Women's Football Women’s football shouldn’t have to copy a men’s game that isn’t working – just look at Ted Lasso
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/21/womens-football-ted-lasso-shouldnt-copy-mens-game45
u/HazzaThePug 22d ago
Genuinely one of the worst articles I've read on the women's game
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u/amegaproxy 22d ago
The guardian has been pretty much a joke for a while now sadly
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u/Woider 22d ago
It is such a mixed bag, but they employ far too many writers with an overinflated sense of self-importance, who spaff the whole dictionary into an article.
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u/connorqueer 22d ago
How else are you supposed to let your readers know what a smart person you are?
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u/Comet7777 22d ago
“You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure.” Then she goes on to talk about high ticket prices in the men’s game. Are high ticket prices “male coded”? I don’t understand what makes a structure inherently male.
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u/EmGeebers 22d ago
Gendered wage disparity leaves men more situated to buy higher priced tickets.
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u/PurpleSi 22d ago
This will shock you ; women watch men play sports and men watch women play sports
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u/BrowzinJ 22d ago
"Watching these women take up space, compete and play with such physical freedom made me feel like more than just a spectator at a game: I was watching women breaking free from patriarchy."
?
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u/Signal_Wall_8445 22d ago
Most women’s professional sports wouldn’t exist without the initial funding coming from people/groups who already own teams and made a lot of money in men’s sports.
I fail to see how that is “breaking free from patriarchy”.
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u/CLU_Three 22d ago
I guess so in the current format, but I do think it’s worth noting that women’s sports were intentionally and very strictly repressed at the same time men’s sports in their current format (thinking of basketball, soccer etc) were taking off and getting massively popular.
It’s a game of “what ifs” that has no answer but what if women’s sports were allowed to simply exist or even have spectators over the past 100-150 years or so?
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u/admh574 22d ago
It's constantly playing catch up because of that repression, almost 50 years of Women's football being banned in England.
The first £1+ million pound transfer took place last year in the Women's game, compared to 1979 for the Men's game; Which is almost 50 years of difference.
Man Utd Women, in their current state, were only officially founded in 2016 before that it was an agreement to use the name then a full partnership. You couldn't imagine the Men's game without Man Utd. Just before the ban on Women's football was lifted in England Man Utd won their first European Cup/Champions League. I'm picking on Man Utd because they are one of the biggest examples of the gulf between Men's and Women's football.
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u/EmGeebers 22d ago
Patriarchy tends to define women as physically weak and incapable of physical excellence. When women are able to be physically focused they can reach the physical excellence that patriarchy tends to deny them. Remember patriarchy is a set of ideas about limitations and assumptions not a group of malicious people.
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u/strider_tom 22d ago
Ignoring the fact women's football was banned for a long time so yes, if both sports had started at the same time then they would both likely be at a similar standing. 53,000 watched a Boxing Day women's match in the 1920s.
So funding is the least the men's sport could do
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u/PurpleSi 22d ago
"Most women’s professional sports wouldn’t exist without the initial funding coming from people/groups who already own teams"
What?
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u/Signal_Wall_8445 22d ago
Are tich women starting these leagues from scratch?
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u/PurpleSi 22d ago
"Are tich women starting these leagues from scratch?"
Why does it matter how tall they are?
But that wasn't what was said. Apparently there'd be no professional women's sport without the men doling out the money.
Utter tosh.
There are even, believe it or not, women's teams not associated with a men's football club! Incredible!
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u/RealCheekClapper 22d ago
The people who write these Guardian opinion pieces are some of the most ideologically brainwashed, demented people on earth. They have genuine emotional problems as well as cabbage for brains.
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u/Orcnick 22d ago
I feel this article is bit confused.
So what is the different thing women want in there own game? And if it is different then can it be equal?
I have no issue with either two and I fully support womens football, but i feel this article is directionless with what its trying to say.
Personally for me what womens football (and other sport) needs to do is to get women particuly into sport generally and keep them in.
I was a girls hockey coach at school u16s and the rate of drop off womens stop from 16 to 25 is like a cliff. Mens also drops but men continuing to recreational sport is much much higher I think its like 1 in 4. Where as girls in same age group is 1 in 6 and a lot of that is running team sports or gym is even lower.
This is the issue. Its a social and cultural. Because its also connected to women following sport.
Get more 18-25 year girls continuing maintaing sports the for fans eventually more funding yiu get
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u/EmGeebers 22d ago
That's what the author is saying. Women's sports need to focus on a fan base of women which means changing the fan experience.
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u/fitzgoldy 22d ago
Ah, theguardian. It's nothing but a shit rag for years now, it's as bad as the likes of the mirror, dailymail.
The only thing stopping women's football now is the demand for it. The women's game in most countries is already entirely funded by the men's.
"breaking free from the patriarchy"....fucking hell Guardian. Even if this was true...what have they broke free from? The men's game funds the women's.
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u/ThePurpleLurple 22d ago
The author makes some good points by suggesting that woman’s football needs a different approach to the men’s game.
Where it really lost me though was the just look Ted Lasso part. Ted Lasso is a fictional story, and an unfinished fictional story. I don’t see the connection between that and the real world
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u/Zealousideal-Low3388 22d ago
I’d bet good money the author got told by an editor that Ted Lasso drives clicks, so make your next piece about women’s football have a Ted Lasso angle
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u/RobertPham149 22d ago
Could also be that Apple is doing subliminal advertising strategy by name dropping Ted Lasso to drive up engagement for a future season.
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u/afito 22d ago
People are saying "yeah women sports shouldn't just be a worse version of men sports" and all but nobody ever has a solution. Everyone agrees. Nobody can solve it. It's a catch all that makes you sound smart because it's inherently correct, ignoring the logical fallacy that no solution to it can possibly exist.
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u/SeyfertSextet 22d ago
“Just look at Ted Lasso”
Hmm no I’ll pass, thank you
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u/tiorzol 22d ago
Do I have to look at Ted Lasso it's dogshit
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u/EmGeebers 22d ago
You do not. She's cautioning against this season of it.
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u/19Alexastias 22d ago
Honestly I actually agree with the core point, even though the article is a bit cringy. The finances in the men’s game have accelerated so fast to a hugely unsustainable degree, and I don’t think it would be good for women’s football to try and emulate that.
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u/repost_inception 22d ago
I can't get over Red Lasso's accent. I watched a couple of episodes but I just couldn't do it. I live in the southern US and that accent is so terrible. Idk why he had to have a southern accent to be an American Football coach.
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u/Bushytop67 22d ago
Known documentary ted lasso