Ladies Manager Departs

How much interest is there? Give me some figures?
There is little coverage in the local media with regards women's football, I didn't even know the season had ended until the start of this thread. There is rarely a discussion about the female team on here, no clamour over signing, no match threads so where is the interest? Where is there a desire for a female Oxford team from a significant proportion of fans to warrant tens of thousand pounds a year loss as previously quoted?

Why is interest only measured by spectators?

How about being a focal point to increase participation in local girls/womens football locally. I believe (but could be wrong) girls/womens football is one of the faster growing sports (playing) in the UK.
 
Google it if your interested
I have done. There is little readily available info into the matter, which imo shows how little interest there is.
Oxfords attendances appear to be between 200-300 a game. Adult season tickets are £40, concessions £15 and under 7's free. Therefore I cannot see the club generating much more than £15k in gate receipts a year, and that is a very generous estimate. The club website shows we have 18 players, earning according to the report I read between £5k and £10k a season. That's potentially £180k a year just on player salaries. Then we have staff, expenses to consider......see where I am going with this? Sponsorship is not going to make up the difference when we are only attracting a small % of fans compared to the men's team.
To qualify for WPL 1, teams have to introduce a full youth set up. The costs involved currently far outweigh any benefit. I like a previous claim that it is gaining in popularity and we currently have a seat at the table and shouldn't give it up easily but as yet I am unable to find any evidence that it's popularity has increased that much to justify a small club in Oxfordshire forking out thousands upon thousands for.
On to the team itself, it appears the budget was increased this year with a view to obtaining a top 6 finish. They finished 8th out 10 teams with only 12 points! 11 points behind the team in 6th.
 
How much interest is there? Give me some figures?
There is little coverage in the local media with regards women's football, I didn't even know the season had ended until the start of this thread. There is rarely a discussion about the female team on here, no clamour over signing, no match threads so where is the interest? Where is there a desire for a female Oxford team from a significant proportion of fans to warrant tens of thousand pounds a year loss as previously quoted?


Ill start with this article from the bbc published in March. "The number of fans attending elite women's sport in the UK is set to break the half-million barrier for the first time in 2018," - women's sport is growing. Are we ca club that can buy it's way in further down the line? No probably not, so let's be involved now and ride the wave.

The field hockey (a much smaller sport with next to no coverage) world cup to be held in London later in the year has sold out. Wembley had over 40,000 attend, a record. Women's sport is growing whether you;ve noticed it or now.

Here are the facts fro the last 5 years mapping the rise of attendance at the women's FA Cup final. From 4,988 to 35,271 in 5 years then another 10,000 on top this year.

But yea no interest.

As for local media... They are small and have to focus on readers and play safe. Oxford United men is a safe bet and guarantees readers. OUFC ladies or some local rugby/tennis/hockey club does not. There are livelihoods at stake if local media goes under. I don't agree with the approach but i understand it. As it grows nationally this will filter down to local media. You can only really say that womens sport has been given a fair crack in the last few years, you can't expect local media to follow straight away. Give it time.

FYI here is an article from the Oxford Mail about Oxford Uniter Women FC family fun day

I'm then going to come back to the social responsibility of the club. I want my football club to be a positive role model to everyone. male and female. There ar numerous reasons for this. the biggest one is encouraging young girls to be involved with sport. Im not so selfish as a middle-class white male to disregard this. I know I have had a lot of subconscious advantages in my upbringing. To give you an example in context growing up loving and idolising Joey Beauchamp, why? He's a legend, but he's relatable to me. I could picture myself being him. Do I relate to top female athletes, nope. Certainly not in the same way.

On that social responsibility here are 10 reasons why sport is good for kids, I believe that if young girls who are being brought up around football have the direct role models they are more likely to get involved.

You have to understand this is like anything, it is about building and growing. Will it be a hit overnight? No, and it's ridiculous to think it should be.

Im pretty sure Lauren Haynes of OUFC in the community does a lot of good stuff, in fact she won an award for her work in the community along with Curtis Nelson at the end of season. You could fairly easily argue Lauren acts as a role model, girls look up to her and become OUFC fans off the back of it which equals future revenue for both the mens and ladies sides in the future.

A sthis seems to be all abotu the money for you can I ask that in return can you provide the figures (with links to proof) that back up your claims about the finances. Thanks in advance. As th

Like Isaid before as long as it isn't completely draining the club then it is a good thing.
 
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Ill start with this article from the bbc published in March. "The number of fans attending elite women's sport in the UK is set to break the half-million barrier for the first time in 2018," - women's sport is growing. Are we ca club that can buy it's way in further down the line? No probably not, so let's be involved now and ride the wave.

The field hockey (a much smaller sport with next to no coverage) world cup to be held in London later in the year has sold out. Wembley had over 40,000 attend, a record. Women's sport is growing whether you;ve noticed it or now.

Here are the facts fro the last 5 years mapping the rise of attendance at the women's FA Cup final. From 4,988 to 35,271 in 5 years then another 10,000 on top this year.

But yea no interest.

As for local media... They are small and have to focus on readers and play safe. Oxford United men is a safe bet and guarantees readers. OUFC ladies or some local rugby/tennis/hockey club does not. There are livelihoods at stake if local media goes under. I don't agree with the approach but i understand it. As it grows nationally this will filter down to local media. You can only really say that womens sport has been given a fair crack in the last few years, you can't expect local media to follow straight away. Give it time.

FYI here is an article from the Oxford Mail about Oxford Uniter Women FC family fun day

I'm then going to come back to the social responsibility of the club. I want my football club to be a positive role model to everyone. male and female. There ar numerous reasons for this. the biggest one is encouraging young girls to be involved with sport. Im not so selfish as a middle-class white male to disregard this. I know I have had a lot of subconscious advantages in my upbringing. To give you an example in context growing up loving and idolising Joey Beachump, why? He's a legend, but he's relatable to me. I could picture myself being him. Do I relate to top female athletes, nope. Certainly not in the same way.

On that social responsibility here are 10 reasons why sport is good for kids, I believe that if young girls who are being brought up around football have the direct role models they are more likely to get involved.

You have to understand this is like anything, it is about building and growing. Will it be a hit overnight? No, and it's ridiculous to think it should be.

Im pretty sure Lauren Haynes of OUFC in the community does a lot of good stuff, in fact she won an award for her work in the community along with Curtis Nelson at the end of season. You could fairly easily argue Lauren acts as a role model, girls look up to her and become OUFC fans off the back of it which equals future revenue for both the mens and ladies sides in the future.

A sthis seems to be all abotu the money for you can I ask that in return can you provide the figures (with links to proof) that back up your claims about the finances. Thanks in advance. As th

Like Isaid before as long as it isn't completely draining the club then it is a good thing.
As I was told previously.....google it if you're interested!!!! I did and the info I got was all from articles found at the top of the search. I could not find any evidence that showed the women's team attendance had increased since it was started.
Yes it is about finances for me, absolutely correct. I'd rather the money was spent on a transfer fee for the first team.
 
As I was told previously.....google it if you're interested!!!! I did and the info I got was all from articles found at the top of the search. I could not find any evidence that showed the women's team attendance had increased since it was started.
Yes it is about finances for me, absolutely correct. I'd rather the money was spent on a transfer fee for the first team.

That's an incredibly selfish and short sighted way of thinking that lacks any long-term ambition for the club and ignores the social responsibility. But you are entitled to your opinion and I accept it.

I didn't ask you to google anything, I went and found it and if you're not going to engage in a grown-up debate and do the same then I am done wasting my time xx
 
I'm in full support of us supporting women's football. Like everything you've got to start somewhere. Will it be successful immediately, of course not but very few things actually are. I actually prefer watching England's Ladies rather than England's Men - there seems to be a cohesion and will to win that you don't see from the overpaid prima donnas in the men's game.
 
I have done. There is little readily available info into the matter, which imo shows how little interest there is.
Oxfords attendances appear to be between 200-300 a game. Adult season tickets are £40, concessions £15 and under 7's free. Therefore I cannot see the club generating much more than £15k in gate receipts a year, and that is a very generous estimate. The club website shows we have 18 players, earning according to the report I read between £5k and £10k a season. That's potentially £180k a year just on player salaries. Then we have staff, expenses to consider......see where I am going with this? Sponsorship is not going to make up the difference when we are only attracting a small % of fans compared to the men's team.
To qualify for WPL 1, teams have to introduce a full youth set up. The costs involved currently far outweigh any benefit. I like a previous claim that it is gaining in popularity and we currently have a seat at the table and shouldn't give it up easily but as yet I am unable to find any evidence that it's popularity has increased that much to justify a small club in Oxfordshire forking out thousands upon thousands for.
On to the team itself, it appears the budget was increased this year with a view to obtaining a top 6 finish. They finished 8th out 10 teams with only 12 points! 11 points behind the team in 6th.

We had nearly 800 at the Man City game, over 500 against Watford and a game over 400, too. Can’t remember who though. That’s not bad when you consider we’ve just moved grounds. It’s also not a valid to make comparisons to past years because women’s football moved to a winter league for the first time, so now has direct competition from men’s football, as well as other sports. And the poor weather, of course. It would be fairer to make a comparison after next season. I think Oxford City have similar attendances, maybe less. I’d be surprised if any of their games attracted nearly 800 fans.

It’s also a great gateway to football in general. I intend on taking my niece next season, buying her a shirt, having her name printed on the back and who knows, she may end up being a lifelong U’s fan. The same might be true for the hundreds of kids that attend women’s games throughout the season. It’s presented in such a way that it is much more accessible than men’s football, from watching the game itself, which is very relaxed to how open and available the players are to fans.

Remember that women’s football is still in its infancy and is growing. There were more people at the Women’s FA Cup final this year than some of the other finals at Wembley.

And come on, the budget card, really? Given our budget and our near disaster of a season?! I had a chuckle.

At the end of the day, you’re entitled to your opinion, but it’s not your money. Nor mine. So we can can play ‘would you rather?’ all we want, it won’t change anything. I would rather a women’s team, filled with passionate players, who play for the love of the game. A group of role models that kids can be proud of and aspire to be. An avenue for children to access sport and a more positive lifestyle. You would prefer a player, or at least some of his wages. Fair enough.
 
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Yes it is about finances for me, absolutely correct. I'd rather the money was spent on a transfer fee for the first team.

If its all about the finances, the mens teams lose a hell of a lot more money than the ladies teams do. My friends daughter paid to play. The mens team should be culled first if we are basing the decision on bottom line.
 
I fully support the development of womens football. We are a community club. Trying to justify saving £50k a year when the popularity is growing exponentially is short sighted.
 
Apparently we have been told we won’t be given a WSL2/Championship licence next season, so the clueless FA have basically chosen us to be relegated from a division, where we have earned our place on the pitch, in favour of money. Want people to take a sport seriously? Try not destroying it’s credibility at every opportunity. Bunch of C***s.
 
How does the league setup work Craig? Do we just move down a league ? Do all clubs have to apply for a licence each season ?

No, you don’t apply every year. Basically in September the FA announced the current league structure would be revamped and teams would need to reapply for their position. This basically gave clubs a way to fast track their teams and skip divisions. West Ham, a lower table tier 3 team will now be a tier 1 team because they could afford it, whereas Doncaster, who would the WSL 2 this season by quite a wide margin can’t and will have to settle for staying in the same division.

The new structure will be -

WSL - Full-time fully professional league with up to 14 teams. I don’t think there will be that number though. I would guess 12. There are a bunch of other requirements, like a full academy etc. Basically it’s all about pennies in the bank rather than performance on the pitch.

Women’s Championship - Semi-pro league with part-time players.

Women’s Premier League North / South - As above I believe, more or less, but with less funding and less ‘rules’. With Charlton promoted and teams like Southampton and Leicester likely to move up, this is where I think we will play next season.

There are so many flaws and potential problems with the new system though. How much would you like me to ramble because I am pretty pissed off so it could get out of control.
 
What will that realistically mean of our side? Loss of better players? Reduction in costs/fees?

Loss of players, potentially staff, like coaches and physios etc. With the top 2 divisions expanding from 20 to at least 24, I expect a large number of our players to leave. It’s a huge backwards step.

I don’t know how much difference it will make financially to be honest. We were part-time before, and will continue to be. We will probably have less funding from the FA. Part-time players have other jobs and aren’t particularly well paid, so don’t expect us to save much - if at all - on wages by dropping a division; they play for the love of the game, not money.
 
Loss of players, potentially staff, like coaches and physios etc. With the top 2 divisions expanding from 20 to at least 24, I expect a large number of our players to leave. It’s a huge backwards step.

I don’t know how much difference it will make financially to be honest. We were part-time before, and will continue to be. We will probably have less funding from the FA. Part-time players have other jobs and aren’t particularly well paid, so don’t expect us to save much - if at all - on wages by dropping a division; they play for the love of the game, not money.
And OUFC ladies invariably draw more of a crowd, or very similar amounts, as Oxford City ( in National league south- 2 divisions below EFL) at the same ground (CPF) I believe?
 
And OUFC ladies invariably draw more of a crowd, or very similar amounts, as Oxford City ( in National league south- 2 divisions below EFL) at the same ground (CPF) I believe?

Our crowds have suffered this year with a change of venue and move to winter, but so have most teams. I’d say yes, our attendances are comparable to City. I’d bet our highest attendance this season (777 vs Man City) is higher than any crowd of theirs. Finished the season against Watford with a crowd of 525, too.
 
What was their logic/reasoning behind the change ? Fair to say ur explanation of getting the richer clubs to the top is their goal, much like getting bteams into the check a trade. But what did they give as their official logic

Growth.

Things are being driven by money. The WSL is now more or less a closed league because if you can’t pay, you can’t play. I guess they think by allowing teams with more financial clout into the top divisions, it will in turn encourage growth as the standard rises. But it comes with a big risk, forced growth will mean clubs are gambling with their future much more than natural growth. 3 or 4 teams launched crowdfunding campaigns this season to stay afloat.

But their approach is flawed in so many ways. They recently wrote an article touting the ‘game plan for growth’ and how attendances in WSL 2 were up 7% which was roughly 25 people per game, but conveniently ignored the fact that WSL 1 attendances fell by 25% (equivalent to around 300 per game). In fact City, Chelsea and Arsenal account for more than 50% of all fans. They also mentioned more people were watching on TV, but guess how much TV money clubs receive? Zero pence. It goes to the FA.

Another example of how clueless they are is the attendance targets. They expect all WSL clubs to attract at least 1,000 fans each game, rising each year (by 200 I think). WSL 2 (Women’s Championship) have a minimum target of 500. For some clubs, a lot of them in fact, that’s expecting attendances to double, sometimes treble next season. It’s simply not realistic and if they don’t achieve this target they get fined! Are clubs meant to lure fans in with treats and then lock them up while a game of football is played?! A more likely outcome is attendance manipulation, adding a few extra in the crowd, but that’s not real growth. Clueless.
 
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I genuinely love women’s football and so many aspects of the game - it is played with so much heart and integrity - but the FA have made so many questionable decisions, it boggles my mind. It really does. It’s popular in spite of the FA not because of them.

I’m a fan and while I do feel sorry for myself, I will still be a fan. That won’t change. Feel sorry for players, staff, their families who have really been screwed over. It also means the club has a massive task over the summer.

You mentioned b-teams, which reminded me - there is a plan is for girls aged 16-18 to enter the boys’ league. Not sure how feasible that is, or at what level, but that’s the plan. Currently in early discussions with clubs.
 
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Speaking as someone who has been to watch the OUFC womens team on a number of occasions when they were at Abingdon Utd i find it strange that the FA chose to move away from a summer league and to compete directly with mens football, in some cases the OUFC women playing at the same time as the mens first team.

This seems a crazy idea when they are trying to develop a fanbase. Its much easier to get someone to go and try something new (in this case watching womens football) when there is no more attractive option available, and when the weather is nice. I watched the FA Vase final on BT Sport and then the womens champions league final and the standard was much better in the first game so whenever theres a choice most people will choose the mens game.

As an example of how to help things work, albeit from a long way away and different sports you can look to Australia. The two biggest sports there in terms of crowds and tv exposure are Rugby League and Australian Rules football, both of these are played as winter sports there, as both have a huge percentage of the market when it comes to attendances the A League (soccer) season is played during their summer so as to avoid a direct competition for peoples attention.

The same situation is in place for the new womens Australian Rules competition which is a similar set up whereby existing clubs have been given licenses to compete in the competition, they have arranged the season so it runs at a different time to the mens, and also made all games free entry which has meant larger crowds than you could expect if you were charging people to go as the standard is some way short of where it needs to be as it is a new competition but by putting these measures in place they have atleast given it a chance to gather supporters and to grow,
 
[emoji993] @OfficialOUWFC have not been offered a place in the restructured WSL leagues. #OUFC remain fully committed to the development of the women’s game and we will keep fans updated of our plans
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44279069

has more of the official announcement and allocations etc - bbut I havent got time to look through it in too much detail yet.

One thing I seem to remember is that we had the chance to apply at an earlier stage to guarantee a place in the Championship, but chose not to for some reason. We then applied to do so at a second stage of allocations at which it appears that we have missed out.
 
Shame on those at OUFC responible for not securing or retaining a place in WSL for OUFC ladies.

a lot of work has gone into OUFC ladies football, and OUFC girls teams at different age levels..... which in turn boost interst, including additional paying punters at home games for OUFC in the EFL and cup matches. The medium term and long term have not , it seems been taken into consideration re the overall significance of OUFC ladies.


Methinks theres some questions to be asked at shareholders AGM, Fans open meetings and the like

(From experience, its pointless emailing certain officials at the club, as they dont bother to adress questions asked and respond with patronising drivel instead- wasting both the questioner and the respondants time)
 
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