Tomorrow, Wednesday 13th April 2011, is a momentous day in the history of football. It's the day the new Women's Super League is launched. At 5.30 pm Chelsea take on Arsenal at the Tooting and Mitcham FC ground and at 7.45 Lincoln Ladies play Doncaster Belles at Sincil Bank. The Chelsea Arsenal match is live on ESPN.
The intitiative shows that, over a hundred years after Nettie Honeyball organised the first women's match between London North and London South, the FA is finally taking women's football seriously.
Nettie Honeyball, in full kit, organised the first games between two women's teams in 1895 to show that women were more than 'mere ornaments.'
The super league will run for two years in the first instance and consists of 8 teams. The teams have been selected not only for their standard of football but also because they proved they can be commercially viable. Four players on each team will be paid up to £20,000 each. Top international players have been shared out between the clubs in an attempt to pool the talent so that no one team dominates. Whether this works or not waits to be seen. Arsenal Ladies have reigned supreme for a long time in the women's game with Everton chomping at their heels.
Tomorrow I'll be using my season ticket (£24.00) to watch Lincoln Ladies take on Doncaster Belles. Manager Rod Harris's Lincoln have the ebulliant England international Sue Smith on board as well as Jess Clarke, Casey Stoney and Sophie Bradley. This is on top of an already decent squad who have been going from strength to strength over the years.
England midfielder and now Lincoln Ladies player Sue Smith
I really hope the WSL gets the attention and credit it deserves. Signs in the media are good and with the Women's World Cup coming up at the end of June things could be really exciting. England Women recently beat the USA 2-1. As the USA are ranked no.1 in the world that's a terrific boost ahead of the campaign.
Even better, I think, is that women's football has been filtering through to girls' magazines. In the current edition of Shout (#471) there's a double page feature on Liverpool's Hanna Keryakoplis. How brilliant is that? Women footballers in there between Lady Gaga and the Snog, Marry or Avoid quiz! Dead right too. Sports women have always been the healthier alternative to cat walk models and pop stars as far as role models go. I'd much rather have my daughter impressed by someone who looks good because she trains hard and is fit than because she's been airbrushed to fake perfection.
So I hope you'll all be following the women's game and supporting your local side whether they're in the WSL or not. The Premier League (National Division) still contains plenty of top teams. Huddersfield Town Ladies (North-East PL Division) for example were the half time guests on the pitch at the Galpharm on Saturday as they've recently linked up with HTAFC.
Nettie would be proud.
Helena Pielichaty http://www.helena-pielichaty.com/
Girls FC series for 8-11s out now
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