My Take | The Women’s World Cup has attracted a new generation of football fans
- The successful tournament has rightly been hailed as a game changer both for the code and women’s sport in general after decades of neglect
Record crowds flocked to stadiums in Australia and New Zealand to watch teams compete for a place in Sunday’s final as World Cup fever took hold.
Hong Kong’s bars are expecting a busy evening, as fans gather to watch England and Spain fight for the ultimate prize. The global TV audience for the tournament is expected to reach 2 billion.
The women’s game has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years. It is finally getting the recognition it deserves. But this has been a hard-fought struggle.
Football has been a passion of mine since I was old enough to kick a ball. But I confess that I have not found it easy to make the conversion to the women’s game.
The matches I watched were a far cry from the pace, physicality and skill I have witnessed for years in the men’s game. It seemed like a different sport.
My lack of enthusiasm, no doubt, was partly born from an unconscious bias. I grew up playing football in England in the 1970s, where boys were told football was “a man’s game”. If you dodged a tackle or wore gloves in the cold, you risked being branded “a girl”.