo, jeer, whistle and cheer. Dig into the rivalries, build an emotional connection, and everything will grow organically. The future is now.

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