Women’s Football

We have our first ever mixed session tonight.   May has been keen to play, but it’s been hard to find a second female player.

I thought we’d kick it off with a female perspective, but I haven’t been able to find a female player to write about football.

I had a brief discussion with someone on BBC 606 who had played for Aston Villa Ladies.  I asked her if she’d like to write about her experiences for our blog.  Her reply was:

You asked me … about writing a piece about playing for Villa Ladies. I’m not really sure that my experiences at Villa would be what you perhaps think … –

When I played for Villa it was 16 years ago when women’s football was very much recreational and regional. They were called Villa Aztecs then and I played as a 17 year old in the 3rd team and then the 2nd. We were ok but at that time we were playing regional ie against other West Mids based teams. I then went to Uni and played again in 2004-2005 for the 3rds. This time the 1st and 2nd team were known as Aston Villa Ladies but the 3rds were still very much a recreation team full of students who loved footy but weren’t actually very good – and played for the enjoyment of playing a sport they loved and not for the winning. We were so rubbish AVFC actually didn’t want us to carry the name of the team so they continued to fund us (ie payed the pitch fees) but made sure we kept the name Villa Aztecs so no one knew we were associated with the club! I only played for one season and then moved on to a better team in a higher division (at Uni I had played for England Universities representative team). To be honest the standard was way below what I was capable of (I was a keeper and won the Divisional Player of the Year Award which says a lot about how rubbish we were!) The following season Villa withdrew all funding for the 3rd team (Villa Aztecs) because we weren’t competitive and they saw us as an embarrassment to the club (my words –not theirs).

Playing for a team attached to a pro club is very different now. For a start they have trials, or some even approach you and don’t have trials at all, and if you’re not good enough you don’t play for them. Also most of the men’s teams throw a lot of financial support at the women (at the very least they provide a kit). When I played if you wanted to join you turned up for training every week, got put in the 1sts, 2nds or 3rds, and if you were good enough you got a game. If not good enough you were still welcome at training, social events etc You were still made welcome and to feel part of the club.

Thanks for your interest and if I can help you in any way I will but I expect you want a more up to date view than I can offer!

I thought it was interesting how much women’s football has changed in the last 10 years, and to have a personal account of how it used to be, so I told her I would use her response on the blog.

Women’s football has traditionally been strong in several countries – The United States, Germany, Norway, China and Sweden to name a few. Football-crazy Brazil also produces decent women’s teams.

Several of these countries have strong domestic women’s leagues. The women’s league in Germany is given equal prominence on the German Football Association’s website as the men’s leagues.

Women’s football is also growing in England, where a Women’s Premier League was introduced in 1992 (the same year the Premier League was formed). The Women’s Premier League has been dominated by Arsenal Ladies, who have won the title 10 times.

Women’s football games tend to be high scoring partly because many women’s teams can’t defend properly (a bit like the way we play then!), but it makes for compelling viewing and some great goals.  And there is no doubting that there are many talented female players, especially from the countries where women’s football is strong.

Unfortunately, opportunities for women and girls to play football in Singapore are far more limited than it is for men and boys.