Funnily enough, prior to 1971, organised women’s football was banned in England. Yes, think about that; five years after our men’s team had won the World Cup, the ladies were still not allowed to play the game in any official capacity.
There is a not very-well-known story from that same year that saw an “unofficial” England team actually play in front of 95,000 spectators, but my god, they paid for their indulgences. This short BBC report about the women involved is well worth a quick view.
Even the good ol’ USA, hardly a historical hotbed of “soccer”, as they call it, won the inaugural Women’s World Cup back in 1991. Over 60,000 watched that final. It was around that time that interest in women’s football increased around the world, including England, which had seen women play some sort of football since the late 1800s.
Fast forward to today, and England’s “Lionesses” are arguably more popular than the men’s team! They have just retained the European Championships last month, with the final against Spain providing the biggest British television audience of the year so far. The star players have become household names and earn salaries that would be beyond the comprehension of the 1971 band of trailblazers.
Just as importantly, the increasing success of women’s football in general is seeing a surge of young girls taking up sport, and not just football, a hugely positive consequence.
Yes, of course, there are many genuine (male) football supporters who would never deem it appropriate to watch a game of women’s football, saying that there is no place for girlies attempting to play what has always been a man’s domain. But let me assure you, these ladies are supreme athletes, and the skill level is ever improving. Many of us actually prefer to watch matches that don’t contain the cynicism, the cheating, and the absurd rolling-around in mock agony that is so prevalent in men’s football.
In fact, I would suggest that a title for our blog in years to come may be: “Should men be allowed to continue to play football?”
Should women be allowed to play football?
Honestly, and let me be clear, I don’t like women’s football. I have seen it on TV a couple of times and was unimpressed. Slower speed, weaker crosses, no physical encounters. It really looks like watching teens playing!
Another thing is that Russian has a much more traditional (or archaic?) society, than American or British. This is why women themselves consider playing football like something alien, something which is men’s business only.
So there are obstacles for women to play football in Russia.
Though it is pretty weird. Women play basketball, volleyball, and tennis. And I’ve never had a second thought: wow, why do women play basketball?
I think, historically, football is still perceived in Russia as a masculine sport. By the way, the same I may say about ice hockey. I know women in Russia play hockey, but, just like in the case of football, it is somewhere on the sidelines. The power of tradition!
On the other hand, I don’t mind women in Russia playing football, or hockey. Just like any other sport. Yes, to me, it may look a bit second-rate, but, again, it just my narrow-minded perception. Nobody gives a damn about women playing other ball games.
Also, I know that professional women’s football in Russia is developing pretty fast, and gaining some popularity. In several years from now, it will be an integral part of the sports landscape.
Getting back to our provocative title, I would allow women to play football. I am also sure that my opinion would be the last thing women could care about.
Should women be allowed to play football?
As quick point of clarity, football is an entirely different game to me than it is to my European friends. We all agree to define the word the way it’s used in our respective countries.
Football in the US is an exclusively male sport. In many secondary level schools, women, (girls really), are allowed to play on the high school football team. As a general rule, these teams have maybe one young lady but often none.
By the time you get to college or professional level, upper body strength becomes so important that women would have problems ever making the team. The exception would be wide receiver. Have you ever wondered what happens to Olympic track stars? Many become NFL wide receivers or dudes fast enough to chase the little cockroaches down. A track star from the women’s side of the sport would do well; (yes, women can be on an NFL team). I don’t think there has ever been a woman to actually make a team. As an aside, there have been a couple of female assistant coaches.
So yeah, women should be allowed to play American football at a professional level. There’s another thing I’ll mention; there is a women’s only league called the AWFL. I wonder how they pronounce that acronym? The league has a number of teams but I can’t really tell you much about them. I’m just grateful they don’t dress them in tight little spandex uniforms. So many sports are sexist but, at least on this point, these folks are cool.
The only argument I would have against anyone, male or female, joining a team is that the average player retires after about five seasons. Almost all players show signs of brain trauma years later from something called CTE. It’s a brutal, tough sport that destroys the body. Make the big money while you can.