Despite being by far the most popular sport in the UK, football is much-maligned by critics who point to the diving, the waving of imaginary cards and a general lack of respect for officials and bad behaviour of fans. And that is without mentioning recent racism incidents.
So congratulations must go to the Premier League for their part in helping develop grassroots sport away from the football pitch.
Liverpool players surround referee Lee Probert during their side's win over Bolton in August. Photo: Flickr, dannymol
The last Labour government set up a scheme, in partnership with the Premier League, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, called ‘Premier League 4 Sport‘ – its somewhat cheesy name not detracting from the tangible benefits it has made to non-mainstream sports in Britain.
Each Premier League club teams up with local table tennis, judo, badminton and volleyball clubs with the intention of widening youngsters’ involvement in sports. The league has announced it will contribute a further £2m to the project, which has far outperformed expectations, allowing children easier access to three more sports – netball, basketball, handball and hockey.
To date, it has been a startling success, with 40,000 children given exposure to these sports, far outstripping targets set at its launch.
On Monday, the Guardian reported the launch of a scheme by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt to invest £1bn over the next five years into grassroots sport, partly a response to the coalition having come under fire from opponents for its abandonment of a Labour-initiated school sports programme.
There is no doubt money is tight and, naturally, spending has to be focused on priority needs.
But the Olympic legacy – after all, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – must not be squandered. And that is why the role of institutions such as the Premier League is so welcome.
Their selflessness in investing in eight other sports should also be applauded.The grants from the Premier League will not only help the nation’s children, but will help breathe life into a variety of non-mainstream sports that so often fail to attract the attention of either the media or potential players.
*For more on the Olympic legacy, check out the Olympic Cardiff blog
Tongues immediately began wagging at the fact all the names were male. The Daily Mail’s Laura Williamson, for example, regretfully suggested the list “sums up the pervading attitude towards women’s sport in this country”.
Professor Laura McAllister, head of Sport Wales, insisted the Sports Personality of the Year snub – which she brands “scandalous” – flies in the face of the progress made by women’s sport in Wales.
“I think in terms of where we’re at with women’s sport, it’s probably as strong as it’s ever been,” she argues.
“Team sports, particularly football, have grown at quite some pace over the last decade.”
Laura McAllister: BBC Sports Personality process is “fundamentally flawed”
On the field, women’s football in Wales has been a relative success in recent years, even if it has had to set out from a relatively low base.
As Prof McAllister explains, an already-solid structure is becoming ever more established. “We’ve got a team playing at virtually the highest level of UK competition – the English Premier League, as Cardiff City do – and then we’ve got our own Welsh Premier League [formed in 2009] which has really improved standards in the lower levels.”
But the problem, as Prof McAllister notes, is something of a vicious cycle. Sports journalism is predominately practised by and hence focused on men, but without more comprehensive coverage, it will always be difficult for women’s teams to attract more followers.
View from the stand at the Cardiff International Athletics Stadium, with the 27,000-seater Cardiff City Stadium in the background, as Cardiff City Ladies take on Reading
Cardiff dug out a determined win in torrential conditions against the visitors from Berkshire, with second-half goals from Nicola Cousins, Lauren Price and Zoe Atkins securing a comfortable 3-0 win.
CCLFC has received support from Cardiff City Council, but now needs to draw in the crowds with media help
But although the horrendous conditions would certainly have had a detrimental effect on the crowd numbers, the 2,500-capacity stand was sparsely filled, to say the least. Cardiff City men’s side, meanwhile, attract a crowd of 20,000-plus each game.
Karen Jones, secretary of the ladies’ club, reveals her team has benefited from financial support from local government. The state-of-the-art facilities at the International Stadium mean Cardiff is, in terms of facilities, one of the best endowed female club sides in the UK.
This, though, has had little or no impact on expanding the market and driving up attendances. While Karen emphasises next year’s Olympic Games have not had an entirely positive effect on CCLFC, with women’s football being showcased at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium she hopes more followers will be attracted to her club and others at all levels across south Wales.
Cardiff City Ladies FC’s club secretary Karen Jones: “We have the best facilities in the league”
“Even with the men’s World Cup you get an influx of girls who want to come and join.”
It is not just women’s football experiencing something of a boom. Welsh netball is going through a huge resurgence following the recruitment of New Zealander Melissa Hyndman to coach the national side, and has recently returned from Scotland – ahead of Wales in the netball world rankings – after having won every game on tour at both senior and under-21 level.
Laura McAllister: Recent progress “augurs very well for the future”
But while there have been triumphs on the field and improved infrastructure has been provided, for women’s football, hockey and netball and other popular team sports to ever break into the mainstream – and perhaps even smash the glass ceiling of professionalism – the media has to play a role.
Laura McAllister: “We need more female sports journalists just to get different perspectives”
It is open to discussion as to whether media coverage of women’s sport, and particularly that of the team variety, will ever even approach that devoted to men. What appear to be intransigent attitudes such as the one expressed by the Independent’s Glenn Moore will not help:
“Women’s sport does not get much media attention because the public do not demand it. The Independent’s sports desk gets more letters asking for increased coverage of lower league football, or racecards, than of women’s sport.”
The controversy surrounding the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist demonstrates a definite undercurrent of support for female athletes although it remains to be seen whether a positive step forward can emerge from the aftermath of the controversy.
But while Welsh football, netball and hockey teams keep on winning, the chance of this happening can only increase.
An Early Bath 