Page 11 - Women's Spccer Scene Issue No.37 2021-22

A season to enjoy…

As the football season draws to a close, we asked our regular women’s football
reporter and “superfan” Patrick Higgins to give his own take on the last ten months,
which has seen the game resume about two nightmare, curtailed seasons.
Patrick travels many miles each week to watch women’s football matches at all
levels, kindly giving us match reports each week, which are very popular and much
appreciated by a lot of people within the game, particularly at the lower part of the
pyramid which does not get anything like the coverage it deserves. We hope that both
Patrick and James can keep going strong!
“Perhaps the best thing about season 2021-22 was the fact that leagues, clubs,
players and supporters were able to participate fully and final league tables were able
to be published. Despite the pandemic being far from over, most leagues were resolved
as scheduled. After two curtailed campaigns, this was the biggest win for women's
football and hopefully a sign of things to come.
At the elite level, women's football seems to have taken a major step forward in
terms of media acknowledgement. Scores and live updates given on news bulletins,
free to air live matches, any number of 'women's football shows' competing for
attention have all brought wider awareness.
The 'nobody cares, it's rubbish' brigade remain unconverted and grimly trot out
their blinkered prejudice on social media but are gradually being outnumbered by
converts to the cause. A thrilling finish to the Barclays FA WSL season will have helped.
The Coventry United story in the F A Championship was the stuff of Hollywood
film scripts and there were plenty of dramatic finales in the various divisions of the
FAWNL . The season-long battle of Billericay Town and Hashtag United in the south
east and the great escape of Norwich City in the same division were epic but equally
thoughts go out to the large number of FAWNL clubs which lost their status due to
restructuring.
Sitting beyond the wider public gaze, another four tiers of competition exist. just
as meaningful and fuelled by passion, dedication and commitment from players,
coaching and backroom staff. The Greater London League reached 50 years of
existence and all over the land, dedicated volunteers enable tens of thousands of
players to compete on a weekly basis.
A sobering thought remains at the elite level. Is professional women's football a
sustainable industry? There is much evidence that the men's clubs, especially the
Premier League elite, are financially propping up WSL clubs which could never pay
their own way based on match day income alone. Key sponsorship deals have helped in
recent years but the long term viability of the current set up is still difficult to imagine.
My favourite match of season 2021-22 was in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup
between Southampton Women and Exeter City. A magical pre-Christmas atmosphere
created by the hosts, great support from the youth teams for their role models,
dedicated away fans celebrating a win... overall a fantastic day in the best spirit of the
game.
With an exciting England team under new management hosting the Euros just
around the corner, this season has truly been
one to relish.” Report by Patrick Higgins
Issue no. 37 - 2 June 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk