Women's team update

[ADMIN]

Following some very successful trials and an opening training session the Women's team play their first Pre Season Friendly on Wednesday away at Carshalton Athletic with a 7.45pm kick off. Entry is free for all.

We will also announce our 1st new signing of the season later today so make sure you check all your socials!

[ADMIN]

First new signing announced as we have signed Maddison Dalrymple from Millwall. Maddison is a centre back and was previously with Crystal Palace.

[steveb]

Any news on a home ground yet?

[davef]

Yes, we do have a home venue agreed, much closer to Sutton. We are planning a one-stop shop announcement some time next week (probably) to cover teams, grounds, managers etc

[davef]

3-1 win tonight in friendly

[boomboom]

Jul 3, 2024 9:59:51 GMT davef said:

Yes, we do have a home venue agreed, much closer to Sutton. We are planning a one-stop shop announcement some time next week (probably) to cover teams, grounds, managers etc

It's disappointing that our home matches won't be played at GGL albeit I understand why with the funding provided by Palace.

What I'm struggling to get my head round is why Premier League clubs don't have their women's teams playing at their own grounds given their expensive, state-of-the art, pitches.    Maybe one reason is that the atmosphere generated in a smaller stadium is better?  However, it does seem to be doing the women's game something of a disservice. 

[dontpanic]

Jul 4, 2024 10:40:47 GMT boomboom said:

Jul 3, 2024 9:59:51 GMT davef said:

Yes, we do have a home venue agreed, much closer to Sutton. We are planning a one-stop shop announcement some time next week (probably) to cover teams, grounds, managers etc

It's disappointing that our home matches won't be played at GGL albeit I understand why with the funding provided by Palace.

What I'm struggling to get my head round is why Premier League clubs don't have their women's teams playing at their own grounds given their expensive, state-of-the art, pitches.    Maybe one reason is that the atmosphere generated in a smaller stadium is better?  However, it does seem to be doing the women's game something of a disservice. 

One reason being that these expensive pitches, ridiculously, just don’t cope with extensive play, especially in adverse weather conditions. They are also very high maintenance. The big clubs just won’t chance it.
As said before these pitches are money pits.

[davef]

I'm just guessing, but the two main factors are probably:-

1/. The cost of opening a big stadium for a small crowd. Even if only one stand is opened the home club will incur significant costs for stewarding and turnstile staff, plus cleaning, catering etc. Yes, they might also have these costs at their secondary ground but likely to be much less.
2/. Even though the women's games are much lighter on the surface, they can still damage the pitch but also affect the opportunities for the grounds team to work on the surface.

You might also be right that they prefer playing in front of 5,000 in a small stadium compared to 5,000 in a 50,000 capacity ground.

[davef]

First team fixtures due out July 20th

[sallycat]

Jul 4, 2024 11:29:40 GMT davef said:

I'm just guessing, but the two main factors are probably:-

1/. The cost of opening a big stadium for a small crowd. Even if only one stand is opened the home club will incur significant costs for stewarding and turnstile staff, plus cleaning, catering etc. Yes, they might also have these costs at their secondary ground but likely to be much less.
2/. Even though the women's games are much lighter on the surface, they can still damage the pitch but also affect the opportunities for the grounds team to work on the surface.

You might also be right that they prefer playing in front of 5,000 in a small stadium compared to 5,000 in a 50,000 capacity ground.

Makes sense in theory but in practice it seems to be the other way round, crowds being smaller because the games are played at smaller, less glamorous venues.

Take Arsenal, for instance, since we're talking about big clubs. Their average crowd for games played at the Emirates last season was 52,029, which included two totally sold out games and was barely less than the men's average attendance over the last couple of seasons. Of course this is massively higher than their overall average crowd, but that's not just because that crowd wouldn't fit into other venues - those games tend NOT to sell out.

I've been to see them play at the Emirates a couple of times myself. Have I ever gone to see them at Boreham Wood? Hell no, you'd have to pay me.

[davef]

Arsenal are a big attraction in their own right of course. They still play some games at Boreham Wood.

[sallycat]

Yes, and my point is that those don't sell out, even though the capacity is so much lower!

[Stewart]

Jul 5, 2024 13:55:42 GMT sallycat said:

Yes, and my point is that those don't sell out, even though the capacity is so much lower!

Does that suggest their core support is minimal? Most are fair weather supporters who turn up for the big occasions.

[sufc18]

Jul 5, 2024 15:16:47 GMT Stewart said:

Jul 5, 2024 13:55:42 GMT sallycat said:

Yes, and my point is that those don't sell out, even though the capacity is so much lower!

Does that suggest their core support is minimal? Most are fair weather supporters who turn up for the big occasions.

Or to manage to get in for a match at Emirates which will be much harder for men’s games?

[sallycat]

This might help answer that

engagerm.com/blog/why-arsenal-women-are-20k-ahead-of-the-rest/#:~:text=Arsenal%20Women%27s%20average%20attendance%20for,10%20premier%20league%20clubs%20too.

Arsenal have a number of very successful initiatives working in their favour, but those don't all necessarily work in a shared, smaller stadium. Some of the local people they've worked hard to draw in might find the travel to the outskirts of London difficult, too.

Edit: sorry, I've tried a couple of times to copy/paste that link but it doesn't seem to be working; you might need to copy it too rather than just clicking)