Full-throated, frantic female footie fan

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Association football first became known as soccer at Oxford University about 150 years ago. Depending on where you live, it’s called ‘football’, futebol, or even ‘footie’; universally known as ‘the beautiful game’. My earliest childhood memories were listening to the radio with my father on Saturday evenings, as he checked his Football Pools for matches played earlier that day. I still remember the music that introduced the BBC programme on our crackling old tube radio, and yesteryear stars like Nat Lofthouse of Bolton Wanderers, Tom Finney of Preston North End and Stanley Matthews of Blackpool became my heroes. Sadly, my lifelong interest over many decades has seen it become more of a business than a sport. I have always concentrated on the men’s game, and taken very little interest in the women’s version — until now.

I decided to watch Women’s World Cup and was thoroughly hooked after watching several games. The women of all 32 participating teams play with such enthusiasm and skill that I kick myself for not taking an earlier interest in their sport. During the Men’s World Cup in Qatar, a Canadian wrote that the difference between the international footballers and those who play his favourite sport of hockey is obvious. He said that soccer stars play pretending to be injured, while hockey stars play pretending not to be injured. He was dead right, as the beautiful game has become spoiled by so many players feigning injury, or ‘diving’ in the hope of getting a free kick or penalty. It’s getting an unfair advantage by cheating, but up to now there’s been none of that in the Women’s World Cup, where players bounce up after being knocked down, and they are not the drama queens that so many of their male counterparts are.

There’s discussion about disparity between fees paid to male and female international players, and I can only hope that money doesn’t spoil the women’s game if there are large sums injected. Major men’s clubs in football leagues are owned by billionaires. Currently, the Saudi Arabian League is recruiting senior players from Europe at really obscene transfer fees, but no chance of Saudi Arabia hosting a women’s league just yet. The Women’s World Cup has had only a couple of minor glitches — teams from Spain and Holland were seen mocking the Maori hosts performing an indigenous welcoming ritual; and at a press conference, a male BBC reporter repeatedly asked the Moroccan captain how many lesbians were on her team.

All matches are well-attended, and the crowds as enthusiastic as all the players, with their loud responses sometimes drowning out the commentaries. I am even willing to forego my beauty sleep, as due to time zone difference, games are played when it’s middle of the night in western Canada, where I am a full-throated, firmly forever, frantic female footie fan.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada