Lewes FC Ladies manager, Jacquie Agnew and Head of Ladies’ Football at Lewes, Ronnie Moore, are asking questions about the direction the game is taking in England.
The FA quite openly state through their ‘Game Changer’ plan they wish to create a professional league to push the game forward, to have an elite set up of which they will select and self-sponsor teams and provide funds for player contracts. Is it fair? Is it right for all women`s football? Is it in the rules? It most certainly is not fair play that`s for sure, and is perceived as a total snub to the rest of the women`s pyramid as seen and protested about by the clubs in the immediate lower steps and divisions.
Have The FA compromised their position of fair play to all through their governance? Is selected sponsorship from the governing body to the chosen few the best way to achieve higher standards? Should clubs be barred from achieving success on merit? Should non achievers, come to that, be sponsored by the governing body? This is the position The FA now find themselves in of their own volition by creating 2 pyramids without considering the viability of professional summer football. How it is going to support itself in future and in conjunction with the ‘Game Changer’ model, of which so much faith is being put in by The FA, without due consideration to the consequences?
Compared to men’s football, a multibillion pound industry that came of age in the 1960’s after 100 years of growth, women`s football only really established itself in the early 1990s with the introduction of the Women`s Premier League which 20 years later has proved to be a major success, so why did The FA want to scrap it? Before season 2014/15, clubs knew where they stood and with ambition knew how far they could go. Everyone understood the pyramid with promotion and relegation at every level, until 2011 when everything changed for the worse for over 98% of women’s football.
The FA, for some unknown reason, decided on a new direction. The top down creation of the WSL for elite players has produced a marginally successful semi-professional women`s league however three years later cracks are beginning to appear as reality sinks in. There is much concern from rank and file clubs up and down the country on how best can we deal with this situation.
It took nearly 100 years of evolution for the men`s game of football to be accepted by the general public in a male-dominated sport and through that time stadia was built throughout the country to create the infrastructure for the game to flourish and become a success as we now know it today. So without being unfair to the women`s game, how are we able to create a women`s professional league when income cannot be generated to pay for it? The Women`s Premier League has been in operation for just over 20 years, it took the men`s game over 100 years for professional football to evolve and be able to pay for itself, so does professional women`s football actually stand a chance of succeeding?
Let`s look at the facts:
1) Do women`s clubs own their own grounds?
2) Do women`s clubs create sustainable income?
3) Do they have any transferable assets that they actually consider to be of value, like contracted players for instance?
4) Do they, or indeed are they, self-sufficient to attain the status of actually being a professional club in their own right?
5) Can the creation of a supposedly professional Women`s Super League be seen as a fair play league when teams are selected, but not through merit of endeavour, and supported and financed by the governing body, The FA?
The answer to all these questions is simply NO, and therein lies the problem. Simply put, the women`s game is wholly reliant on the men`s game for facilities and infrastructure to be a viable proposition in the first place. Success comes many years later, not overnight. Men`s clubs would not entertain a women`s section unless it was financially viable and in their interests to do so – this fact has become clearly apparent with the latest addition of Manchester City Ladies, their introduction seemingly purely to help circumvent the fair play rules of the main body of the club, their highly paid first team. Are the ladies team a viable asset at Manchester City? Possibly only until it`s not tax deductible or the novelty wears off, as we have seen in recent years at Fulham and Charlton Athletic Ladies.
Can women`s football survive without men`s football? Without doubt NO, but they CAN survive with them together, and they can reap great benefits in partnership together, as they serve their communities. Can the WSL survive without funding from The FA? Absolutely NOT, professional women`s football in this country cannot possibly stand on its own merits at this point in time. We need to get realistic and down to earth and work together to coexist to achieve our ambitions. In life there are no short cuts or free meals, this is the stark reality of the situation, and until the powers that be understand that it will be difficult to move on and do what is best for the ladies game without exception.
The summer league idea for all of women`s football is wholly reliant on suitable pitches being available for the idea to become sustainable, at the moment the infrastructure is simply not there. If we were to start the construction this summer of 3G and 4G all-weather artificial pitches then at least within the development 10 year plan this could be a reality.
There is obviously no guarantee that women`s professional football will ever happen; first and foremost it has to be given time to evolve without interference – evolution not revolution. The women`s game has to find its own feet and sponsors, it has to nurture itself, create its own identity and club following and reap the benefits of creating its own income. We can give them a hand up but we must never be seen to be giving them a hand out, partnerships will happen as communities come together.
There is absolutely no doubt if summer women`s football is to become a reality as The FA would like to see happen, then the infrastructure has to be put in place first. For the change to happen, this development plan will deliver your vision and provide income to become self-sufficient for decades to come.
Plans can and should be made for independent bodies to be set up to implement this initiative with funding supplied from the men`s professional game.
Should this development model be acceptable, it is strongly suggested that County FA pitches should be those which are firstly converted to all-weather artificial surfaces as they can provide evidence of their viability through demonstrations, whilst being a focal point for clubs wishing to enquire about or submit their prospective applications.
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
