Women's football in England must embrace being a family-friendly alternative to the men's game
There seems to be a desire for women's football to be like men's football but why can't it be its own thing?
There are certain circles within England that want women’s football to mirror the men’s game. Whether it be the standard of play, the experience at the stadium, or the amount of money it generates, there is a belief that the women’s and men’s games must be exactly the same.
Unfortunately, the women’s game is behind men’s football in terms of coverage and finances. These areas prevent it from mirroring the men’s game. Trying to make the women’s game just like the men’s is unfair. It is a disservice to female footballers. Women’s football doesn’t have to be like men’s football. Rather, it should be treated like its own separate thing.
The television ratings, coverage, and attendance for Premier League teams compared to WSL clubs are incredibly different. This means women’s teams in the WSL and down the football pyramid need to treat the product differently. Using the word ‘product’ is likely to frustrate plenty of football fans. But that is exactly what the game is in the 21st century. It is a product competing for customers' time and money.
Women’s football in England needs to be a family-friendly alternative to the men’s game. Seeing all the smiling kids in the stands at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup would make most people think women’s football is already family-friendly. Yet, it doesn’t feel like England’s WSL wants to take on the family-friendly banner. There is a feeling from some people that families don’t provide the atmosphere the players deserve.
The WSL Experience
From my WSL experiences, many of the clubs simply want to put on a football match, with the expectation that fans will turn up. It is the Field of Dreams Effect: if you build it, they will come. But there needs to be more for fans to spend their hard-earned money and limited amounts of time.
Attending Liverpool Women’s matches during the 2022-23 season, there wasn’t anything special to attract fans to Prenton Park. Not only was the stadium difficult to reach, but there also wasn’t anything on offer to attract additional fans.
Sure, the tickets were cheap, and the football was entertaining, but the matches didn’t provide a good fan experience. Show up, get a hot dog and Coke, buy a programme, watch the match, and fight the traffic leaving the stadium. The matches lacked an atmosphere because there wasn’t anything provided to attract more fans and develop one.
It felt like the club, which provides a small amount of money to fund the Liverpool Women's team, just wanted to run it like the men’s team. But the same fans do not turn up for both teams. It may be the same club, but the fans are different. Most of the men’s team’s supporters couldn’t care less about the women’s team. While you have long-time, legacy, and tourist fans turning up to Anfield, you don’t have much of that going to the Liverpool Women’s fixtures.
There is a word that British sports fans hate and that is Americanisation. The idea of Disneyfying sports and making it more American makes many British football fans break out in cold sweats. It wakes them up at night screaming.
The Americanisation of women’s football in Britain could be the way to make it more sustainable and bring out fans, however. Some WSL teams are losing money and are being covered by the men’s teams. Revenues are increasing, but they aren’t at the levels the clubs want. Most teams are supported by the men’s division to ensure they can operate.
Low-priced Tickets and Professional Football
One of the most common aspects of WSL matches is the number of kids that go to watch. Why are there so many kids, both boys and girls? It is simple, the WSL games are cheaper to attend than Premier League games.
The games are also far cheaper to attend than games in the Championship, League One, League Two, and some National League matches. During the 2022-23 season, my son and I attended Liverpool Women’s matches for far less than our local non-league club which plays at the seventh level of the football pyramid. That is a crime.
Many kids will never see a Premier League match due to the barrier of cost. Even if the price isn’t a problem, the availability of tickets is. The WSL provides an alternative for parents wanting to take their children to a top-flight football match.
Parents can take their kids to WSL matches for less than £20 to see high-quality football. You can’t get a Premier League ticket for £20.
The atmosphere for a women’s game is friendlier for kids than at a men’s game. It is this friendly atmosphere that some people seem to dislike. There is no reason women’s football should have the aggro that men’s football in Britain exhibits. Accepting the family-friendly environment and finding ways to grow it should be the WSL’s main aim going forward.
Embracing A Family-Friendly Environment
In 2022-23, Liverpool Women’s team took one step to embrace being family-friendly. Following the final whistle at Prenton Park, the players met the young fans on the side of the pitch, signed autographs, and took selfies. You would never see this in the Premier League.
Indeed, I’ve only ever seen this happen in rugby matches. This is one of the simplest ways to create fans. I’m not sure if the other WSL teams sign autographs and take pictures with fans post-match, so the various clubs could do something different. It was a memorable moment for my son, who was excited to have his programme signed by nearly all the players. It drove part of his interest to go to more matches in the future.
The simple act of signing autographs and taking photos with fans sent the supporters home happy. Even after a defeat, the fans would have still left happy and ready to come back for the next fixture. Being family-friendly isn’t a bad thing, especially in a women’s sport that is competing for a place in the sports sphere.
The WSL clubs and other women’s teams aren’t just competing against the Premier League. They are fighting for relevance in a sporting world with professional, semi-pro, and amateur men’s teams. The WSL’s clubs need to think outside the box to bring in fans. You cannot just put on a football match and expect fans to turn up, because that is what every non-league team up and down in the country does.
Women’s football in England has grown leaps and bounds over the last five years, but there is still a long way to go. It shouldn’t be treated or compared to men’s football. It is a sport all its own. Therefore, it needs to be sold to the fans differently.