Womens football

[KeithPratt]

The visibility of womens football has ballooned in the last 3 years. Do you follow it, care about it etc?

Is it misogynistic to not care about it?

[Geezee]

Generally I really like it. I can't say I watch whole games outside of the world cup, but I watch and follow the highlights and the team far more than male counterparts. I'm nearly completely oblivious to men's club football at the moment. Last week I heard constant chatter about the amazing games in the champions league, and part of me wishes i still cared about it, but part of me is sick and tired of any game involving any of the big clubs. Who knows, it might come back.

There's definitely an increase in coverage but there is a HUGE way to go, at least in the UK. In Sweden you see pretty much equal coverage - turn on the sports news, and it'll be 50:50 (and goes far beyond just football) - and you'd be shot if you called it "women's football", it's just football. Can you even begin to imagine that in the UK, given the total (over)saturation of the premier league?! It could be argued that there is a degree of self-interest in Sweden, because the women are almost invariably more successful than the men in almost every sport (and the swedish women's league is one of the top leagues).

One of the great things about it is that at any given time you are not inclined to punch every player on the field.

[Jimbly]

I dont care about it. I dont care much for any other leagues apart from the one my team plays in. I haven't watched Match of the Day at all this season.

[Darkness_Fish]

No, I don't have any interest in it. I guess if I watched it often, I might start to see that the game's played in a different style to the men's game, but I guess it would just be like watching an inferior version most of the time. And I get to see that on my doorstep often enough.

[Minnie the Minx]

I watched Brazil v Jamaica the other day.
Funnily enough the abbreviated score thing at the top said ‘BRA JAM’ which seemed apt.

[trans-chigley express]

Funnily enough the abbreviated score thing at the top said ‘BRA JAM’ which seemed apt.

I'd like to watch some but haven't found what channel, if any, they are shown on in Hong Kong.

[never/ever]

The Matildas are a big deal here and the support is quite enormous- the friendlies they played against Chile before the start of the World Cup were near-sellouts. The team gets technically and tactically the same attention as the men's teams, together with the praise and criticisms- it is not being diffused by any sort of non-sportsmanlike concerns, it is being treated professional.

This morning's victory against Brazil was as good as it gets. After defeats to the Netherlands and Italy, it seems they are on the way of redemption, after they were on the back end of criticism about their performances: Sam Kerr's comment about them to suck it was as clear as it got.