Fir park opens it’s doors for league leader ladies in midweek showcase match.
Equality between male and female sport has always been a hotly debated topic, not always helped by sexist comments from the media suggesting female sports in some way lacks the excitement and skill of their male counterparts…but we know this isn’t true! Unfortunately though, despite the high skill level, commitment, vision and drive of female footballers, it often seems that the game doesn’t always receive backing in equal measures.
Despite women’s football being one of the fastest growing sports in the world, it seems a constant battle to receive the financial backing, dedicated media coverage and general status it deserves. Let’s look at our female national A squad who are higher ranked than the men’s team…but I bet you didn’t know that, but who would blame you, it’s not like our beautiful game is regularly showcased on the back page of our morning papers.
So let’s strip things back to basics. Ok, so we can’t hide the fact that there has to be some kind of financial backing to raise the status of women’s football, but let’s look beyond that. Women’s football needs to firstly be on a par with that of our men’s teams before anything else. Certain aspects of the game may differ but being treated the same is where I believe it starts. The simple things like training kit, equipment and facilities used are a basis for equality. Some of our female teams here in Scotland train 4 times a week, that’s more than most of out top level men’s teams…as well as manage a full time job or further education …and kids too! The sad thing is though that a lot of the clubs in Scotland who have both men’s and women’s teams playing at a high level, have little or no affiliation with their female counterparts at all.
But clubs like Motherwell FC have fully embraced being affiliated with their ladies team and offer a huge amount of support in order to ensure they are not only treated as equals, but are given the best opportunities possible to join forces and together, achieve club goals! This has really helped Motherwell ladies create a highly professional set up which is undoubtedly an attractive feature when looking to seek top level players. Motherwell FC whole heartedly supports their female counterparts in a whole host of different ways. The ladies are given full use of first team facilities for both their training nights and more! This includes the club gym, cardio and conditioning rooms and state of the art training equipment. The ladies take full advantage of this privilege on a Wednesday night when they use both cardio and conditioning equipment to ensure they are hitting cardio and muscular endurance targets before heading out to the 3G astro facility to the rear of the stadium for their skills and tactics based sessions. The use of these facilities is paramount to any professional set up to ensure players are performing at peak levels.
Motherwell FC have also supported the ladies this season in ensuring they look as professional off the pitch as they do on it! This season the club donated full training kit and match day tracksuits to all players. Sourcing funding to buy this amount of quality merchandise for any club is no mean feat. It’s fantastic to have this support and have all players affiliated with the club, proudly wearing the badge …which gives the perfect look for match day photos! Gone are the days your mum stands at the side of the park with a disposable camera trying to catch you in your best action shot! Motherwell FC have linked up the ladies team to provide them with their own professional photographers who cover their SPFL Premiership games! A huge thank you to SNS pix who have kindly agreed to support the ladies with their league and cup campaigns this season. SNS pix have already covered 2 of the ladies games so close in to the start of their season and you can see for yourself, the quality of their work is absolutely outstanding! Thank you SNS pix! Be sure to follow us on twitter: @MotherwellLFC to see match day photos.
Impressive isn’t it!? …but there’s more!!
Motherwell FC has given the ladies team the use of their first team stadium, Fir Park for selected games this season, allowing the ladies to use first team changing facilities and the pitch to play on but also allowing them to open the doors of Fir Park to the friends, families and fans of their club. Something I believe is a key factor to the success of the women’s game.
Playing in a professional stadium on a carpet surface is every players dream isn’t it? To have the eyes of the world on you..to score that world class goal and turn to face the thousands of screaming fans chanting your name!? Come on, admit it, we’ve all had that dream once or twice! Its exciting! Plain and simple! It’s the kind of thing that gives a player goosebumps. Walking down the tunnel, anticipating that first step onto inch perfect grass! It reminds you of why you give the blood sweat and tears and leave every ounce of energy you have on the training ground, knowing that come match day, the stadium is where you get to showcase your hard work.
It makes it professional! Facilities are of the highest order. Not only does it look fantastic, but as a player in those surroundings it makes you feel fantastic, which can only be a good thing for team morale but more importantly, team performance! It certainly makes all the difference in the world to a player to play on that kind of surface rather than having to avoid potholes and the latest present left by the local dog!
There is absolutely no question a professional surface raises the quality of the game. A slick passing surface allows the ball to travel at pace, smoothly across the grass. This raises the tempo of the game and in turn increases the tiki taka quick style of play which we all love to see on match day! …great for the players…great for the fans! Watching women’s football is an absolutely brilliant day out! The quality of the game can bring just as much flair, skill, determination, grit, aggression and excitement as any men’s game! Coming along to the local park, with no seating, toilets or shelter is one thing, but coming along to watch a women’s game in a 15,000 seater stadium, bovril to hand and a pitch perfect view really does make it a fantastic family day out for all! It’s a great opportunity to bring along the family and inspire our future stars into the game! Regular stadium games will attract a regular match day crowd of dedicated fans but will also create an attractive environment to bring out a whole new set of MLFC supporters and that can only be a good thing!
So thanks to Motherwell FC nows your chance to get your friends, family, uncles, aunties, nieces, nephews, granny’s and granda’s out and along to experience the passion and Well family atmosphere of the women’s game in Lanarkshire’s finest stadium! The first opportunity to see the Ladies take to the pitch will be on the evening of Wednesday13th May where they will play Edinburgh South in the league, 8pm KO. Well ladies formally invites you all to come along, cheer and support our ladies from the stands as they take to the hallowed turf of Fir Park for the first time this season! It would be great to see some first team fans there showing support to our ladies and entry is absolutely FREE! A fantastic Wednesday night out for all the family.
A huge thank you to all at Motherwell FC for your support this season, including all the first team players and staff for your continued support on social media. Motherwell FC have shown the ladies a tremendous club support and one that rightly puts our men and women on an even playing field. It’s fantastic to be working in unity to achieve club success.
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