A well deserved win imo , had more reportoire to their game & fight albeit both teams had periods of naivety . I saw the top tier at the Emirates was shut but there was a very good crowd there & I reckon Man U took more than what Posh took to Bristol Rovers although North London to Surrey is pretty close
Interesting to note that crap refereeing and blatant cheating are alive and 'well' in the women's game too. Shocking penalty decision in the Chelsea/Spurs game as Chelsea's James just 'won' the spot kick despite not being touched.
Good win Vs Brighton , awful referee should've gave Brighton a penalty in 15 seconds, got United next week at Etihad, 43000 sold up to now, need be on the ball that day, United playing well and we're still getting our team together after losing most of best players in summer.
Spurs seem to be in a bit of a rut. 9 points from 8 games, 11 goals from 8 games and that includes an 8-0 win in there Some really good attendances in the league this season but just the usual 3/4 running away with it and the rest making up the numbers.
Our girls scholarship team had a good afternoon up North with game finishing Man City 0 v 15 Peterborough United I watched a bit of the Manchester derby last weekend & which was a decent watch with both teams having their spells & a good crowd to boot .
Rut might have been kind. They've had a 3-0 tonking at home to Everton tonight. I dare say that if this was the men's team the manager would probably be in danger of a sacking. Four consecutive defeats to end the year.
so many games being called off due to a frozen pitch, most of them Rich 6 clubs playing at "home". How is it Leicester can play the majority of home games at the King Power but richer clubs than us cannot do it at their grounds? This needs to be a mandated clause of entry, frankly with it only being a 12 team league they can wait until EPL fixtures are out to arrange the WSL fixture list to make sure there is never a clash
Sounds like a right old farce at Chelsea v Liverpool. Apparently the ref said the game should be called off at 9.30 but the FA refused and they insisted it should go ahead. Then the match was abandoned after 6 minutes!!
A lot of fuss about games being postponed but it's hard to find a common rule for all. People moan about the disparity in the men's game but it's arguably worse in the women's game. Most WSL clubs are running at a loss already. I imagine the reason they play at smaller stadiums is due to finances of playing at the bigger stadiums without the same income. Smaller crowds with cheaper tickets must make it fairly unprofitable. Forcing undersoil heating (or cost of playing at bigger stadiums) & VAR equipment isn't viable for every club in the women's game. Reading for example don't have the same PL riches to prop up their women's team with million pound losses every year. London City Lionesses occupy top spot in the second tier at the moment and are completely independent from any male club. Making anything a mandate for all WSL clubs is going to completely close off the opportunity for some clubs to rise in the game. It's frustrating for managers, players and fans alike but it happened at plenty of other professional men's clubs this weekend too. Maybe not in the top tier but clubs with similar finances and resources to that of the WSL. The women's game is growing but not every club is in the same fortunate position the top 3 / 4 in the game are. Re-posting a link to the finances before the Euros but the biggest clubs in the game are already heavily reliant on the overall club to compete. Those that don't have that failsafe to call back on shouldn't get left behind in the women's game. London City Lionesses could arguably be denied promotion for not being able to provide undersoil heating if we asked all WSL clubs to provide it.
Reading also play at the mens stadium, top level football, which the WSL is shouldn't be having games called off due to a frozen pitch, it doesn't cost that much to use the stadium either, they don't need segregation so you can open a small area of the ground, probably costs less then hiring another teams whole ground
The fact is that without the largesse of their parent clubs none of the WSL teams would be viable, it's a bit much to also expect the clubs' home stadia to be made available. On top of that United (for instance) average considerably less than 10,000 spectators at home games, so it would be absurd to open a 75,000 capacity stadium. They may get 30,000 initially but many of those would be there for a novelty day trip rather than to support the women. I think the women's game is improving year on year on the pitch, eventually it'll be strong enough to stand alone but not yet.
Yeah I get that we for instance put everyone in the north end of our West stand but at the very least they need to be made to rent a pitch from a club that has undersoil heating
There needs to be such a venue available though? United Women play at Leigh Sports VIllage which does have undersoil heating, but the fact it's so far from Old Trafford suggests it's the nearest there is, though I don't know that for sure.
Only way you'd get half decent attendances at Old Trafford - or most grounds really - is if you let people in for free, and then you're just not making any money. Maybe that might be an idea and then ask people for a donation instead as some people would probably chuck more in than usual, but honestly...I think it's time they accept the womens game is what it is. It'll never ever be on the same level as the mens, in terms of skill, viewership or finances, but it's still entertaining. It'll peak at league one level performances and attendances if you ask me. Apparently undersoil heating costs £500,000 to install and £3500 to run for two days (probably more now, that figure I found was from 2011). A lot of people in the womens game calling for it to be installed as standard but not providing any suggestions as to how fund it - no doubt because the mens game will be expected to foot the bill again.
Don't need segregation but again it's another topic that has been discussed. I think Chelsea argued for an away section for the game at the Emirates the other week because it'd help the atmosphere. Fair play to Reading if they're doing it but I don't think it'll be viable for all women's clubs. As I said, London City Lionesses are a good example of a club currently in line for promotion but without the same resources as even the smaller WSL clubs such as Reading. They haven't got a men's club to prop them up and become at risk of being excluded in the same way Doncaster Belles were when not a big enough name for the WSL. The growth in the women's game is great but it can't all happen overnight. Perhaps a better compromise in the meantime would be to move the season. If playing in January is going to cause disruption, play in less colder months. There's only 22 games in the league campaign and although attendances are rising, you might get better crowds in warmer months of the year. Forcing Reading to play at the Madjeski in January for 1,000 fans to turn up seems daft. Spurs certainly don't need a ground bigger than Orient at the moment.
Moving the season is actually a cracking idea. If they played in summer months that would boost attendances massively with no mens game and the much better weather.
In Spain, the Women's teams from Barcelona and FC Sevilla are both banned from the actual Cup plays because both had a suspended player in their team in the recent cup matches wins in the 1/8 finals, Barcelona vs Osasuna 9-0 and Sevilla vs Villareal 1-0. Both wins turned into losses now by the spanish FA, RFEF. In other news: Adidas has just announced the design of the ball for the Women's World Cup in Australia/New Zealand in July/August. Official "name" for the Ball is OCEAUNZ Der WM-Ball der Frauen heißt "Oceaunz" tbh I miss the traditional design, just a white leather ball with the black spots, from my youth. A World Cup when we have Summer in Europe. Thank God
The return fixture was played today with City's girls having another nightmare , final score Posh Girls 19 v 0 Man City Girls .
