Is this news? Beware of the patronising comments girls. Tanya __________________________________________________
A fifth of Premiership fans are women Star players and better stadiums have attracted a new wave of female fans - but they enjoy abusing the ref as much as men do By Roger Dobson, Steve Bloomfield and Simon O'Hagan Independent 21 September 2003 Women now make up a fifth of all fans attending Premiership football matches - double the proportion a decade ago. An academic study highlights a new phenomenon of mothers and daughters going to football matches together, just as fathers have traditionally taken their sons. A combination of all-seater stadiums, the decline in hooliganism and the increasing emergence of celebrity footballers such as David Beckham and Thierry Henry has made the game more attractive to female fans. And the report shows women enjoy the tribalism and abusive chanting just as much as male fans. Clubs are cashing in on the game's more feminised market. This season the England team and some Premiership clubs - including Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers - have introduced specially designed replica shirts cut for women. Umbro, the manufacturer of the England strip, used "female body-mapping techniques" to create a more fitted shirt. Catherine Preece, a spokeswoman for Wolves, said female fans were kept in mind when their stadium was redeveloped in the 1990s. "More female toilets were added and the lower tier of our new stand is a family enclosure," she said. Academics from the universities of Coventry and the West of England surveyed more than 1,000 regular Premiership match-goers and carried out in-depth interviews with a smaller group of supporters. Their research shows that the number of women attending football matches has doubled from 10 per cent in 1992. "Culturally, it was very much the norm for women to attend football matches," the report says. "The interviews suggested that women did not want to be treated differently to men, but they did want security. "In general, women seemed to enjoy the singing and tribalism as much as men. They were firmly against any segregation in the ground, however." "While men still dominate the gender mix, women made up nearly 20 per cent of support," said Jeff Clowes, a co-author of the report. Football's gender revolution was in evidence at Fulham's match with Manchester City at Loftus Road, west London, yesterday. As supporters of both clubs mingled happily in the sunshine along the road that leads to the ground from White City underground station, it was clear that a sizeable proportion of the crowd was female and that they spanned the age range. Typical of the new generation of women supporters was Lisa Adams, a 25-year-old Manchester City fan who was there with her friends Denise Fuller and Sharan Anjla, and not a boyfriend in sight. "It's about the buzz, and seeing a good game," she explained. "It's not about fancying the players. If it was that I was after I'd go and watch rugby." Fulham fan Theresa Dobbs, 43, has been going to matches since the 1970s. "Fulham's always been a friendly place to watch football," she said. "It's just a great day out." That was something 39-year-old Noriko McNish was hoping to discover. Mrs McNish, originally from Japan, was on her way to her first ever match with her Fulham season-ticket-holding husband, Andy. Was she concerned about the atmosphere? "Not at all. A bit of aggro's not going to bother me." The researchers say that the increase in women fans is just one of several dramatic changes in the game over the past decade. Supporters are also more affluent, with one in three working as managers or professionals. A third of football followers have incomes of more than �30,000. Only 8 per cent earn less than �10,000 a year. The academics say that the emergence of football as big business means that clubs need to know more about their customers, just like any other business. The aim of the research, reported in the European Journal of Marketing this week, was to profile the different types of modern football supporters. Hunter Davies, the author and football writer, said: "Football has become a middle- class sport. You've got to be well-off to follow it properly. A lot of women go because of their children now - they don't just go because of their boyfriends or husbands. "My next-door neighbour has been going to Spurs with me for the past five years. She's a total diehard. She's a better fan than most men and equally knowledgeable." Mr Davies also pointed to the number of girls now playing football at school as a reason for the rise. But Mr Davies said swearing is just as prevalent as it has always been. "People still say the same things. They still shout the same obscenities at the referee." On the terraces Claire Holywell, 30 Liverpool fan since 1990s"Going to games is a lot more secure, the clubs look after women better and there are more toilets! It's rubbish to say that we come because the men look good in shorts." Elise Dawkins, 44 Leicester fan since 1980s"You do notice a lot more women at games nowadays. And it's groups of women, not just tagging along with boyfriends ... women get mouthy, but we don't fight." Samantha Sweeney, 34 Fulham fan since 1980s"Nick Hornby made it cool to be a fan. Before I had to drag my female friends. But Fulham's attempt to woo women with a 'ladies' bag' was dreadful - they gave us sanitary towels." Christine Wardle, 44 Man City fan since 1970s"There used to be one women's toilet in the ground, but new stadiums are much better. Clubs are encouraging a family thing, and girls play football now, so get into it younger." Louise Price, 23 Wolves fan since 2001"I really like all the passion, you feel part of something special - even when you lose. I think it started because there were a lot of good-looking players and snowballed from there." Trizia Firoellino, 34 Chelsea fan since 1980s"Since all-seater stadiums, it's become safer and that's attracted more women. It's also become fashionable. It's now a huge rarity for someone to say they don't have a team." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> ReplayTV: CNet Ranked #1 over Tivo! Instant Replay & Pause live TV. Special Sale: 50% off! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UUMW7B/.5qGAA/ySSFAA/tsUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************** Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
