Clock ticking as interest wanes due to lack of engagement
THERE is a quick shuffle and the abrasive scrape of a chair. “Last question!” comes the sharp interruption, breaking attention, puncturing focus, halting the process. The impatient pull towards an exit is already underway as questions still hang in the air, their weight removed as glib soundbites replace any chance of an answer of genuine consideration.
There are less than 10 minutes on the tape. And this is a good day. This could be the war and peace version.
On other days, in freezing, empty stadiums at games watched by three men and a dog there can be two minutes on the clock – on one occasion 10 seconds less than that – and the same remark is made with the curt instruction issued to hurry up, finish it off, wrap it up.
Against the metaphorical ticking of a clock, snatched interviews have to be conducted. In such fleeting moments there has to be an analysis and an exploration of deeper themes, something that offers more than just a cheap soundbite and immediate reaction.
This is not a new process, with PR folk rushing interviews, ushering players and managers swiftly to the door within minutes of any conversation getting underway.
But in the women’s game which has bristled at an under-representation in media coverage for years, there has been a longing for promotion and exposure. It needs it.
And yet there is a desperate myopia when it comes to allowing managers and players – who often appear relaxed and at ease before they are interrupted – to take time and explore the issues around the game.
Observers know few characters within the circuit of women’s football. Their back stories, their profile, their dreams, their ambitions their journey from where they were to where they are. At the top end of the men’s game the story is played out publicly but the same awareness doesn’t exist within the women’s game.
As this season starts to climb towards another exciting finale, there is already a feeling that it is struggling to keep pace with the numbers it attracted at the same juncture last term, even when the title race is as close as it was and just as intriguing.
Last Sunday afternoon, Celtic attracted a crowd of less than 4000 for a game where kids went free and adult tickets were a tenner. This was for a game where Celtic were top of the league by the slimmest of margins – just two points – and have it within them to go and deliver a title for the first time in their history.
At Hampden yesterday there were just 2857 for a showcase semi-final between Celtic and Rangers.
Down south, Stamford Bridge was a sell-out yesterday as Barcelona overcame Chelsea 2-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final.
If there was always a feeling last year, as a record attendance was set and then beaten at Celtic Park, that the numbers had been fudged because of the Celtic End trial, few would have feared the drop off to be quite so stark.
Granted, an impasse between the Green Brigade and the club did not help, but it is impossible to overlook just what message it sends out when swathes of empty seats are the first thing players see when they walk out of the tunnel.
This is not restricted to a domestic trend, either. Numbers at Hampden for recent international games have been desperately poor with just 3127 inside the ground for the European qualifying win over Slovakia this month. This was a game that came in the middle of the Easter school holidays and with a fresh campaign stretching in front of Pedro Martinez Losa’s side.
The answer to these issues is not singular. It requires a lot of joined up thinking, a lot of marketing. One suspects, a lot of money. But ultimately it also needs patience and time and a willingness to engage with those in positions of authority to offer input – without a snap of the fingers and a “let’s go” whenever the clock buzzes.
AND ANOTHER THING
AS press conferences were taking place inside Hampden on Thursday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s Scottish Gas, Scottish Cup semi-final ties, there were a small number of protesters handing out fliers highlighting events that have taken place in Gaza since October.
With Martinez Losa’s side due to play Israel in a European qualifier next month, the likelihood is that there will be protests on a mass scale surrounding the game and its build-up.
All eyes were on Hampden two years ago when Steve Clarke’s side lost out to Ukraine in a FIFA World Cup semi-final play-off.
There will be a different kind of political scrutiny on this one amidst the backdrop of what has happened in the Middle East across the last seven months.
There is a desperate myopia when it comes to allowing managers and players to take time and explore the issues around the game
AND FINALLY
HEARTS and Spartans will battle it out for a place in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden this afternoon with Eva Olid’s side expected to prevail against the part-timers.
Spartans will have something to say about that but if Olid takes Hearts to a Cup final and consolidates a fourth-place finish in the SWPL, it will have been quite the job she has done.
Hearts were languishing at the bottom of the table when she took over with the club punching above their weights this season.