How often do you watch women’s football?
DO you watch women’s football on television? I ask because there has been quite a lot recently, with both semi-finals of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup competition being shown over the same weekend.
Often when I ask this question I get negative replies such as. ‘I never watch it, it’s not like real football is it?
And yet when I was watching one of the semi-finals, it suddenly came to me, that this is how we hope football would be played. This is how it should be played.
I’m not talking about the fact that it was mostly played at ground level, with slick passing or the daring saves made by goalkeepers. We can get that with men’s football. It was when there was a throw-in, that made me realise the different game that I was watching.
The throw- in was taken from the spot the ball went out of play. In a Premier League or Championship game the thrower would make his way 10 or 15 yards further up the pitch, but here, it was where the ball went out as it says in the Laws of the Game.
This also applied to any free kick. They were taken, as written in Law 13, where the offence occurred. No trying to steal a few yards but not only that, the players of the offending team didn’t stand over the ball to prevent the kick being taken quickly or kick the ball away to delay the start.
These offences according to the Laws are punishable by a yellow card. When have you seen one issued despite it becoming normal behaviour in men’s football?
Another thing that doesn’t seem to appear in women’s football is diving, pretending that your opponent has brought you down, or holding your head to make out you have been punched in the face. In other words, no cheating.
There are of course fouls, players do go down. There are injuries, perhaps that is why those ‘wise men’ at the Football Association back in 1921, decided ‘it was not a suitable sport for women’.
But there is no stopping it now. For example, at the moment about 30 small countries and islands in the Caribbean are taking part in qualifying rounds of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The same is happening all over the world.
I hope they enjoy their matches and I for one will be looking forward to the finals.