An 'opportunity to assess': How the coronavirus crisis could impact upon the future of women's football

SPECIAL REPORT​ + WSL and Championship seasons set to be curtailed​ + One club, AFC Flyde women, has already disbanded + Leading figures sense an opportunity to right past wrongs
Joe Montemurro, Arsenal manager, and his squad in February
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As the FA prepare to abandon the Women's Super League and Women's Championship, fears over the future of women’s football are mounting.

One club, AFC Fylde women, have already been disbanded during the coronavirus pandemic, and there are concerns that more could follow in the aftermath of the season’s curtailment.

Arsenal’s Vivienne Miedema has predicted the crisis will halt the game’s progress and Shadow Minister for Sport, Alison McGovern, on Wednesday said women’s football could be pushed back into “the wilderness” if the season is ended without a “broader plan”.

FIFPro, the global players’ union, have gone as far as to warn that the very existence of the sport itself is under threat.

It is, seemingly, a bleak picture, but throughout the women’s pyramid there is also surprising optimism that the shutdown provides unique opportunity for reflection.

"Players and supporters, who really want to see the women’s game at the elite level succeed, [want to] know what is happening."

Alison McGovern

“It’s a good opportunity to look at our practices, at whether we can do things better, in terms of stadia, broadcasting, sponsorship, the way we play the game,” Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro told Standard Sport.

It is easy for someone in Montemurro’s shoes to be philosophical. Arsenal are one of the WSL’s superpowers, with Chelsea and Manchester City, and their men’s club have promised to maintain support come what may.

If the WSL season is decided by points-per-game, the Gunners would finish third, with Chelsea leapfrogging City into top spot to become champions. But, as the threat of more women’s sides being cut loose by cash-strapped men’s clubs increases, even Montemurro believes now is the time for a fundamental rethink.

"A lot of [women’s] clubs are beholden to what the men’s clubs are doing,” said the Australian. “But now we can start to look at sustainability. It’s a good time for us to take stock. Our base is growing and we can shoot off.”

Further down the food chain, there is also belief that the crisis could ultimately prove a gateway to a more prosperous future.

Part-time Lewes are one of only three teams in the Championship not affiliated to a professional men’s side, but their general manager, Maggie Murphy, is not overly concerned about their future, nor pushing for a rapid return to action.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Murphy said. “When you don’t have much to start with, you don’t have lots to lose. If we rush back, we threaten a lot of the progress that’s been made. We need to think about what we want women’s football to look like in future. Is it one that’s dependent on men’s clubs, or is it one where independent clubs can compete?”

Murphy admits that playing behind closed doors could have a “crippling effect” on Lewes, who are 100 per cent fan-owned, but she believes there are solutions to mitigate for the loss of matchday revenue, including adding Championship clubs to a new TV deal and awarding emergency grants to clubs that promote equality and diversity.

Maggie Murphy, Lewis FC general manager

“There’s an opportunity to build in, bit by bit, measures that would ensure that the type of football that comes out of the pandemic is more sustainable, more inclusive and more diverse,” she said.

Even FIFPro believe there is reason for optimism, despite last month’s report claiming women’s football faces an “almost existential threat” if specific measures are not taken.

“In every crisis there is opportunity,” their general secretary, Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, told Standard Sport. “When football looks to build its ‘new normal’ and look beyond the immediate shock of this crisis, do we do this purely with an eye on where we can generate the quickest revenue, or do we think a little bit broader and apply a set of values that we want the game to capture? We believe in the latter.”

Sports consultant and women’s football agent Nicole Allison believes the biggest opportunities presented by the crisis will be commercial. “Brands that come out of this will want to really develop and continue the good things we’ve seen during this crisis — the community and togetherness we’ve all shown,” Allison said.

“That’s something sport offers — and women’s sport is no different, if not better actually, so a lot of brands will show interest in being involved in women’s football. Broadcasting, match-day, commercial — [the game] was on an upward trajectory. I don’t think it’ll go too far the other way.”

It offers an opportunity, post-crisis, to continue the things we were doing well and to realign the things were losing control of.”

Nicole Allison

As men’s football undertakes a period of introspection and EFL clubs discuss a “complete reset”, Allison believes the flimsy foundations of the women’s game could actually be advantageous.

“What’s critical across football as a whole is the need for sustainability,” she said. “We don’t want women’s football to go down the same route men’s football did. It’s an opportunity to re-set and I don’t think it’ll be such a shock for women’s football — it hasn’t got itself into that situation so far.

“There has been so much growth so quickly, so much has happened so quickly, that you do need to stop and think: what have we done well? What did we not do so well? Just reassess. It offers an opportunity, post-crisis, to continue the things we were doing well and to realign the things were losing control of.”

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