A good point. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest a slightly off the wall theory. Mind, this is only tentative but, could it be that women in general are less enthusiastic about football even when it is played by women? I expect the BBC would deny this to the last page of their Guardians, but it might go some way to explaining why women don't support women's club football.

The wife down the years has been to away matches and Pools itself but not on a regular basis, none the less, most women aren’t as interested in football as men, it’s just one of those things, otherwise there’d be talk of a womens football league, but they’d never get the supporters, their sisters really aren’t that bothered at the end of the day.

No great suprise that Alex Scott is on board; shes female, black and a tuppence licker. Absoilutely nailed of for the BBC

If you dont mind me asking: whats a "tuppence licker"? I have never come across that expression before.

Er, it means she’s on the other bus.

Thanks for the info. Still trying to figure out in what way the licking of a coin of the realm relates to being on the other bus.

I’ve been under the weather for the last few days but that gave me a laugh. I feel a lot better now

Glad you feelin' better.

The wife down the years has been to away matches and Pools itself but not on a regular basis, none the less, most women aren’t as interested in football as men, it’s just one of those things, otherwise there’d be talk of a womens football league, but they’d never get the supporters, their sisters really aren’t that bothered at the end of the day.[/quote]
know from my experiance all the sporty lasses i have been out with may have attended matches but had no interest in playing football. were happy just being good and playing traditional female sports. i watch rugby league but never had any intention of taking it up being more of a beanpole in the days i could have played. many asians play football also and a few watch but not rugby as the majority do not have the physique for it. just a case of not pushing things and allow everything to develop at its own speed.

Feel free to expand.[/quote]

Watched the EFL highlights programme at weekend. The woman who played for Sheffield Utd Ladies had far more insight than Sam Parkin, yet she's never played EFL football. Last World Cup, best pundit was Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea Womens Team. She's never played International Football. Some of the female referees I've seen are far better than their male counterparts. How can this be, if women can't understand the man's game?

All very good……but….. that’s your opinion, others may see it differently.

If they are saying women can't understand the man's game, then they are wrong. By all means, don't like them as pundits but don't claim it's because they're not intelligent enough to have an opinion.

Watched the EFL highlights programme at weekend. The woman who played for Sheffield Utd Ladies had far more insight than Sam Parkin, yet she's never played EFL football. Last World Cup, best pundit was Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea Womens Team. She's never played International Football. Some of the female referees I've seen are far better than their male counterparts. How can this be, if women can't understand the man's game?[/quote]

1. Your opinion regarding who was the best pundit with the best insights etc is just that: your opinion. Other opinions are available.
2. I never said women cannot understand the man's game. My point was that if you have had first hand of experience of the subject you are talking about (football or anything else) then your opinions are more likely to be valued than someone who has not had first hand experience. Despite this, the BBC insist on having women talking about England men's international football as if they'd played it. Its a bit like asking a Pools player to be a pundit on an England men's World cup game. They would understand the basics of football but would have no clue about football at that level. The woman are employed for purely political reasons.

I dont think anyone has said that. You appear to be creating a straw man argument.

Everyone can slag me off here but football isn’t rocket science, it’s a game with some rules like any other.
My point is personally I don’t like some of them as pundits, they are obviously well grounded in the game but being a pundit means bringing a bit of humour or personal experiences and having a personality, because just knowing about a subject but not having the ability to actually entertain while informing your viewing audience would be like listening to a lecture on logarithmic theory.
Pity Lilly Savage or Joan Rivers never played the game.

I think thats right. Punditry certainly requires a sense of humour and personality as well as a good knowledge of the subject in hand. This personality vacuum is one of the problems I have with the cult of Alex Scott. The BBC are determined to make her into a star, but to me she is a bit like pepper, an irritant.

I also agree that football isn't rocket science, but it has vastly different manifestations. Playing for England in front of 80,000 is vastly different from Pools v Solihull in front of just over 2,000. Some would argue it is not the same game.

I agree there are many manifestations of the game but the basic rules and regs can be soon picked up by the average terrier unless the RSPCA step in, as it could construed as mistreatment of an animal.

all players who play the game from sunday league to the world cup final play under the same laws of the game and the outcome of the games are decided in the same way. its just some are better at playing than others but does not mean they do not understand the game and how to play. some just cannot do the latter. why do not all ex internations become good pundits or managers. really because you need different talants for different jobs. just go back to school and remember the teachers you learned the most from. it was the one who brought humour and personal experiance into a class eoom and not the ones who droaned on where it went in one ear and out of the classroom window quickly. both types would know a similar amount on the subject they taught.