Page 8 - Keynsham Town Ladies v Chichester & Selsey

KEYNSHAM TOWN LADIES 8
Where will women’s foo
View from the dugouttball go?

For the majority of its existence women’s football has relied on goodwill and trust
and, with nothing financial to be gained from involvement in the game, it could. Now,
with increasing sponsorship deals, the Barclays title sponsorship of the Women’s
Super League and the broadcast-rights deal between the WSL and Sky Sports and
BBC Sport, it is inevitable the vultures will start to circle.

The potential of women’s football to bring a return, in the medium to long term, is
an idea that has been put to clubs and sponsors to encourage them into the fold.
That is not necessarily a bad thing; investment is important if the game is to grow.
But there is an increasing need to be more alert to the risks involved when individuals
or organisations put their interests above that of the broader development of the
game.

Women’s football needs to protect itself from self-interest and examine the structures
designed to safeguard its future. Two questions need to be asked. First, how can
women’s football avoid being affected by ESL-style manoeuvring in the men’s game?
And second, how can it avoid going down that route?

Independence and sustainability are key. Increasingly it is hard to see a healthy
future for the women’s game if teams stay tied to the men’s sides. However, no club
that have invested with one eye on a potential future bonanza return is going to
relinquish control of their women’s side just as the game is showing early signs of
profitability. They will want a piece of the pie and, perhaps more significantly, will not
LEAGUE PLATE FIRST ROUND want the women’s game to champion a more progressive and fairer way of doing
things.

Independence and sustainability, if achievable, are not all that is needed; the way
women’s football is governed needs to change too. The FA Women’s Super League
and Women’s Championship board has members from six clubs to represent the 23
teams in the top two divisions. Of the six, four are from WSL clubs and two represent
Championship teams. Five of the six are attached to men’s Premier League teams,
and all four of the WSL club representatives (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and
Tottenham) are part of the “Big Six” that could not resist the pull of billions promised
by the failed Euro League venture.

There is no one-member-one-vote rule à la the Premier League, where two thirds of
clubs must agree to changes. Instead, women’s teams have to trust that those
elected to represent them will put the broader interests of clubs and the game above
their own.

The Premier League model, where each club is a shareholder of the league, is not
necessarily the solution but when the seeds of self-interest and profitability have