A perfect day

Enjoyable afternoon at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

For the final weekend of the Women’s Super League season the stadium was, officially at least, half full (21,000) for Chelsea versus Liverpool.

Kick-off was 12.30 so we arrived at the ground shortly before midday and took our seats in Westview, the upper part of the West Stand, where tickets cost a very reasonable £25. (For a men’s match they can cost up to £240.)

This was the third women’s match I’ve been to at Chelsea’s home ground in the last twelve months and each time the atmosphere has been great, even when the stadium hasn’t been full.

The pre-match entertainment is loud and boisterous and, as you would expect, the crowd is predominantly women and families. There are lots of children, but all generations are represented.

Sitting in front of us were a couple in their early twenties. To their left was a young girl, no more than seven or eight, with her father. And to our right, dancing to the thumping pre-match music, was a somewhat older woman - an octogenarian, I would guess.

Having attended hundreds of football matches over the years, one of the things I like about the women’s game is the absence of taunts from rival supporters.

There is no ugly or aggressive chanting and very little abuse of the referee or opposing players.

Until the last few minutes yesterday’s match lacked tension because the WSL title had been won by Chelsea ten days earlier.

However, there was the small matter that if Chelsea avoided defeat the team would have gone through an entire 22-match WSL season undefeated, thereby establishing a new record.

And if they won the match they would have achieved a record 60 points.

It wasn’t a great game, to be honest, and there wasn’t a goal until the 91st minute when Chelsea’s top scorer, 21-year-old Aggie Beaver-Jones, scored the only goal in added time.

The stadium erupted and it was a great end to a match played in bright sunshine in a generally vibrant atmosphere, although there were periods when it was quite quiet. (There is far less chanting at women’s matches.)

The focus was still on the football, though. There were no Mexican waves, for example, which is always a sign that spectators have lost interest in the game.

The presentation of the trophy was an added bonus, and I liked the fact that the small group of Liverpool supporters in one corner of the ground stayed to watch, which is almost unheard of in the men’s game nowadays.

Another nice touch was Chelsea supporters applauding a Liverpool player as she walked very slowly, with the help of two physios, around the outside of the pitch after being injured and substituted.

(OK, it’s not unheard of in the men’s game but sympathetic applause for opposing players is usually restricted to players who are being carried off on a stretcher en route, it is assumed, to the nearest hospital.)

The atmosphere outside the ground was nice too, and if you have an open mind about women’s football I can’t recommend it enough, especially if, like me, you’ve grown weary of the relentless hype and mindless aggression around men’s football.

I dare say women’s football will follow the same path as more and more money enters the game, attendances grow, and greater rivalries develop, but for now there’s something rather charming about the women’s game.

I’m lucky, I suppose, that the women’s team I support is enjoying a golden era - this was the sixth league title in a row that Chelsea have won - but my interest in football has never been driven by winning.

(I support Dundee United, for heaven’s sake, and I started supporting Chelsea decades before the successful Roman Abramovich era.)

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m invested in the women’s team in a way that I’m not with the current men’s team, despite supporting the club for almost 60 years.

Having fallen out of love with (men’s) football, it’s been a pleasant surprise to say the least.

PS. After the match we had a late lunch at Josephine, a French bistro in the Fulham Road.

We were home (in Cambridgeshire) by 7.00pm where there was still time to enjoy the evening sun in the garden with a celebratory bottle of English sparkling wine.

All in all, a perfect day.

See also: Football focus