Plenty to Enjoy at the Women’s World Cup
By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London.
In the words of my unimpressed girlfriend as she caught me hunched in front of the computer screen in my darkened front room: “Bloody hell. You must be desperate!”
And in a sense, I was. My girlfriend was disappointed, but I was starting to get football withdrawal symptoms. In a fallow summer devoid of any meaningful action for an avid England fan, I decided to tune in to the quarter-final of the Women’s World Cup in Germany between England and France – and I’m glad I did.
I’ll be honest – I’ve been more than a little critical of women’s football in general over the years. The women’s FA Cup final has often been on terrestrial TV, and I’ve tried to watch it a few times with little success. It seems like football, and it seems competitive, but just not competitive enough to will my legs to stop wandering into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and read the paper. But before I kick off a raging AFR battle of the sexes argument – this isn’t a sexist thing at all. It’s just that the standard of football in every women’s game I had watched prior to the match last night was a long way from that which I am used to when watching Premier League matches every weekend. Just as I would be loath to watch a Nationwide Conference game as opposed to a Premier League or La Liga clash, I quite frankly couldn’t be bothered to sit down and watch a top-level women’s game when there is a better level of football to be watched elsewhere. The quality on offer just hasn’t been high enough to hold my attention. I know I’m spoilt, but I’m a Manchester United fan living near London – what can you expect? If I was a ‘real’ fan I’d be watching my local team St Albans City battle it out in the Southern Premier League (two leagues below the conference), but you’re probably more likely to find me down the local with a pint, watching the Premier League on Sky Sports. What a sham I am.
