According to Forbes, Manchester United are the second most valuable sports franchise in the world, with a valuation at a little under $3.2 billion. Arsenal are no slouches, occupying tenth spot and valued just north of the $1 billion mark, but the Gunners have something over their Premier League rivals that is somewhat priceless. (Here is the original list from Forbes)
The ugly truth is that despite their storied history and unquestionable standing in the global game, Manchester United do not have a women’s team. They had one up until 2005 when in unfortunate timing they decided to scrap it – right on the eve of England hosting the women’s Euros. By contrast, Arsenal can boast the most successful women’s team in the country, having collected a stunning 38 major trophies in their history. Arsenal were also founding members of the Women’s Super League and have invested meaningfully in the women’s game as a whole since 1987.
Arsenal L.F.C. are strongly linked to the men’s team, enjoying all the same world class sponsors and facilities and playing some of their home fixtures at the Emirates Stadium. In news that should be particularly galling to United fans, Liverpool raised the bar even higher this year by establishing the only full-time club in the WSL.
The Manchester United manager David Moyes, whose daughter Lauren plays for Preston North End, is apparently deliberating the possibility of reintroducing a women’s side. Whatever Moyes decides, it will have an enormous impact and not just on women’s soccer in the UK.
As soccer fans we all care passionately, some may say obsessively, about our chosen teams. We also care about the game generally in a broader context. And we really should concern ourselves with the financial and social implications of the decisions made by the various governing bodies. The recent efforts to stamp out racism in particular have highlighted the importance of making sure soccer does not neglect its responsibilities as the world’s most popular sport. For better or worse, the examples and behaviors exhibited by elite sporting franchises have ramifications far beyond the stadium walls. Just ask the Miami Dolphins.
If an insanely wealthy mega-brand such as Manchester United does not take the women’s game seriously enough to field even a semi-professional side, it sends a worrying message. Sexism is still embarrassingly rife. Andy Gray and Richard Keys, two prominent commentators for Sky Sports were fired two years ago for declaring on air that ‘women don’t know the offside rule.’ Sepp Blatter – the President of FIFA – when referring to a female FIFA Executive Committee member, described her as ‘good and good looking.’
Blatter also suggested that in order to make women’s soccer more popular, the players should Wear feminine clothes.
“Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball,” he said.
“They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men – such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?”
Even the FA opted to have its 150th anniversary gala dinner, as attended by Prince William, on the same night the England Women’s team played a World Cup qualifier against Wales. An unthinkable scheduling conflict if the men’s team had been playing. There are too many examples in soccer of female athletes being relegated to second class citizens.
Since the enactment of Title IX forty one years ago the studies have been unequivocal about the importance of sports to women. A recent survey commissioned by Ernst & Young found that 96% of high ranking female executives played sports at some level, a revealing statistic that Lauren Moyes might want to bring up at the dinner table. When Manchester United face Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday they will start the game eight points behind the league leaders. They will be looking up at the team from north London in more ways than one.