Gender Inequality On The Football Pitch - When Will Women Be Equal ?

[DTalent]

Women's football is improving but still lags behind in terms of pay, funding, media, crowd turn out etc, it's not just football it's sports in general. Men's football is now a multi-million pound business and if the FA have not done so already it's time that they implement its own equality policy properly in order to support women's football.
Top teams like West Ham United that has a lot of wealth behind them can't even support and fund West Ham Ladies training kit, transportation, sharing training facilities, even their ticket prices on match days are very low cost, their pay is terrible, majority of women football team are coached and managed by men, 90% of UK sports coverage is devoted by men and there is very little exposure of professional women football players and grass roots players on things like social media and their websites.
Arsenal possibly may be the only club in the UK that possibly promote their ladies team constantly, I could be wrong but that is my guess as I always seem to be made aware of them through their marketing campaigns.

 

[Meadow]

Chelsea are buying our ground to accommodate their ladies and youth teams.

Our ladies team is in the fourth tier and therefore amateur. They obviously don't get as much coverage as the men's teams but their reports appear on our website - albeit a few days late. They also have a dedicated page in out matchday programme and one of our main financial donors also puts a considerable amount of cash towards the Ladies setup. The Trust also puts some money in.

I'll be honest and say that I'm not a great fan of women's football despite being female. I do go and watch our ladies first team play at 'home'* though.

*Sutton Utd's ground.

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Women's football is improving but still lags behind in terms of pay, funding, media, crowd turn out

and in quality.

 

[LeWhites]

and in quality.

This is the thing. It took years for men's football to develop to the point that the players are of the standard they are today, both commercially and in footballing terms. Until women's football offers a comparable product to the men they shouldn't expect the same money & coverage.

 

[DTalent]

This is the thing. It took years for men's football to develop to the point that the players are of the standard they are today, both commercially and in footballing terms. Until women's football offers a comparable product to the men they shouldn't expect the same money & coverage.

I don't think womens football should be on the exact same wages as mens football because the quality and level of football is different however mens football is a multi billion pound business and can be used to invest more into womens football. Whether you play for West ham, Tottenham, Preston, Charlton you should feel like you are a part of the club whether it's the mens team or womens team and I just feel like not enough is being done to show that, and to be fair there is actually a lot of talented women football players out there they are just not being exposed enough or maybe at all, it's not just football it is a majority of sports to be honest.

 

[Jockney]

and in quality.

This is the thing. It took years for men's football to develop to the point that the players are of the standard they are today, both commercially and in footballing terms. Until women's football offers a comparable product to the men they shouldn't expect the same money & coverage.

Men's football didn't develop organically though did it. It started from an industrial-labour formation, which women were excluded from, and then was co-opted by capital. How the women's game is supposed to live up to that when funding and support is so lacking is anyone's guess.

 

[LeWhites]

Men's football didn't develop organically though did it. It started from an industrial-labour formation, which women were excluded from, and then was co-opted by capital. How the women's game is supposed to live up to that when funding and support is so lacking is anyone's guess.

The gradual process of professionalisation of the game that led us to where we are now was organic. Unfortunately the only thing similar between the Premier League and the Women's Super League is that it's football.

The ladies teams are overpaid in my eyes - the vast majority simply aren't good enough to be full time footballers and yet seem to think that because they're the best of an average pool of players they deserve to be paid comparatively with some of the finest athletes ever to have graced this planet.

I would argue that women's football is better supported than the men's game. The clubs are subsidised by men's sides and the FA and have none of the worries that come with the vast sums of money because they're not expected to pull in any revenue.

At the end of the day until the standard vastly improves people won't be interested. The technical ability (ignoring the physical aspect) of the WSL is akin to non league football, if that. Now tell me, who is going to watch non league football unless they support the club? And let's be honest, nobody REALLY cares if their club's ladies side wins or not, do they?

All that being said, the standard is improving with every generation that come through, so hopefully it does get to a point that it's well supported. I do wish the BBC would stop pretending it's as good and as popular as the men's game though, because it just isn't. Yet.

 

[silkyman]

Women's football is improving but still lags behind in terms of pay, funding, media, crowd turn out etc, it's not just football it's sports in general. Men's football is now a multi-million pound business and if the FA have not done so already it's time that they implement its own equality policy properly in order to support women's football.
Top teams like West Ham United that has a lot of wealth behind them can't even support and fund West Ham Ladies training kit, transportation, sharing training facilities, even their ticket prices on match days are very low cost, their pay is terrible, majority of women football team are coached and managed by men, 90% of UK sports coverage is devoted by men and there is very little exposure of professional women football players and grass roots players on things like social media and their websites.
Arsenal possibly may be the only club in the UK that possibly promote their ladies team constantly, I could be wrong but that is my guess as I always seem to be made aware of them through their marketing campaigns.

City are also very proactive about promoting their women's team, and just signed Carli Lloyd. When my daughter is a little older I'm going to take her to some games.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...y-sign-carli-lloyd-12608737.amp?client=safari

 

[silkyman]

The ladies teams are overpaid in my eyes - the vast majority simply aren't good enough to be full time footballers and yet seem to think that because they're the best of an average pool of players they deserve to be paid comparatively with some of the finest athletes ever to have graced this planet

They get nowhere near the top players salaries!

 

[DTalent]

City are also very proactive about promoting their women's team, and just signed Carli Lloyd. When my daughter is a little older I'm going to take her to some games.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...y-sign-carli-lloyd-12608737.amp?client=safari

That's good news will definitely keep an eye on Carli Lloyd I know she left the US as well as Alex Morgan, I believe they both spoke on equality too.

 

[DTalent]

They get nowhere near the top players salaries!

yeh not sure what that dude meant by they get over paid, womens football really get shit pay to be honest. If anything mens football are over paid, classic example is Paul Pogba transfer fee of £89 million, has more yellow cards than goals scored, 8 goals and 10 yellow cards if I am correct. Mesut Ozil £42.5 million the laziest footballer ever and doesn't show up in big games and there are plenty more male players that are on big wages and can't cross a ball, can't use both feet, can't take a player on, lack technical ability, can't volley a ball first time left or right foot. There is a lot that is missing in terms of skill compared to 10,20,30 years ago and that's when players were much better and right now a majority of these players are just really average.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I watched some of the Women's World Cup last year. The standard was better than that of the AFCON that has just passed.

 

[RobotSophie]

I'm a big fan of women's football, but I'm not sure "equality" is something really necessary. I just want to see the women's game get more popular, the standards continue to improve, and for a bit more money in the sport - currently there are only two or three fully professional women's leagues in Europe (Frauen Bundesliga and English WSL are the best, though France has arguably the best two teams) - the rest are semi-pro or amateur. This lack of being able to make a good living at anything below the highest level is probably the main reason girls rarely decide to dedicate their lives to being players in anywhere near the same numbers men do, which leads to a lack of competitiveness between big and small teams, so it would be nice to see more pro leagues. Asking for equal pay though is crazy - even the men are paid on a player to player basis, not equally

I don't see any problem at all with women's teams being coached by men - what's wrong with that? A few female managers at men's clubs would be interesting too, as long as they get the job because they're really smart tacticians rather than just because they're a woman.

 

[RobotSophie]

Not sure what LeWhites is talking about haha. The WSL is actually one of the best women's leagues in the world, and there are loads of classy players. Also the top players in the WSL only earn about 25-30k a year - about average UK wage - and most a bit lower than that, while Premier League players earn more in a week So how are they possibly overpaid?

 

[Chris FGR]

I think it's great that football is starting to become a realistic career for aspiring girls, wasn't long ago all the teams were part time. Now most of the WSL is pro, standards will keep improving. Attendances are on the up as well.

The England women have improved massively as well, they are now genuinely competitive when up against the top nations as was showcased during the last World Cup and in recently beating the US.

I actually enjoyed watching and supporting them during that tournament way more then the overpaid underachieving prima donnas that the men's team have become. Good honest down to earth pros who saw representing their country as an honour and the pinnacle of their career. Very refreshing imo.

In terms of pay, clearly there is a difference in equality but also in the standards/popularity etc but I think in time the women's game will get richer. Women's tennis players now get equal prize money to the men, and they aren't generally of the same standard. But their sport has still grown enough in popularity to mean the top players can earn a lot of money, which I think is something that could well happen in football too.