If you believe in equality then you invest in it
But you know what, if I was in charge of St Pat’s I would have made damn sure that last night’s game if covered by RTE would have been shown on one of its two main channels.
Because the tokenism of hiding it on RTE News Now just demonstrates a total lack of respect.
WONDERFUL things are happening in Ferrycarrig Park.
But for Wexford to go up to Sligo Rovers, go a goal down but win their FAI Cup tie in extra time shows just how good a manager Ian Ryan is.
He just nudges out Waterford’s Danny Searle for this week’s top dog.
WHAT is really sad is that, once again, it apparently takes the English to educate us.
I think it’s insulting when people say that the recent European Championship success for England is a breakthrough for women’s football.
Football always has been and always will be the game that is loved by us all.
I don’t need the English to lecture us that football is coming home.
I want the FAI to show us that football belongs to every woman, man and child.
I’m calling today for a professional league to exist, not just for one half of the population but for all, because the beautiful game belongs to us all.
It’s great to see SSE Airtricity sponsor both of our top leagues.
But is it not time for the best young Irish talent in the women’s game to have a league that is fully professional, where players get properly paid and our international team reaps the benefit?
Season
This season English football is celebrating because their investment at all levels in the game is reaping huge rewards.
To be fair to the FA, as we have seen during the Women’s Euros, if you believe in equality then you do something about it by investing in it.
Right now, the opportunity that exists all over the world for big business to invest in the women’s game is something that the FAI needs to exploit.
The Women’s Super League in England kicks off on September 10 when Spurs play Manchester United live on Sky Sports.
Where is the TV deal for the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League?
Our international teams have two excellent managers in Vera Pauw and Stephen Kenny.
But management is a results business and while I salute RTÉ for its excellent coverage of Euro 2022, TV money is something every professional sport needs irrespective of gender.
I want any young kid growing up in Ireland to believe that not only can they enjoy the biggest and best sport on the planet but they also, if they have exceptional talent, can earn their living from professional football.
I didn’t think all the matches were great, as in any tournament, but it’s time for us to stop worrying about PR and to get real about giving every young person an equal opportunity to become a footballer.
I think that some of the coverage was patronising, because you’re not better purely because you’re a woman, but in Europe and America they seem to have woken up to the reality that you are equal, and certainly not worse.
I could not watch extra time in the final because I wanted Germany to win.
Success
I do believe that because of the great success of our English neighbours, more young Irish kids will get the opportunity to have a career in the English Women’s Super League.
I remember when I was running St Patrick’s Athletic and Niamh O’Donoghue of the Women’s FAI asked me about using Richmond Park for Ireland women’s internationals.
I was honoured, just as I would have been if any Ireland side pulled on the green jersey at the Stadium of Light.
It’s hard to believe it’s only five years since Ireland’s women’s internationals had to go on strike in their fight for respect.
So can I please appeal to the FAI that, if this really is a new era for the professional game in Abbotstown, we need fully professional leagues, for both men and women.
This is to ensure that every talented footballer does not have to emigrate to make their dreams come true.
Thank goodness the world has changed — and those in charge of Irish football have to listen.
I don’t believe that women’s football is better than men’s football, as some PR fanatics have told us across the water.
I believe that quality is quality and every football lover can recognise it when they see it.
I’m a little bit disappointed in myself at how much I wanted Germany to win.
Occasion
But my abiding memory of the occasion of last Sunday’s Euro 2022 final at Wembley was that the atmosphere had a decency, authenticity and lack of hatred that any big football game must look at and learn from.
Football is for all of us, whatever sex, colour, religion or size.
If we don’t hear the FAI announcing a plan for two fully professional leagues for the next generation of young talent then not only have we failed abysmally, we will also been guilty of letting every young kid who loves football down.
This would be unforgivable.