Yesterday I attended my first West Ham United Ladies game against Cardiff City. In my brief little visit from Scotland, where I am based, I seized the opportunity to go and view some less well know aspects of West Ham, especially since the men’s first team’s season is coming to an end with very little to play for. When I first thought about going to watch the ladies first team it got me thinking; have the women been left in relative obscurity by our club?
While doing a little bit of research before attending the game at Aveley FC’s Mill Field ground the first thing that struck me was the information about the Ladies team, on West Ham’s official website, isn’t updated nearly as much as it should be. This really doesn’t take much effort. If you click on the their respective League table on the website it was last updated on the 23rd March. Likewise the stats for the individual players haven’t been updated since that day. On a slightly smaller scale, the score for yesterday’s match, a 1-0 win, still hasn’t been updated by the time I’m writing this. Would this happen for the men? I don’t think so somehow.
Staying with the website it became apparent that, in order to find the required information about the ladies, I had to go to their very own website. It serves it’s purpose but it is in no way afforded the same level of development, or attention, that the official West Ham website does. Why are the Ladies not afforded the opportunity to share the official website to it’s full potential? To achieve this it really doesn’t require too much extra effort and, from the outside, it looks like they’ve been left out in the cold.
The second issue revolves around the funding of the side. They are completely self-funded. All the players and staff, including manager Julian Dicks, are volunteers and take no payment for their services. Funds at present come from the players making donations to help provide kit, pay pitch fees and help cover equipment costs. Of course fans are also asked to help through donations and admission prices. The side really isn’t in a great financial situation and I would have thought West Ham would have been able to provide some level of funding and support. As far as I’m aware they provide the team with a training pitch twice a week but that’s it. Without continued investment the West Ham ladies side won’t even survive, let alone progress.
The next issue revolves around their playing location. I would never want to criticize a club’s ground but the facilities at Aveley FC aren’t the best. Additionally, with the fences so close to pitch you lose count of how many new balls are required in a game. As a result plenty of the staff are required to just continually fetch balls that have been kicked out of the ground. Furthermore, an issue I find particularly scandalous, their next game against Lewes on 19th April is yet to have an assigned ground. How can that be allowed to happen?
The ladies side has picked up seven points this last week and their play recently has been pretty good. Watching yesterday’s game their tenacity and hard work was hugely impressive and it helped bring about the win. It’s also refreshing to see players stay on their feet after a slight nudge. The traditional argument against women’s football is that the players simply aren’t physical, athletic or skillful enough. This really isn’t the case anymore.
I’ve been assigned to work on a number of women’s games in Scotland and I’ve seen some superb games; not just in terms of the drama but also the goals and technical skills on show. Yesterday was no different. I thoroughly enjoyed the match and the skill on show is perfectly good to watch. Vicky Kinsman’s winning goal was a superb execution of composure and she neatly slotted her effort through the goalkeeper’s legs. Anyone who has watched some of the women’s super league on TV also knows that the players are well up there in terms of ability. So why is there still such a huge gulf between our men’s first’s and women’s first’s?
West Ham is a club that contains a number of different sides, men’s and women’s, first teams, and development teams. If the club is to be the family that it strives to be it needs to generate increased support for it’s other sides. Too much focus is on the men’s first team at the moment. So let’s use this opportunity to turn our main attention to other sides. Plenty of fans, myself included, are hugely disappointed with our record in the domestic cups. The 4-0 loss to West Brom was particularly disheartening. But the Ladies have a cup final to play against Charlton on 6th May. Lets give them the support that they deserve as part of our club and help bring back some silverware.
Plenty still needs to be done with the women’s game in our country and I believe the introduction of the Super League has aided in it’s progression. The switch to a summer calendar has also benefitted which is maybe something other women’s leagues should consider. Teams like Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal are the pinnacle of the English women’s game, primarily down to available funds, but why can’t we set inclusion in the Women’s super league as a long term goal? Invest in the team, the coaching and the infrastructure and then we, as fans, can cheer on two West Ham first teams. We need the club to comply for this to happen. We are a West Ham family and we can’t leave any side out in the cold. Lets try and improve all aspects of our great club.
Additionally it’s well documented how ridiculously overpriced Premier League tickets are these days and its outrageous. However, if the money is a struggle then why not treat yourself, friends or family to a West Ham Ladies game and support our girls. I got to watch a perfectly good game on a sunny Sunday afternoon for a total of £3. This got me admission and a programme. The club can help but we also need more and more fans to come along and support. It would be great for the team and help get further funding.
My final point is related to some twitter comments that I wholly support. Lets get the girls playing at Upton Park before we leave. If they’re struggling to get locations
to play then surely someone at the club can make this happen. There is no one more deserving to play at our famous stadium than the women’s team. Let’s try and make this something that can be a reality.
To follow West Ham Ladies on twitter go to @Westhamladies
