Women's football

Sporting Club Albion Ladies' Manager, Graham Abercrombie, asks a pertinent question. Ladies football has seen significant growth in the last few years, with the formation of the Women's Super League, and increased interest from television companies. This season the BBC is showing eight editions of the Women's Football Show, which includes highlights from the Super League, as well as broadcasting live radio commentary of sixteen games from the Super League and full live TV coverage of the FA Cup final. The professional game is certainly taking off in the top tier.

Yet just one tier below the two Super League Divisions, the game is in desperate need of support and finance. At West Brom Ladies, where I saw Sporting Club Albion take on Newcastle United Ladies, attendances are below forty, and despite standing on the cusp of the professional game, players are still paying to play the game. I wondered before setting out to attend the match, whether this would be a suitable event for a feature on grassroots sport. In the men's game, this would be the equivalent of a Championship or League One match. But as I discovered, below the Super League, women's football is still a grassroots sport, though judging by the skill and quality of the game, it should not be.

As somebody who had never attended a live ladies match, I did not know what to expect when I turned up at Halesowen Town football club to watch Sporting Club Albion. The gates were open as I entered the ground an hour before kick-off, but with virtually nobody around, it did not feel like a match day. One man, who I later learnt to be Tony Clark, father of one of the players, stood alone on the terraces. Clearly, the club were not accustomed to fans arriving quite so early. Fortunately, I managed to catch the lady selling match tickets just as she arrived in her car. Admission was £3 which included a programme, and as I later learnt, admission for girls was only 50p.

After entering the ground, I was able to meet up with Sporting Club Albion's new manager Graham Abercombie, who very kindly came over for an interview after setting up the team for their pre-match warm-up. Abercombie became involved with the women's game, 'by absolute chance', he told me.

"A number of years ago a friend of mine was managing my local team, Worcester City Ladies, and he got a job in the States at Christmas. I'd already been coaching for a number of years in the men's game so he came and asked me if I'd take over from him. I took over, reluctantly to start with, I wasn't sure, like most people still aren't sure today, but then within one training session I thought, 'Wow, this is fantastic'. I had a brilliant couple of years at Worcester. We were successful, but over and above trophies, we were successful with the progress we made and we set up a new girls section. It went from there for me really, the Aston Villa job was the next job for me in the National Premier League, then Nottingham Forest, and I've moved here this summer. It's been a fantastic journey."

Graham, clearly exceptionally passionate about women's football, started off by providing an insight into what to expect from the game: "I would say there's zero difference in the style of play. But physicality wise, with men and women being different, the game's probably played at a 60 to 65 per cent tempo of the men's game. You'll notice a difference in the pace of the overall game, not the individuals. That's the only difference really. Technically, style of play, and the way the girls play in terms of what they're trying to achieve at the end of it and the technical side of it, nothing different whatsoever."

As a first time viewer of live women's football, Graham assured me that I would be 'pleasantly surprised' and ' positively shocked'. He certainly turned out to be correct in this assertion.

Considering the rapid rise of the Super League in the last few years, I asked Graham whether one day we might see equality between the men's and women's game. Abercombie, however, believes there is still a long way to go: "Being realistic, I don't think it will ever reach the level of the men's game. It is getting bigger and stronger, but for it to truly grow now and become professional throughout a number of tiers, I think it's going to be down to partnership work with sponsors and TV. That's what's really going to drive it. There's already little bits of TV coverage now and there's good sponsorship at the highest level, which is obviously a tier above us, but that's what's going to be needed and like most things it boils down to money. If you can generate supporters, it will then generate sponsors and partners getting on board. Until that point, you can see today, we'll only have a handful of people turn up to our game today. Maybe that's something we need to work on, a bit more advertising and a bit more marketing of course, but we're working within very tight budgets, timescales, and capacities, so it's difficult."

I asked Abercombie whether more support could be lent from the men's game. He insisted, however, that engaging the community in the game is the key to progression: "I think there is support, but it doesn't just sit on the lap of the men's game. There's a community that should be here today. Why have we not got all the local girls' teams, under 10s, 11s, 13s, coming here to watch a Premier League game for 50 pence? Why is that not the case? Why are they not here? When I've not been in management and I've had time between jobs, I've still always brought my son down to watch a game, because it's a great bit of entertainment for very little money. We get something really positive out of it, watching live sport."

Despite the low attendances, Abercombie believes that avenues are being created for young girls to get involved in the game: "These players playing today will be the Premier League stars that young girls will look up to, the same as boys would look up to the Premier League stars in the men's game. It's exactly the same, we have a centre of Excellence attached to us and all the U9s and U11s want to become our mascots so they can meet the Premier League stars that are attached to our club. It's fantastic and it should be encouraged. We could end up with hundreds of girls here every Sunday and that would be fantastic."

Whilst opportunities for young girls to get involved with the game have increased, dedication and commitment remain paramount to succeeding in the ladies' game. Abercombie explained: "We train twice a week and play on Sundays. It's a huge commitment. Unfortunately at this level the players still pay subs. They're not looked after entirely financially. They still have to pay subs when really they should be getting paid for their commitment. They still have to work full-time for a living. Really at this level now, at the cusp of the professional level, these girls are the single most committed people in the game. They're playing at the highest level and still playing for the love of the game."

The dedication and determination of the players is certainly admirable. At half-time, I spoke to Tony Clark, the father of Eleanor Clark, one of the players in the Sporting Club Albion team. He told me how he travels with Eleanor up and down the country, home and away. "There is a lot of travelling involved. Just a few weeks back we had these (Newcastle United Ladies) away and it took up the whole day." Yet Tony is used to the travelling by now, having made the commitment since Eleanor was 11: "When she first started we were in Mansfield, and we had to travel to Nottingham for her to play in the Centre of Excellence at Forest. There were no clubs close by. But then when we went to Nottingham, I didn't realise how big it was. I was very surprised when we started. We went to a five-a-side tournament and there were hundreds of clubs there. It's massive. They used to have tournaments and loads of different teams. It's a big thing."

Eleanor's story as a female footballer shows how tough it is to make it as a professional player, in a game where there is only one professional league. Two years ago, Eleanor thought she had got her break, having made it as a pro into the Women's Super League with Notts County. Dad Tony explained her experience: "She played in the Reserves with Notts County probably for half a season and then she got up to the first team for probably three or four friendlies. But then she was on the bench for so many games. She realised she wasn't going to get a look in so she came down here. She loves playing football and she just wants to play. She trains hard. She knew she wasn't going to get a chance in the Super League." Yet now, just one step below the professional tier, Eleanor is not even at semi-pro level. This is where the difficulty lies for footballers in the ladies' game.

As Graham had said I would, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. Sporting Club Albion were beaten 3-2, despite a strong comeback in the second half. The football was entertaining, played in the right spirit and in terms of quality, exceeded my expectations. Just like the men's game there were contentious refereeing decisions, and strangely just like the men's game, fans and players still shouted 'man on'.

The game was played in a competitive and serious manner, reflecting the players' commitment to their sport. As I watched the game, I reflected upon the passion conveyed to me by Graham, Tony, and the ladies who were playing their sport. I felt an overwhelming sense of admiration for all of them, for their commitment, sacrifice and love of their game. At the same time, I could not help feeling that they perhaps deserved more. If not from the game itself, then from the community. This was not a Sunday League game, but a Premier League match, and yet there were hardly more than thirty people in attendance.

As I departed the ground, I said goodbye to Tony, and left him standing on the terraces, alone - just as I had found him - waiting to pick up Eleanor. A picture of steely commitment, he reflected the passion and dedication embodied in ladies football. Considering the passion of the people I met, further progression in the ladies' game would seem inevitable. Yet the game deserves, and desperately needs, wider attention and support, to ensure that girls with the ambition and desire to become footballers can succeed at a professional level.