[Albion] Reports on Brighton Womens defeat to Bristol City in the Womens Super League

[zeetha]

Hoping that the title is clear enough for all those confused by the use of WSL in previous threads

Brighton women played their first game in the top flight of Women's football last Sunday, but played below their best (hampered by injuries) and unfortunately lost 0-1.

Match Report : https://www.brightonandhovealbion.c...-women-vs-bristol-city-women-fc-on-09-sep-18/

Photo Gallery : https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/news/2018/september/women-gallery-bristol-city/

Video : https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/SeagullsTV/# (available for free, you just need to register. Theres also another free video with a preview of the season from BBC South East available too)

Articles :
https://www.brightonandhovealbion.c...r/powell-disappointed-with-below-par-display/

https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/news/2018/september/buet-lessons-will-be-learned/

Next game is on Sunday against the London Bees in a Continental Tyres cup game - lets hope the team bounces back quickly!

UTA

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Brighton definitely had chances to win the game at 0-0. Unfortunately they were undone by a fairly speculative long range effort. The back 4 all looked very good, midfield ok, but there does need to be a bit more quality up front.

Fairly small crowd which I don’t think is helped by playing In Crawley (I’m aware of the reasons for this- just don’t agree with them)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Beach Seagull]

Who really cares? Judging by the amount of replies on this thread nobody does. Women's football is a low quality minority sport which has very little interest amongst football fans despite what the BBC like to claim. They seem determinded to elevate it to the same status as the men's game, for example putting all the 'champions league' fixtures on the headline page today.

The fact that the Albion women's team will be playing their fixtures at Crawley is an indication of the total apathy amongst Albion fans towards women's football. If the Albion felt there was a commercial gain to be had by building a facility to host the Albion women's team they would, but clearly it's not worth building a facility / developing an existing one for the small crowds they attract. Good luck and all that girls but the interest is tiny.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Men’s football has received almost unquantifiable amounts of investment in relation to the women’s game over the years- you can’t compare the two

If you judge women’s football on its own merits you’ll enjoy it


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[Coldeanseagull]

I enjoy the womens football. It's surprisingly skilful without the dramatics associated with the mens game. If a girl is fouled and stays on the floor, it's because she is hurt, not that she has broken a nail...as in the mens game!
I'd have Alex Scott summarising on every football game if I could

 

[Simster]

Laughable bullshit.

Well that's not true is it. The crowd for BHA's first ever game at the top level was just 342.

Debate the merits of his post rather than just glibly rubbishing what he says.

There are reasons why it isn't popular at the moment; for one, they should be playing their games in the city. But none of what he says is actually incorrect, and I say that as someone who really hopes the women's game takes off.

How many games are you planning on getting to then?

 

[Luke93]

Who really cares? Judging by the amount of replies on this thread nobody does. Women's football is a low quality minority sport which has very little interest amongst football fans despite what the BBC like to claim. They seem determinded to elevate it to the same status as the men's game, for example putting all the 'champions league' fixtures on the headline page today.

The fact that the Albion women's team will be playing their fixtures at Crawley is an indication of the total apathy amongst Albion fans towards women's football. If the Albion felt there was a commercial gain to be had by building a facility to host the Albion women's team they would, but clearly it's not worth building a facility / developing an existing one for the small crowds they attract. Good luck and all that girls but the interest is tiny.

What crawled up your arse and died?

 

[Simster]

What crawled up your arse and died?

That was the 9th reply on this thread in 5 hours. Which bit of his articulate and factually correct post do you find so offensive? I bet YOU didn't go to the game.

 

[Luke93]

That was the 9th reply on this thread in 5 hours. Which bit of his articulate and factually correct post do you find so offensive? I bet YOU didn't go to the game.

I didn’t attend that game. I personally have no further intent on watching the current womans team. I have done in the past (my mother played for the Albion) and my last women’s game was an England friendly at the Amex about 5 years ago. What I do or don’t do is irrelevant. That kind of post deserve that kind of response. There’s no reason to sugar coat the state of the womens game, but there’s also no need to be negative. This thread has few replies because most don’t feel the need to get involved.

 

[Simster]

Certainly better than "laughable bullshit" [MENTION=15363]Plooks[/MENTION] because this time you actually bothered to explain your point of view.

The quality of the game is comparatively low because there are fewer women playing the game than men. Football isn't at the level of tennis in terms of professional standard because of that fact.

That's not to say it is doomed to stay that way, and I'd argue professional clubs have a duty to promote the women's game. But for all that, us fans are not duty bound to invest emotional energy into it, and the vast majority of us don't - and that includes you. Or are you seriously telling me the 1-0 defeat put you in even a slightly bad mood this weekend?

 

[Simster]

I didn’t attend that game. I personally have no further intent on watching the current womans team. I have done in the past (my mother played for the Albion) and my last women’s game was an England friendly at the Amex about 5 years ago. What I do or don’t do is irrelevant. That kind of post deserve that kind of response. There’s no reason to sugar coat the state of the womens game, but there’s also no need to be negative. This thread has few replies because most don’t feel the need to get involved.

He wasn't being any more negative than the facts suggest. Nobody watched the game, nobody responded on this thread, nobody actually really cared - which is all he said. It didn't warrant your uppity, self righteous nonsense.

There is a difference between respecting the women's league/players, and pointing out that it seems nobody cares.

 

[hart's shirt]

...minority sport which has very little interest amongst football fans despite what the BBC like to claim. They seem determined to elevate it to the same status as the men's game, for example putting all the 'champions league' fixtures on the headline page today.

Despite disagreeing with some of your post, this part is hard to deny looking at attendances.

No news on the Women's Champions League attendances today for Glasgow City and Chelsea away in Cyprus and Sarajevo respectively.

If coverage were based on reasons of attendances alone, it could be argued that there's a disproportionate amount.

Albion Women 0 Bristol City Women 1 - top flight WSL game & season opener- 144 miles travelling distance for away fans - Attendance 376
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45383055

Harrogate Town 3 Havant and Waterlooville 2 - National League (5th tier) - 270 miles travelling distance for away fans - Attendance 1,709
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45379447

Other WSL attendances:

2,501 Chelsea v Man City
1,173 Arsenal v Liverpool
603 Birmingham v Everton
464 Reading v Yeovil

Attendances are no more than 5% of an equivalent men's league game for the clubs and much less (1-2%) in some cases including the Albion.

Perhaps the demand will change with increased visibility and coverage - it might take England to win the World Cup in France '19 for this though.

But is the appetite there in reality? A quick look at the USA, the most successful country at international level, might show the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Soccer_League_attendance

Portland Thorns are the standout leaders here in NWSL match average attendance in 2017 with 17,653. That's impressive for sure.

Below them, the picture isn't quite so good however...

Boston Breakers - 2,896
Chicago Red Stars - 3,198
FC Kansas City, 1,788
Houston Dash - 4,578
North Carolina Courage - 4,389
Orlando Pride - 6,186
Seattle Reign - 4,037
Sky Blue FC - 2,613
Washington Spirit - 3,491

6 of those teams were down on attendances in 2017 from the previous year.

And this is from a country of the 'Soccer Mom' that has had girls playing football from knee-high for decades.

With this in mind, it'll be interesting to see what numbers the Albion women attract over the course of the season.

800-1,000 attendance would seem to be a target, albeit one that's a long way off based on the first match.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Who really cares? Judging by the amount of replies on this thread nobody does. Women's football is a low quality minority sport which has very little interest amongst football fans despite what the BBC like to claim. They seem determinded to elevate it to the same status as the men's game, for example putting all the 'champions league' fixtures on the headline page today.

The fact that the Albion women's team will be playing their fixtures at Crawley is an indication of the total apathy amongst Albion fans towards women's football. If the Albion felt there was a commercial gain to be had by building a facility to host the Albion women's team they would, but clearly it's not worth building a facility / developing an existing one for the small crowds they attract. Good luck and all that girls but the interest is tiny.

Are you Ben's grandma?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I think the mistake people make is to think it is the same as men's footy. Apply the same standards/expecations and you'll soon be disappointed. If you think about it as you might think about flyweight boxing, if you main interest is the heavyweights, it becomes enjoyable. Or the paralympics if (etc).

Personally I might watch it on the telly but it would need to be a cold day in hell for me to turn up and watch a game.

That said, women's tennis is well-followed so maybe it is a case of rubbish marketing.

The numbers don't lie though. At the end of the day, Dulwich Hamlet simply are not in the same league as Man U and cannot expect to sell 75K seats every 2 weeks. Sorry if that may offend some.

 

[The Large One]

That was the 9th reply on this thread in 5 hours. Which bit of his articulate and factually correct post do you find so offensive? I bet YOU didn't go to the game.

For a start, this line...

"The fact that the Albion women's team will be playing their fixtures at Crawley is an indication of the total apathy amongst Albion fans towards women's football."

... which is total, unpasteurised horseshit, and an embarrassment to someone who hasn't bothered their arse to do the most basic of research, relying on their vast ocean of prejudices instead.

They are playing in Crawley not because of apathy, but because there are not the facilities in Sussex to host them, aside from the Amex. There's more people watching the women than there are watching every other Albion side apart from the men's senior team.

Then there's the line...

"Who cares? Nobody..."

Demonstrably untrue. Just because he says he doesn't care, it doesn't follow he speaks for everybody.

Fact is, he does care. He has previous for saying women shouldn't play football. So how seriously should we take his meaningless attitude? You can if you wish, Simster.

 

[Bozza]

They are playing in Crawley not because of apathy, but because there are not the facilities in Sussex to host them, aside from the Amex. There's more people watching the women than there are watching every other Albion side apart from the men's senior team.

If nothing else comes from this thread, I'm delighted that Crawley has been kicked out of Sussex. Have they been adopted by Surrey?

 

[Simster]

Why not the Amex then? Why not build a new facility? Or upgrade an existing one?

If the demand was there, that is exactly what would happen.

 

[Easy 10]

Perhaps the demand will change with increased visibility and coverage - it might take England to win the World Cup in France '19 for this though.

Englands women could win the World Cup, but it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference in terms of getting me to Crawley to see the womens BHA team. I've no objection to their existence, there are many many positives that come along with it community-wise, I see no reason why they shouldn't be fully supported by the club.

But I simply do not give a shit about their results. I have no emotional investment in them, no interest at all I'm afraid. I can't get past my indifference towards them or womens football as a whole. I'd no sooner watch it as I would...rowing.

 

[The Large One]

Why not the Amex then? Why not build a new facility? Or upgrade an existing one?

If the demand was there, that is exactly what would happen.

Lewes District Council had that attitude once upon a time.

I am sure that in time, the club will sort out an appropriate facility. However, in order to join the WSL, they needed the facilities almost immediately - which didn't exist.

 

[Simster]

Lewes District Council had that attitude once upon a time.

I am sure that in time, the club will sort out an appropriate facility. However, in order to join the WSL, they needed the facilities almost immediately - which didn't exist.

Ah ok, you learn something new every day.

I hope something in Brighton can be provided some day so that the women's side gets a chance to flourish.