May 2026. Sheffield.
I’m no glory-hunter. Not for me the trip to Crewe Alex to see Cambridge United promoted. I couldn’t get a ticket. I chose the last Saturday of the grass roots season to watch “Proper Football”.
Bramall Lane, home of legends like, er, Eddie Colquhoun,
where the modern day stars drive normal cars.
Yes, I’m here for the ladies, as Barry White once sang. Only a fiver for second tier soccer (I’m apparently old),
and I get a main stand seat and a choice of craft beer.
My last women’s football also featured the Blades, down in Chesterfield, but now they play at the men’s team in front of a crowds of a couple of thousand, which is as many as Cambridge got a decade ago.
Over half the crowd are primary school girls whose main chant appears to be “Is it half-time yet, I want sweets“, a song I recall well from taking my own lads to the Etihad.
You get a mascot borrowed from Bristol Rovers, an artisanal sausage roll drowning in Henderson’s relish,
and the joy of drinking beer in your seat. If you attempt that at the Etihad the consquences are akin to taking a photo in the Brown Bear.
The sausage roll was meaty, the Salt fizzy, the keg Stones smooth and creamy. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
And the game itself was a really good watch, particularly with the recent innovation of the ladies having two goals to shoot at.
A lot of features of the men’s game have been embraced. Moving the ball well out of the arc at corners, bringing on the physio to slow the game down, shouting “Man on” to confuse the opposition.
“Yes, yes, but was it any good ?” you ask.
It really was, though most of the quality came from a recently relegated Bristol side with skill and tactics, and in Lexi LLoyd-Smith a lethal finisher that Manchester City ought to poach to replace Bunny Shaw.
Have a look at the highlights and judge for yourself.
Parental Warning – Coldplay was played after the game. You have been warned.
retiredmartin 
I had to look artisal up. AI tells me Artisal” refers to several distinct entities, most notably a premium French-style bakery brand, an art print shop focused on mental health, and a computational modeling lab. The bakery brand offers high-quality viennoiseries. The food must be because of all these foreign players.
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I sense I meant artisanal, Jon, but it sounds like artisal works just as well.
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Don’t they both mean that you are charged a premium price.
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If the women footballers can shout “Man On”, why can’t we have batsmen back in cricket?
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Probably the biggest news is that Stones on keg is available!!!
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As a groundhopper, going to a women’s game looks like the best bet for ones that regularly sell out for men’s games – Bramall Lane is on my list. I watch a bit of women’s games, most Wales national team and the increasingly needly Cardiff City v Wrexham clashes, and the standard is getting better every season.
The fan experience is still different (beer in the stands for starters!), but everything else seems to be a cloning of the men’s game – big money, physicality and cynicism – whereas I’d naively thought it might take a different route in playing style, ethics, economics, even rules. One is in danger of being accused of being sexist for suggesting tweaks like shorter pitches or smaller goals, but disregarding differences between men and women can lead to issues, notably ACL injuries likely caused by the use of same type of boot, when a women specific design might help.
My daughter’s team is moving up to the under-14 age group next season, so will go from 9 to 11 a side, 70 to 90 minutes, and full size pitch and goals for the first time, needlessly following the changes for boys. I forsee a drop off in numbers as not all clubs have large squads, and a lot of my daughter’s teammates also play rugby later in the day and will probably be too knackered to do both from now on!
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I know what you mean about smaller pitches and shorter pitches for age groups, though watching Bristol City women the width of the pitch didn’t seem an issue and I can’t imagine remarking pitches and changing goals if the ladies play at the men’s grounds.
The game at Bramall Lane finished at 5, so many players down to attend to, so I take your point about injuries.
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Cracking highlights-the Sheffield keeper made lots of great saves and you got to see Welsh legend Sophie Ingle.
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