Bristol City WFC

[Phileas Fogg]

33 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

I've long held the view that the games should be played at Ashton Gate.  A Bristol City football club should play there.  Open the middle of the lower Lansdown, have a bit of live music suitable for the crowd, sell suitable merchandise for each game, and I'm sure it would become more popular each time.

What sort of music would you have Kev?

[Eddie Hitler]

3 hours ago, Steve Watts said:

So what do you propose SL does with the men's team then?  It can be reasonably inferred from your point that the men's team should be binned of because it's not making a single penny.

The women's team does not make the men's less sustainable and has no bearing on FFP, so in reality your argument is about as watertight as a stadium being sold in Whorefield.

This is the Bristol Sport argument.

Bristol Sport is Steve's vision for Bristol and he's paying for it.  At the same time he is paying for the losses of Bristol City football club each year so we, as in BCFC, are not actually losing out from having these other clubs also subsidised by Bristol Sport.

I don't personally like the Bristol Sport concept, primarily because I have no interest in these other sports and dislike their being foisted at me on the official website, but it isn't damaging to BCFC as long as it all keeps being bankrolled.

The problem will only come if the Lansdown family decides to cease funding the Bristol Sport concept at which point you have a whole bundle of loss-making sports team tied to each other and dragging each other down.  Now I would help, and have helped, BCFC financially (two share issues under Scott Davidson; I was too young to help in 1982) but I have no interest in helping the other clubs under the Bristol Sport banner and that includes the women's football club.  My concern would be that in the event of a financial crisis they would all be bundled together and it would make rescuing Bristol City that much harder.

So no it is not currently a problem that we have a loss making women's football team and nor is it going to be a problem in the future as long as the Lansdown family continue their involvement; but it will become so if they stop and no equivalent stpes up to replace them.

[Cowshed]

6 hours ago, Loon plage said:

I don't disagree with much of what you say Cowshed, and your experience at Manchester City echos the view I made about all sections of society being included. My issue is simply the running of a professional team, and if the game is truly burgeoning I would suggest that is more at grass roots level than the top of womens football because despite all the patronising backing the BBC amongst others gives it the interest doesn't seem to be there in this country.

If Steve Lansdown wanted to fully support a womens professional team, bearing in mind they are/were top flight, then he would have paid to keep the best players and bring more in at a relatively low cost. The fact we appear according to the OP to be recruiting lower standard players people from outside the area (how is that inclusive of the local community by the way?) tells me that the club doesn't believe in the highest level either - certainly not at present.

And to be truly inclusive Bristol City / Bristol Sport can run a Professional women's football team. Women's football is on the up at every level. I do not look at the coverage the BBC give women's football as patronising as it reflects footballs record participation levels for females. That women's football does not gain the attendances of the men's game established for a hundred years so what, the point borders on being absurd, sorry if BBC was to only feature sports that have large attendances it would not reflect society. 

In regards to your second paragraph. Similar could be said in regards to the support Mr Lansdown gives Bristol City in the championship. In regards to your last line its uneven. We are not a Basque team playing only basques, the XI  of both genders highlights where football is. Bristol City women do have local players, do recruit locally, there are young female Bristol City teams playing v males in the JPL league, there are female youth teams and Bristol City WFC offer playing / training and educational opportunity … I am going to say that is a club that is showing a commitment to its community.

[handsofclay]

I keep hearing that Bristol City men's team also loses money. Surely, we would not have survived from 1887/1894 to the present day losing money each season. Plus, we all know full well that even if SL pulled the plug on Bristol City the club would survive and still maintain its fan base of probably 40,000+. A team that can draw average crowds of 20,000 can easily hold its financial head above water if it decides to. OK, there wouldn't be the megabucks signings, but clubs have been successful adopting such a route.

Thus, Bristol City will survive. There is far too much interest and support. The same cannot be said for women's football. The interest and support is largely manufactured. If it had to stand on its own two feet, as a professional sport, it would be dead in the water. Bristol City FC has survived as a professional sport on its own two feet for more than a century and a quarter.

[Natchfever]

21 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

And to be truly inclusive Bristol City / Bristol Sport can run a Professional women's football team. Women's football is on the up at every level. I do not look at the coverage the BBC give women's football as patronising as it reflects footballs record participation levels for females. That women's football does not gain the attendances of the men's game established for a hundred years so what, the point borders on being absurd, sorry if BBC was to only feature sports that have large attendances it would not reflect society. 

In regards to your second paragraph. Similar could be said in regards to the support Mr Lansdown gives Bristol City in the championship. In regards to your last line its uneven. We are not a Basque team playing only basques, the XI  of both genders highlights where football is. Bristol City women do have local players, do recruit locally, there are young female Bristol City teams playing v males in the JPL league, there are female youth teams and Bristol City WFC offer playing / training and educational opportunity … I am going to say that is a club that is showing a commitment to its community.

Refreshing Cowshed I appreciate your view although I don't share much of it.

 

[pillred]

On ‎22‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 19:51, Spoons said:

Get back in your museum you dinasour !!

have you seen any games in the past 2 seasons, Bristol city is not run as a charity at least the last time I looked, how many people would miss it if it didn't exist, go on be honest.

[Ashtonwurzel]

On 22/07/2018 at 20:42, KeepUpLino said:

Standard is piss poor tbf....Sunday league

Did you watch the home games versus Liverpool and Man City ?

[Spoons]

25 minutes ago, pillred said:

have you seen any games in the past 2 seasons, Bristol city is not run as a charity at least the last time I looked, how many people would miss it if it didn't exist, go on be honest.

Been to 5 games this season.

Bristol city isn't a charity but it had a registered charity in the community trust which does a amazing job and gets bcfc men or women disabled or abled bodied teams out to the Bristol community.

The bcfc women's team would be missed by all the bcfc girls team right down to u8's junior girls.

There are girls who are thriving in this environment who previously haven't had that opportunity. 

Like the men's team it isn't making money but like the men's team bcfc women is inspiring young girls to reality they can pursue they dream of being a professional footballer.

I should know I used to be the biggest critic of women's football until I had a daughter who started to play because of bcfc men. Now she has a season ticket at Ashton gate watches 5 games of bcfc women and plays for bcfc women's juniors.

[pillred]

4 hours ago, Spoons said:

Been to 5 games this season.

Bristol city isn't a charity but it had a registered charity in the community trust which does a amazing job and gets bcfc men or women disabled or abled bodied teams out to the Bristol community.

The bcfc women's team would be missed by all the bcfc girls team right down to u8's junior girls.

There are girls who are thriving in this environment who previously haven't had that opportunity. 

Like the men's team it isn't making money but like the men's team bcfc women is inspiring young girls to reality they can pursue they dream of being a professional footballer.

I should know I used to be the biggest critic of women's football until I had a daughter who started to play because of bcfc men. Now she has a season ticket at Ashton gate watches 5 games of bcfc women and plays for bcfc women's juniors.

fair play, but the club will never make any money from women's football (nor the mens probably until we get to the prem) so apart from providing somewhere for girls and women to play football can't see what it brings to the club on any financial level, though can see they themselves get a lot of pleasure from it. 

[Red-Robbo]

The UK is aeons behind other countries when it comes to women's football- and I support everything that helps us catch up.

I don't care if it's a loss-leading long-term investment: football at large, Bristol City, even England, will be the better for more female fans, more female players, more female involvement. 

[havanatopia]

On 23/07/2018 at 02:51, Spoons said:

Get back in your museum you dinasour !!

Arhhh yes but i think all Red Army is saying is that it is a money pit with no profit in sight. Think you have brought the emotional side into it and been rather too zealous with it. Had Red Army said its a financial disaster and its no surprise cost its the fairer sex you could have opened up both barrels at him. But he didn't.

Back on topic though; odd move by City but maybe they feel they have plucked the good uns from Millwall and Yeovil... It might be a cunning plan not to struggle again.

[The Constant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

The UK is aeons behind other countries when it comes to women's football- and I support everything that helps us catch up.

I don't care if it's a loss-leading long-term investment: football at large, Bristol City, even England, will be the better for more female fans, more female players, more female involvement. 

Totally agree with the female involvement angle, but the game has to walk before it runs.

In Australia, the womens 'super-league' is live on the  left wing SBS as an equality flagship show (fair enough) - but the standard is atrocious.

In a windy game, the ball stays in one half because the players struggle to kick the ball more than 30m - the keepers make David James Calamity tag seem like a compliment - you all get the picture.

My point is, to inspire equality and womens football in general, is, please ensure the standard is sufficiently entertaining that people want to pay to watch - let alone be live on TV.

Its currently not, and is doing the cause of womens football no favours.

Very much like the womens AFL - the commitment and passion is - the skill and fitness isn't.

Womens AFL had an obscene 8% ACL rupture rate amongst the players in the last 2 years - 8% !!

Thats 30+ women not working for a year as a result of being unprepared physically for the demands of the game.

 

There must be a fitness/skills standard before launching the game onto the Public arena, and football is probably 4-5 years away from that point.

I agree with getting more women to watch football - in AFL 40% of the crowd are women and small kids - I doubt Football is anywhere near that.

That, and more ethnic fans, must be on a to-do list for all sports.

[Red-Robbo]

6 hours ago, SX227 said:

Totally agree with the female involvement angle, but the game has to walk before it runs.

In Australia, the womens 'super-league' is live on the  left wing SBS as an equality flagship show (fair enough) - but the standard is atrocious.

In a windy game, the ball stays in one half because the players struggle to kick the ball more than 30m - the keepers make David James Calamity tag seem like a compliment - you all get the picture.

My point is, to inspire equality and womens football in general, is, please ensure the standard is sufficiently entertaining that people want to pay to watch - let alone be live on TV.

Its currently not, and is doing the cause of womens football no favours.

Very much like the womens AFL - the commitment and passion is - the skill and fitness isn't.

Womens AFL had an obscene 8% ACL rupture rate amongst the players in the last 2 years - 8% !!

Thats 30+ women not working for a year as a result of being unprepared physically for the demands of the game.

 

There must be a fitness/skills standard before launching the game onto the Public arena, and football is probably 4-5 years away from that point.

I agree with getting more women to watch football - in AFL 40% of the crowd are women and small kids - I doubt Football is anywhere near that.

That, and more ethnic fans, must be on a to-do list for all sports.

No one forces anyone to watch stuff on TV and I think the reason the BBC shows women's football sometimes is that they do not have to pay the megabucks the men's game demands.  It won't be a political decision.

And if the standard is not great, so what? Games can still be entertaining. I pop down and watch Street FC play sometime, but I don't expect to see incredible skills on display.

And when the leading UK TV show is Love Island how can we criticise any televised football as being not of sufficient quality.to be beamed onto our homes!

 

[Natchfever]

6 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

No one forces anyone to watch stuff on TV and I think the reason the BBC shows women's football sometimes is that they do not have to pay the megabucks the men's game demands.  It won't be a political decision.

And if the standard is not great, so what? Games can still be entertaining. I pop down and watch Street FC play sometime, but I don't expect to see incredible skills on display.

And when the leading UK TV show is Love Island how can we criticise any televised football as being not of sufficient quality.to be beamed onto our homes!

 

I would say it most certainly is a political decision and of course the BBC doesn't have to care about the bottom line or who chooses to watch any given program, as the public is forced to pay for it regardless.

As for Love Island, i'll bet advertising companies are queuing up to get within the commercial breaks for that shite because of the millions who watch it. 

It is what it is. I think the womens game doesn't currently merit the exposure it gets due to the standard as a spectacle. We are not talking womens golf tennis or athletics where it is only  the power that differentiates.

Just my opinion of course.

[Erithacus]

I think the reality is that the standard of women's football is still recovering from the banning that the FA brought in until the 1970s. Since then, the game had really only existed as a local amateur sport that was tacked on to the men's clubs. It is only in more recent years that the efforts put in to raise the standards have benefitted from the professional approaches now in place. Indeed, this also applies to men's too, in some aspects.

I will accept that people will have their own opinions as to whether women's football merits its place on the viewing schedules, but I'm sure most would say that the standards will rise with time. Will it be given sufficient time and focus to ensure that the grass roots will benefit? Once that momentum is firmly established will we see the full effect.

 

13 hours ago, SX227 said:

a result of being unprepared physically for the demands of the game

Medical science reports that women have a significant weakness regarding knee ligament strength - it has shown up regularly in women's sport in general, especially in heavy contact sports. Statistically they suffer more than men, unfortunately.

[Natchfever]

51 minutes ago, Erithacus said:

 

Medical science reports that women have a significant weakness regarding knee ligament strength - it has shown up regularly in women's sport in general, especially in heavy contact sports. Statistically they suffer more than men, unfortunately.

Their choice though and fair play to them.

[Cowshed]

16 hours ago, SX227 said:

Totally agree with the female involvement angle, but the game has to walk before it runs.

In Australia, the womens 'super-league' is live on the  left wing SBS as an equality flagship show (fair enough) - but the standard is atrocious.

In a windy game, the ball stays in one half because the players struggle to kick the ball more than 30m - the keepers make David James Calamity tag seem like a compliment - you all get the picture.

My point is, to inspire equality and womens football in general, is, please ensure the standard is sufficiently entertaining that people want to pay to watch - let alone be live on TV.

Its currently not, and is doing the cause of womens football no favours.

Very much like the womens AFL - the commitment and passion is - the skill and fitness isn't.

Womens AFL had an obscene 8% ACL rupture rate amongst the players in the last 2 years - 8% !!

Thats 30+ women not working for a year as a result of being unprepared physically for the demands of the game.

 

There must be a fitness/skills standard before launching the game onto the Public arena, and football is probably 4-5 years away from that point.

I agree with getting more women to watch football - in AFL 40% of the crowd are women and small kids - I doubt Football is anywhere near that.

That, and more ethnic fans, must be on a to-do list for all sports.

What is the rate for males? Its an injury in the male game that is increasing in the UK. 

 

 

 

[Erithacus]

A quick rummage through the Interweb appears to provide evidence that women are up to five times more prone to ACL injuries than men, pound for pound. There are several thoughts about why this is, such as pelvic width stresses, hormonal aspects, some dynamic deficiencies and the like. Percentage wise, the statistics are clear that girls are at a distinct disadvantage. Male rates don't appear to have changed greatly, although there is some debate as to whether current styles and sports science have increased the likelihood.

[Cowshed]

10 hours ago, Erithacus said:

A quick rummage through the Interweb appears to provide evidence that women are up to five times more prone to ACL injuries than men, pound for pound. There are several thoughts about why this is, such as pelvic width stresses, hormonal aspects, some dynamic deficiencies and the like. Percentage wise, the statistics are clear that girls are at a distinct disadvantage. Male rates don't appear to have changed greatly, although there is some debate as to whether current styles and sports science have increased the likelihood.

Male rates of ACL injuries have increased significantly. 

Parents of both genders with young kids playing may want to think about what their kids wear on their feet. Study of injuries suggest that injuries may be linked to biomechanics, and the popularity of less supportive footwear and artificial pitches. ACL injuries linked to tackles have not increased in number. 

[Red-Robbo]

19 hours ago, Loon plage said:

I would say it most certainly is a political decision and of course the BBC doesn't have to care about the bottom line or who chooses to watch any given program, as the public is forced to pay for it regardless.

As for Love Island, i'll bet advertising companies are queuing up to get within the commercial breaks for that shite because of the millions who watch it. 

It is what it is. I think the womens game doesn't currently merit the exposure it gets due to the standard as a spectacle. We are not talking womens golf tennis or athletics where it is only  the power that differentiates.

Just my opinion of course.

Despite it's reputation for being a load of left-wing luvvies, the management at the BBC are as hard-nosed bastards as those at ITV. I've worked for both.

The BBC has charter obligations to show so many hours of sport and women's football is a cheap way to fill some of those hours now Sky has been able to outbid them for any serious coverage of the men's domestic game.

[Flaxbourton Red]

On 22/07/2018 at 20:05, Red Army 75 said:

Let’s hope so . Waste of money. Sorry 

Love women! Love Bristol City! Love football!

Bristol city women? Er....

yeah love them too! er....

they are fit aren’t they?

[Warwickshire Red]

About time “The Vixens” became “The Robins” to align with the men’s team. 

Doesnt make sense to keep the old nickname when Bristol Academy is in the past and they’re wearing our strips now (including I presume the white away top this season with a robin and not a vixen). 

Probably will happen in time but they may as well get on within it.

[phantom]

Nice and subtle shirt sponsor for the upcoming season

[phantom]

[Robin Ashton]

Goalie looks a bit short. 

[The Constant Rabbit]

2 hours ago, phantom said:

Nice and subtle shirt sponsor for the upcoming season

@Rudolf Hucker perhaps you could point out your conquests for us...

[Rudolf Hucker]

6 minutes ago, SX227 said:

@Rudolf Hucker perhaps you could point out your conquests for us...

They're all a bit too young and fit for me, I'm afraid. I tried to convince them otherwise but to no avail. Their loss. At least I still have Kylie. 

[phantom]

32 minutes ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

They're all a bit too young and fit for me, I'm afraid. I tried to convince them otherwise but to no avail. Their loss. At least I still have Kylie. 

@Rudolf Hucker as in they have a pulse?

Minogue or Pentelow?

[Rudolf Hucker]

4 hours ago, phantom said:

@Rudolf Hucker as in they have a pulse?

Minogue or Pentelow?

To date, only Minogue has been lucky; lucky; lucky.

[Erithacus]

Interesting squad photo: plenty of new faces this season to replace a lot of ones that are now part of the 'Once a Vixen, always a Vixen' club. Including a new gaffer. Incidentally, the official club website still shows last season's squad and hasn't completed the results either!

Somewhat alarming that there are very few remaining people from the old Academy days, or perhaps it's just me getting on a bit. It feels like utter yonks ago that the team was playing in Cup Finals and wearing blue (anyone remember the Smurf Army, one shoe antics and all?). Yonks ago. And hardly any player left from that era, with Lozza about the last one as a link to the history. How times have changed...

The sponsor's logo does look rather large - are the rules regarding size applicable to the WSL as well?

Still, a new season beckons and it all starts this Sunday with a Conti Cup trip to Leicester. Good luck girls!