Perhaps living in the USA for a sizeable part of my adult life has affected my outlook. Some of my early broadcasting assignments after arriving in this vast country in the early ’90s were women’s college games.
I got to cover some of the emerging American stars of that era, such as Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Kate Sobrero.
They all seemed thoughtful, intelligent and conscious that they were role models for an entire generation of budding footballers.
It was a privilege to commentate on the 1999 and 2003 Fifa Women’s World Cups at a time when the game was growing and improving. I was one of more than 90,000 crammed inside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on that day in 1999 when Brandi Chastain’s penalty shoot-out goal saw off China in the final. It was an unforgettable experience.
A television audience of 18 million in the US alone watched the drama unfold and it was all anyone wanted to talk about on the flight home to Boston. It was about empowering women but it was also about the sport we love.
It helps that the United States are pretty good at women’s football but the TV figures keep rising impressively with each passing tournament. The 2015 final in Canada, when the USA beat Japan 5-2, had an audience of more than 25 million from coast to coast.
So the women’s game is not something different or unusual to me. In fact, I have long taken the view that if we can enjoy top-quality tennis from Serena Williams or high-level golf from Annika Sorenstam, we should also cherish Carli Lloyd, Christine Sinclair or Marta, the wonderful Brazilian.
I would be not be truthful if I said my impression is that all Scottish football fans seem open to women’s football. When I talk about it on social media, there is usually some interest but also someone scolding me and opining of its awfulness and how poor the standard is. I would suggest they are simply not willing to open their minds or eyes.
Anyone who watched Scotland’s gallant effort against the USA in Paisley on Tuesday – they lost 1-0 – will have seen that the game, at that level, can be engrossing and tactically complex, too. In Erin Cuthbert, Scotland have a special talent in the old-fashioned Scottish tradition, and it would not surprise me in the slightest if clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League try to sign the Ayrshire-born Chelsea player.
Since Tuesday’s game, many Americans who watch women’s football have told me how impressed they were with Shelley Kerr’s team. A few years ago Scotland would have been overrun by the USA. That they were able to go toe to toe with the world champions just eight months before their maiden appearance at the World Cup, speaks volumes for the overall improvement under Kerr and her predecessor Anna Signeul.
I spent all of Tuesday watching women’s international matches – Germany’s 0-0 draw with Spain, the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw in the play-off against Switzerland, taking the Dutch through 4-1 on aggregate, as well as the Scotland v USA encounter. I covered the Concacaf qualifying tournament last month from which the USA, Canada and Jamaica made it through.
After watching a lot of footage, I am coming around to the view that Scotland should feel making the Round of 16 in France to be possible and maybe even the quarter-finals. That is not getting too carried away, merely a reflection of where the national team now feature on the world league table.
All of this stands in contrast to the men’s team. The facts speak for themselves. Our women are considerably better relative to their competition. Yet, even with ticket prices at £5 for adults and £2 for concessions, less than 4000 turned up for the visit of the best team in the world.
As a nation, we are not particularly adept at men’s football. But the same cannot now be said for the women’s equivalent.
So for those who dutifully follow Scotland wherever they go, usually to taste yet another defeat, this is your chance to see something different and uplifting.
How many of you crave a trip to a major tournament with Scotland? The last one for the men’s side was in 1998 in France. The next one for Kerr’s women is 2019, again in France. Rachel Corsie, Jen Beattie, Caroline Weir and all the others who proudly wear that shirt, deserve your support.
Next time Scotland’s women play in Paisley, buy a ticket, take the family and tell a friend to bring his or her family. There is something special going on with this team and it would be a shame to miss it through sheer ignorance.
THIS is a note to say goodbye, at least in terms of the column. It all started with the Evening Times in Glasgow as an accompaniment to my Scottish football commentaries with first, ESPN and then BT Sport. It ran the gamut of topics across our national sport before the focus switched to Sunday and a more international outlook, following my return to New England.
Due to a plethora of broadcasting commitments, I have taken the decision to move away from a weekly writing commitment. Thanks to you for reading my opinions over the years and commenting on the conclusions reached, whether you agreed with them or not. I have always believed life would be dull if we all felt the same way about everything.
Yours in sport, Derek
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