Women's Euro 25

[Parafox]

13 hours ago, Bert said:

Just celebrate what the women have achieved! 

 

12 hours ago, Foxdiamond said:

Yes I think we should be happy what the women have achieved. I don't see why their success should be a reason to then criticise the men. For example if GB win a goal medal in the 1500m Olympics I don't look at the other sex equivalent and complain but enjoy the win 

 

I wasn't complaining. I was comparing.

 

There's a difference.

[bovril]

Contrarians are always going to write cynical comments on social media whether it's about men's football, an Oasis concert, a high grossing film, whatever. Dunno why people are so touchier about it when it comes to women's football other than this is a sport that England excel in and therefore an acceptable patriotism we all have to embrace. 

[Leicesterpool]

Phil Neville huge bellend... imagine walked out on this team for the money to manage inter miami. Since he departed... 3 trophies in the cabinet. 

[Super_horns]

We were a penalty away or goal in injury time from going out and the team would have been criticised like mad but they weren’t and are now heroes .

Football and sport is a bit like that .

If nothing else you don’t give up and keep putting in the effort and maybe eventually get rewarded .

[Foxdiamond]

36 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

 

I wasn't complaining. I was comparing.

 

There's a difference.

I wasn't having a go at your comment which was quite mild I thought. Rather I've seen lots of comments elsewhere online where there is a definite tendency to use the women as a way to complain about the men rather than just appreciate the success 

[Super_horns]

Euro Women's Final peaked at 15.6m across BBC1 & ITV 

 

Actually lower than the 2022 final apparently but still pretty decent .

Edited 28 July 2025 by Super_horns

[bovril]

2 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Euro Women's Final peaked at 15.6m across BBC1 & ITV 

Not many of us watching the Tour de France then...

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, bovril said:

Contrarians are always going to write cynical comments on social media whether it's about men's football, an Oasis concert, a high grossing film, whatever. Dunno why people are so touchier about it when it comes to women's football other than this is a sport that England excel in and therefore an acceptable patriotism we all have to embrace. 

 

It's pretty obvious why people are more sensitive about it. 

 

Men's football is the biggest sport on the planet, Oasis are one of the biggest bands in the world and sold out their return tour in seconds and Avengers End Game made over a billion dollars in its opening weekend alone. None of those things have ever struggled for relevance or funding and the sneering at them tends to only be your 'contrarians.'

 

You'd have to be Nigel's ostrich to pretend that women's football doesn't have a signifcantly tougher fight for relevance, credibility and legitimacy or that even now a lot of football fans still go out of their way to comment about how shit it is and compare it negatively to the men's game.

 

The situation is getting better, yeah, but lets not pretend the whole country is now completely on board.

 

That's not say there isn't also a lot of hand wringing, white knighting and virtue signalling all over the place with people lining up to appear the most protective of the sport. But still, it probably does need and deserve somewhat more defence than the absolute entertainment powerhouses you're reeling off. 

 

[bovril]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

 

It's pretty obvious why people are more sensitive about it. 

 

Men's football is the biggest sport on the planet, Oasis are one of the biggest bands in the world and sold out their return tour in seconds and Avengers End Game made over a billion dollars in its opening weekend alone. None of those things have ever struggled for relevance or funding and the sneering at them tends to only be your 'contrarians.'

 

You'd have to be Nigel's ostrich to pretend that women's football doesn't have a signifcantly tougher fight for relevance, credibility and legitimacy or that even now a lot of football fans still go out of their way to comment about how shit it is and compare it negatively to the men's game.

 

The situation is getting better, yeah, but lets not pretend the whole country is now completely on board.

 

That's not say there isn't also a lot of hand wringing, white knighting and virtue signalling all over the place with people lining up to appear the most protective of the sport. But still, it probably does need and deserve somewhat more defence than the absolute entertainment powerhouses you're reeling off. 

 

You're right and it's partially that, but it is also that the English are very protective of finally having a successful football team they can support in a much safer way than the men's, which is frequently associated with hooliganism and toxic patriotism. I mean I don't really see how saying women are crap at penalties is any worse than complaining the greasy Italians and Spanish are diving and time wasting as usual, other than it is in the context of the 'Lionesses' so touches more nerves.

[Parafox]

Another thing that was positive throughout the tournament is the players not surrounding the ref or waving the imaginary yellow card.

 

And no frequent spitting, either.

[AyewJoking]

Out and about today (i dont live in leicester) and zero acknowledgement of the football, flags in the streets/shops.

 

Although there has been nothing throughout the tournament anyway...

[Parafox]

4 minutes ago, Royston. said:

Out and about today (i dont live in leicester) and zero acknowledgement of the football, flags in the streets/shops.

 

Although there has been nothing throughout the tournament anyway...

 

Supermarkets were selling England flags etc. Nobody was buying them.

 

No little flags on cars either.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

13 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

Genuine question - is there an explanation as to why all of the women's teams are so bad at penalties?

I’ve touched on it within this thread already, highlighting that your comparison will undoubtedly be linked to the men’s game, which has had been around longer, had £ billions more invested in it and has a huge participation base from which talent gets picked from - therefore the combined level of technique across takers in the women’s game, a crucial factor when taking a penalty after 120 minutes, won’t be as high as the men’s game and will naturally lead to a greater occurrence of a ‘technique fail’ when taking a penalty.

 

Add into this the relative pressure of the situation and the fewer opportunities in the women’s game to experience that level and type of situation; it’s within reason to see overall outcomes that don’t compare to the men’s game.

 

Of course give the woman’s game 50 more years at a professional level, much more investment and a larger participation pool to help grow the talent base and we might start to see a narrowing in outcomes between the two.

 

 

[purpleronnie]

4 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

Supermarkets were selling England flags etc. Nobody was buying them.

 

No little flags on cars either.

Seems odd, maybe it's mostly men that  buy them for their cars and for whatever reason they're only interested when its the men playing, no doubt they'll be loads about next year and we'll bid them all when we get knocked out in the quarters.

 

 

[The Bear]

Statistically there's just not enough interest in the women's game. I know plenty of blokes in the pub who haven't watched a single game this summer or state they have no interest (followed by the usual sexist comments). 

 

That's changing, but it'll take time. At least another generation IMO before all the male gammons are irrelevant and the kids who've grown up with it as an emerging socially acceptable thing have kids/grandkids of their own. 

Edited 28 July 2025 by The Bear

[Leicesterpool]

1 hour ago, Super_horns said:

We were a penalty away or goal in injury time from going out and the team would have been criticised like mad but they weren’t and are now heroes .

Football and sport is a bit like that .

If nothing else you don’t give up and keep putting in the effort and maybe eventually get rewarded .

Its bit like Portugal of 2016. Finished 3rd in the group, having not won one game of their group stages yet go onto lift the cup.

Edited 28 July 2025 by Leicesterpool

[AyewJoking]

12 minutes ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

I’ve touched on it within this thread already, highlighting that your comparison will undoubtedly be linked to the men’s game, which has had been around longer, had £ billions more invested in it and has a huge participation base from which talent gets picked from - therefore the combined level of technique across takers in the women’s game, a crucial factor when taking a penalty after 120 minutes, won’t be as high as the men’s game and will naturally lead to a greater occurrence of a ‘technique fail’ when taking a penalty.

 

Add into this the relative pressure of the situation and the fewer opportunities in the women’s game to experience that level and type of situation; it’s within reason to see overall outcomes that don’t compare to the men’s game.

 

Of course give the woman’s game 50 more years at a professional level, much more investment and a larger participation pool to help grow the talent base and we might start to see a narrowing in outcomes between the two.

 

 

I prefer they cant kick as hard which shouldnt be an issue really when youre up against a smaller goalkeeper in a full size goal.

 

All top level female players will have been playing since they were little girls so perhaps there is this stubborn belief the girls will always lack power so concentrate on coaching technique??

[Finnegan]

7 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Statistically there's just not enough interest in the women's game.

 

Define "enough"? Pretty sure it's increasingly becoming more and more profitable, hence the massive influx of interest, advertising, attendances, exposure, etc? Nothing happens in football if it isn't making the rich men at the top money and they're lapping it up at the moment. 

 

8 minutes ago, The Bear said:

I know plenty of blokes in the pub who haven't watched a single game this summer

 

Not sure who needs to hear this still but women's football doesn't need those blokes in the pub.

 

Conversely, there are plenty of women and girls that have never attended a men's football match in their lives but have tuned in to watch the Lionesses or the WSL. They don't have to be appealing to exactly the same audience.

 

I mean it can't have escaped the attention of anyone who has watched even 30 seconds of womens football that the crowds are made up of a much different demographic. Shit, just close your eyes and listen to the cheer - or scream - when a goal is scored.

 

[Dahnsouff]

5 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Statistically there's just not enough interest in the women's game. I know plenty of blokes in the pub who haven't watched a single game this summer or state they have no interest (followed by the usual sexist comments). 

 

That's changing, but it'll take time. At least another generation IMO before all the male gammons are irrelevant and the kids who've grown up with it as an emerging socially acceptable thing have kids/grandkids of their own. 

Sad but true. Without the ability for intra-generational self-reflection we will always have a scary lead time in our meaningful societal shifts.

 

Think you are being very kind with a single generation, because as much as it gets watered down between generations, it does not disappear due to the wisdom of ‘say what you see’.

[The Bear]

3 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Define "enough"? Pretty sure it's increasingly becoming more and more profitable, hence the massive influx of interest, advertising, attendances, exposure, etc? Nothing happens in football if it isn't making the rich men at the top money and they're lapping it up at the moment. 

I said statistically, which I meant in comparison to the men's game. And like you said {and I did tbf) it is on the increase. Particularly in the last few years. 

[bovril]

7 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Define "enough"?

 

Not enough little flags on cars

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, The Bear said:

I said statistically, which I meant in comparison to the men's game. And like you said {and I did tbf) it is on the increase. Particularly in the last few years. 

 

I still don't understand what you mean by "enough" though. There are men's leagues in the world, that are thriving, that are the top league in their country, that have lower average attendances than the WSL.

 

Enough for what? For it to be as big as men's football? It probably never will be but why does that matter? Not enough for what, to exist? 

 

I'm not trying to be deliberately argumentative (for once lol) but it's just an odd thing to say?

 

[The Bear]

I really wish I'd used the words "as much" instead of "enough", just so I could avoid this pointless debate. 

[AKCJ]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

 

It's pretty obvious why people are more sensitive about it. 

 

Men's football is the biggest sport on the planet, Oasis are one of the biggest bands in the world and sold out their return tour in seconds and Avengers End Game made over a billion dollars in its opening weekend alone. None of those things have ever struggled for relevance or funding and the sneering at them tends to only be your 'contrarians.'

 

You'd have to be Nigel's ostrich to pretend that women's football doesn't have a signifcantly tougher fight for relevance, credibility and legitimacy or that even now a lot of football fans still go out of their way to comment about how shit it is and compare it negatively to the men's game.

 

The situation is getting better, yeah, but lets not pretend the whole country is now completely on board.

 

That's not say there isn't also a lot of hand wringing, white knighting and virtue signalling all over the place with people lining up to appear the most protective of the sport. But still, it probably does need and deserve somewhat more defence than the absolute entertainment powerhouses you're reeling off. 

 

Millions don't like football. Millions don't like Oasis. Millions don't like superhero films.

 

If you don't like those popular things, that's fine. But why dedicate time to hating on something that other people love? Bloke in the office this morning (certified gammon) was loudly asking people if they watched the "pretend football" yesterday. I just sort of feel sorry for him, really. So caught up in his own need to appear "manly" that he can't appreciate what was clearly a great day for English sport.

 

I don't really have much interest in Rugby or Formula 1, but I haven't dedicated my weekend to telling people how shite they are because why would I?

 

12 million people watched yesterday's final on the BBC. I would say that that shows that women's football is in a good place and is getting the love and attention it deserves. If people don't want to associate with that team of entertaining, hard working, patriotic role models then that's on them to be honest.

[bovril]

15 minutes ago, The Bear said:

I really wish I'd used the words "as much" instead of "enough", just so I could avoid this pointless debate. 

Critique the women's game at your own peril. It's safer to call for deportations of foreigners than ruminate on the popularity of our brave girls.