By Peter Lassey

This year, White Ribbon Day, 25th November, falls on the same week as the start of the FIFA men’s World Cup. There has never been a better time for us to come together and start playing as a team to end violence against women and girls.

 #TheGoal for White Ribbon Day focuses on working together to achieve gender equality, highlighting 11 traits men and boys can nurture to help create a world of equality and safety for women.

Together we can unite on White Ribbon Day, 25th November, to work towards ending violence against women and girls and achieve #TheGoal.

Play like a girl

The last FIFA World Cup was held in Russia in 2018, which now seems such a long time ago. The upcoming World Cup in Doha has several firsts: it’s the first time it has been held in the Middle East; it will be the first time the tournament is not played in the summer months; and it will be the first World Cup that is described as the men’s football World Cup. Suddenly, it seems that the public consciousness has registered that women’s football not only exists but is worth watching.

What has got us here and what can we learn from the success of the women’s game?

From nowhere

Women’s football was not invented in 2022; there is a long tradition of women playing. There were many women’s clubs in the 1890s, with first international in 1920 and large crowds were not uncommon (53,000 watched Dick Kerrs Ladies beat St Helens in 1920). However, unlike the men’s game, the women’s game was practically eradicated when the Football Association banned women from playing at the grounds of affiliated clubs in 1921. This ban lasted for 50 years, stifling the development of the women’s game.

Success

The recent achievements in women’s football have been at the end of a long road. The England women’s team really began to create waves in 2019, winning the SheBelieves Cup and getting to the semi-final of the women’s World Cup. However, the real step-change in perception has been going one step further than the England men’s team of 2021 and winning the 2022 Women’s European Championships at Wembley. It was not just the fact that they won - it was the way in which they played which was a stark contrast to that of the men.

Reflection

As a middle-aged man who still plays footie twice a week for fun and have been a fan all my life, I, like everyone else, was enthralled by the Lionesses’ success. It was great to see the game played at the top level and not have the referee intimidated or their decisions questioned. Unlike the men’s game, players only rarely threw themselves to the ground after the merest of touches.

Character

Perhaps at its essence the women’s game is still essentially a game, and not tainted by the ‘win at all costs’ mentality that has seemingly infected the men’s game. But is it about something more?  Is it about the ways in which some behaviours are encouraged and celebrated in women and not in men? Perhaps the male body has the edge on the sports part of team sports, but are women more equipped on the team part? We know that to get to the top of women’s football in the UK, where every step of the journey is a battle, you are going to be courageous and resilient, but to be a great team player you also need to be a trusted teammate. For your team to trust you, it’s much more than knowing that you have skill and athleticism; you run that bit faster because you care about the others in your team.

Team

If England men’s team want to go that step further, if they want to emulate the Lionesses and win a major trophy, they perhaps need to take a leaf out of the women’s game. We know that the men have the technical ability to be able to beat any team on their day – the question is how they make it their day? Through teamwork. It might be that women are simply more open to displaying empathy and caring to their teammates, helping them to build stronger bonds as a team. But guess what? These are not behaviours that are restricted to women. Men too can be caring and show empathy for their teammates. Men too can build strong teams where they play for each other because they care about each other. Instead of boys in the playground using ‘you play like a girl’ as a put down, we should be using it as a compliment.