Arsenal v Chelsea ESPN 5.30 today!

[Basil is a Gooner]

Agreed!

[LDB]

I was there yes the pitch was terrible, the girls try and play the ball on the deck. The CEO & Trev Brooking were there and even big John Fashanu etc.

However I suggest you take an interest as Arsenal girls lead the way and will deliver trophies this year. They train with passion, give up more of their own time the male teamates, most train to be coaches etc Its very well run, committed and professional.

For example Katie Chapman is a mother of 2,an England player and earns less than Bentner does in a bank holiday weekend! It might be ok to comment on standards etc but this is women against women so cannot compare the two!

Try and get to a game or two this year its good family fun. At Borehamwood FC its around a fiver to get in there is a bar with decent prices, beer in a glass, burgers etc

I would definitely go to one of these games, i didnt know it was on until i was channel surfing ESPN yesterday. I believe it was held at tooting & mitcham which is just round the corner from me.

However, the game still has to come up to a certain standard "footballistically" if the womens game is going to grow and it doesn't bode well when the WSL launch game is played on a dug-up minefield which prevented any decent football being played.

In my opinion the womens game has to compensate its lack of pace with a decent technical game for it to be any more compelling then watching a kickabout in a pub car park.

[marcengels]

I was there yes the pitch was terrible, the girls try and play the ball on the deck. The CEO & Trev Brooking were there and even big John Fashanu etc.

However I suggest you take an interest as Arsenal girls lead the way and will deliver trophies this year. They train with passion, give up more of their own time the male teamates, most train to be coaches etc Its very well run, committed and professional.

For example Katie Chapman is a mother of 2,an England player and earns less than Bentner does in a bank holiday weekend! It might be ok to comment on standards etc but this is women against women so cannot compare the two!

Try and get to a game or two this year its good family fun. At Borehamwood FC its around a fiver to get in there is a bar with decent prices, beer in a glass, burgers etc

Still not convinced.

i'm sure if they were "stars" like the men then we'd eventually see the female equivalent of a bendtner...and adebayor.

[maddog]

Womens Wimbledon's tennis final is taken as its own sport people don't compare that to the mens sport and say they arent as powerfull, fast or technical? They watch it because its a battle between 2 opponents at the best of their game trying to overcome each other.

You can't compare it to mens game because of obvious physical limitations. My daughter is 9 and plays football and is better than most of boys her age plays in a boys team of 10 yr olds. She cant quite run as fast, cant quite kick as hard but she reads game better, better & more intelligent passer, gets back, covers and marks players without having to be repeatedly told like most of her male teammates etc She also plays for Arsenal girls.

Its a womens sport a growing sport and refreshingly free from greed & the morally corrupt game we all fell in love with.

[marcengels]

Womens Wimbledon's tennis final is taken as its own sport people don't compare that to the mens sport and say they arent as powerfull, fast or technical? They watch it because its a battle between 2 opponents at the best of their game trying to overcome each other.

You can't compare it to mens game because of obvious physical limitations. My daughter is 9 and plays football and is better than most of boys her age plays in a boys team of 10 yr olds. She cant quite run as fast, cant quite kick as hard but she reads game better, better & more intelligent passer, gets back, covers and marks players without having to be repeatedly told like most of her male teammates etc She also plays for Arsenal girls.

Its a womens sport a growing sport and refreshingly free from greed & the morally corrupt game we all fell in love with.

For me, it's just a question of taste - and I use your measure of a "different sport"

I like watching female athletes (athletics, swimming) but not football. I like watching men's football but not American football, rugby league, hockey, etc...

For me, it's a personal preference based upon many factors that make a good sporting contest.

[StuartL]

Womens Wimbledon's tennis final is taken as its own sport people don't compare that to the mens sport and say they arent as powerfull, fast or technical? They watch it because its a battle between 2 opponents at the best of their game trying to overcome each other.

You can't compare it to mens game because of obvious physical limitations. My daughter is 9 and plays football and is better than most of boys her age plays in a boys team of 10 yr olds. She cant quite run as fast, cant quite kick as hard but she reads game better, better & more intelligent passer, gets back, covers and marks players without having to be repeatedly told like most of her male teammates etc She also plays for Arsenal girls.

Its a womens sport a growing sport and refreshingly free from greed & the morally corrupt game we all fell in love with.

I enjoy watching womens football, but like Maddog I have a vested interest as my daughter plays at a centre of excellence and gets to play against the Arsenal girls and I have loved watching her from boys football through to the upper echelons of the girls game.

It is slightly different to the mens game - but you do not get the diving and cheating that is now so comonplace that it is accepted in the mens game.

Some of the women - Kim Little for example, have all the skill and vision that you would want in a male equivalent, where Jayne Ludlow has the battling qualities that so many of our "superstars" plainly lack.

I intend to go to their first home match next week (Thursday evening at Borehamwood0 and usually get to 2 or 3 matches a season, which mat increase as it is now a summer sport.

[LDB]

Womens Wimbledon's tennis final is taken as its own sport people don't compare that to the mens sport and say they arent as powerfull, fast or technical? They watch it because its a battle between 2 opponents at the best of their game trying to overcome each other.

You can't compare it to mens game because of obvious physical limitations. My daughter is 9 and plays football and is better than most of boys her age plays in a boys team of 10 yr olds. She cant quite run as fast, cant quite kick as hard but she reads game better, better & more intelligent passer, gets back, covers and marks players without having to be repeatedly told like most of her male teammates etc She also plays for Arsenal girls.

Its a womens sport a growing sport and refreshingly free from greed & the morally corrupt game we all fell in love with.

I guarantee you that if it keeps growing it will attract the exact same characteristics. Growth means increased interest and interest generates money and money attracts the money men

Back on topic... as marcengels says, it is all down to personal preference but for me technique and/or pace is massively important for my ability to enjoy the spectacle of a game of football off its own back. Physical exertion/competiton alone just simply isnt enough.

Imo the core point that needs to be grasped by the womens game is that in many ways its much more important for them to put on an entertaining game then it is for the men. I would turn out to watch the arsenal first team every week even if we were playing allardyce-esque hoofball. The womens game is highly unlikely to ever tap into that same culture so imo its crucial that every effort is made to make womens football technically appealing so that fans actively consider turning up more then once in a blue moon.