[Archived] Rovers pull plug on Ladies Super League dream

[T4E]

Maybe old fashioned, but I fully believe that every penny the club has should go towards running a successful first team. The rest of it is unnecessary expenditure that potentially detracts from the main aim of BRFC.

[footypix]

Maybe old fashioned, but I fully believe that every penny the club has should go towards running a successful first team. The rest of it is unnecessary expenditure that potentially detracts from the main aim of BRFC.

Blackburn Rovers is a Football Club that is open to all. not just men...it represents the people of Blackburn, all of them.. The badge on the shirt is the same for all teams, or perhaps you'd prefer the club to get rid of the boys CofE and the Academy. Why should the Ladies team suffer, because of the failures of others. Maybe the men in the 1st team should take a leaf out the ladies team and play for NOTHING for the rest of the season.

[MrT]

Got to say I'm amazed at the negativity towards the ladies team

Footy is for all, men, women and kids and 120k is a pittance when you look at how much has been wasted over the past 2 years.

[footypix]

Got to say I'm amazed at the negativity towards the ladies team

Footy is for all, men, women and kids and 120k is a pittance when you look at how much has been wasted over the past 2 years.

They could at least have the decency to start paying the players for the rest of the season, with the men footing the bill...that'll be a start.

[DE.]

If you were to pay the players in our first team what they've been worth this season most of them would get nothing. Danny Murphy would probably owe us money.

[footypix]

Steve Kean's pay-off, whould have paid for several seasons in the FA WPL 2. The club have said they can afford it, just couldn't be bothered.

[JAL]

Got to say I'm amazed at the negativity towards the ladies team

Footy is for all, men, women and kids and 120k is a pittance when you look at how much has been wasted over the past 2 years.

Exactly !

[Blue n White Rover]

Only a fool parts with his money easily. Spending £120k knowing you won't see even 10% of that back, is a waste of money.

Like T4E said. We need to strengthen our first team and every penny should be spent on just that.

[thenodrog]

the current budget for this season is £35k.. By not even applying (when clubs like Yeovil & Colchester are) BRFC is basically saying it no longer wishes to be part of the FA's plans to turn women's football into a semi-professional sport.

By applying, the club would be saying it is committed to developing the FA's plans for women's football over the next 10 years. If it got turned down, fair enough they tried. Not applying, in my view is just not good enough. The chances of holding major Women's games, like an FA Cup final or an international game are probably gone for good.

Just as a matter of interest what is the average attendance and how much match day revenue is made?

Speaking personally I've never been to watch the ladies play and I don't ever think I will. I don't even know where they play. If ladies football takes off then fine but it should stand on it's own feet financially and simply benefit from sharing BRFC facilities imo.

[JAL]

Only a fool parts with his money easily. Spending £120k knowing you won't see even 10% of that back, is a waste of money.

Like T4E said. We need to strengthen our first team and every penny should be spent on just that.

After seeing five managers in the first team dugout in one season and having forty players to choose from only a fool parts with his money easily.

So just how is 120k going to strengthen the first team ?

[footypix]

Just as a matter of interest what is the average attendance and how much match day revenue is made?

Speaking personally I've never been to watch the ladies play and I don't ever think I will. I don't even know where they play. If ladies football takes off then fine but it should stand on it's own feet financially and simply benefit from sharing BRFC facilities imo.

when the club played at Clitheroe, the attendance was between 100-200, moving to Radcliffe dropped this to 50-75. FAWSL is to raise the profie of the women's game. When England Women played at Ewood Park, the 25,000 crowd was bigger than Blackburn Rovers average that season.

it seems to me that Rovers fans would rather waste money on poor signings than pay for a women's team.

according to the statement, it's not about money, they just couldn't be bothered putting the work needed for the team to compete at FAWSL level. If you want to know what it means read this from another rich club...

http://www.qpr1st.com/news/club-confirm-u-turn-on-ladies-womens-super-league-bid/

Message from the QPR Trust

"The Trust would like the club to outline their commitment to the Ladies

teams in more detail and including use of the new training ground

facility and make a pledge that when the application process re-opens

that we will be in a position to put in a solid bid for inclusion into

the WSL. The Trust would also like to remind the club of its

responsibility to the QPR community and the value in social inclusion

and equality – whether it’s QPR adults or children – male or female. The

supporters expect a level of fairness, dignity and respect shown to all

of its own and for the image and reputation of QPR to be protected and

upheld".

The QPR fans see the value of it's women's team, something lost on the supporters of Blackburn Rovers

[Stuart]

Just as a matter of interest what is the average attendance and how much match day revenue is made?

Speaking personally I've never been to watch the ladies play and I don't ever think I will. I don't even know where they play. If ladies football takes off then fine but it should stand on it's own feet financially and simply benefit from sharing BRFC facilities imo.

That's a bit rich when Blackburn Rovers Football Club as a whole doesn't stand on its own two feet. We still aren't washing out own face and with what Venkys have done we are further away from doing so than when the Trust were in charge.

In the great scheme of things £120k is less than peanuts.

"If ladies football takes off". How will it if no-one takes a punt on it? We are probably going to lose all of our best players and go back in time 20 years. If it does 'take off' we are out in the cold.

I guess we (BRFC) are hoping it doesn't take off then. Which is a shame.

[Stuart]

Thinking about it, and reading a few more threads (particularly Paul's post in the Leicester match thread), I wonder if I was nearer the mark in thinking this could be a sign of things to come.

[Amo]

True owners care about all aspects of the club that reach out to the wider community. Considering all the money Venky's have blown on agents, managers, mercenaries, and suchlike, it is a disgrace that they cannot subsidize our local ladies side.

[T4E]

Blackburn Rovers is a Football Club that is open to all. not just men...it represents the people of Blackburn, all of them.. The badge on the shirt is the same for all teams, or perhaps you'd prefer the club to get rid of the boys CofE and the Academy. Why should the Ladies team suffer, because of the failures of others. Maybe the men in the 1st team should take a leaf out the ladies team and play for NOTHING for the rest of the season.

The Centre of Excellence and academy are there to improve to first team. So no, not the same as not having a ladies team.

For me, Rovers is about the first team, nothing else. I'd venture if others are being honest most would say the same. The men don't play for free because their existence brings in revenue for the club. Does the ladies team?

[perthblue02]

Bottom line do the Roa's actually know about this? Can't imagine Lord Agnew and Saint Derek would be to bothered passing it on ,nowt in it for them,Burnley Bob's still on with his vow of silence and can imagine Singh saying f*** it after all the stick he's took.

[footypix]

The club is using the same excuse as last time - no infrustructure in place, but the majority of the 8 clubs in WSL 1 (Arsenal apart) had no infrustructure in place, they had to adapt. Everton Ladies were basically run by the manager and her husband for years, the club stepped with Media and Physio staff. It seems Rovers just can't be bothered and will have to play in a sub-standard league for another 5 years before having another opportunity.

The club has lost all credibility and is unlikely to be taken seriously by the FA again.

Just wouldn't want to be the person that tell's the Under 14's etc that the Centre of Excellence is closing. That's what will happen next, the FA will pull the plug on it. The FA want the CofE's to be attached to WSL clubs. On the women's football forums, Rovers are being openly mocked.

[roverzee]

From the FA WSL Club Development Plan Minimum Requirements.

http://www.thefa.com/News/2012/dec/~/media/D8A111434B7D4BC0AAEAF9311328E138.ashx

Section 2.3 Spectator Base

Clubs must provide independent research and / or robust evidence to confirm the following regular spectator attendance projections and the confirmed maximum spectator potential:

2014 FAWSL1 550 MINIMUM FAWSL2 250 MINIMUM

Clubs must also provide figures for historic spectator base from the clubs previous two seasons, showing core/average attendances along with

.. evidence or reason for lack of current / recent support

Surely Blackburn Rovers application for the WSL falls down immediately on the above crowd requirements, and submitting it would have been a total waste of everyones time, never mind the money.

It would seem that the handful of people who are regular spectators at BRFC womens games are basically the immediate entourage, ie staff and players families / friends. How is the club supposed to turn that into a projection of at least 250 regular fans in less than 12 months? Rovers Mens Reserves dont get 250 the last three games at Leigh were 229 / 328 / 237, and the middle one was probably due to scouts coming to see Chelseas fringe players.

Its also disingenuous to start chucking around comparisons to Danny Murphys alleged wage bill when its been clear since last summer that Rovers would ringfence the 1st team budget but make cuts elsewhere.l

Lets not forget that people from the Community Trust lost their jobs in the wake of relegation, and their combined annual salaries would come nowhere close to this £120,000 which everyone is pooh-poohing as small change. Id far rather see those people get their jobs back to benefit local girls playing football at the grass roots before chucking a 6 figure sum at artificially accelerating the status of the Ladies 1st team.

If some of them dont like it then tough like the mens game players come and players go. My understanding is that Karen Silk sits on the board which manages the Womens set up at Rovers thats not consistent with the claim that Rovers arent bothered or that doomsday is approaching. If the Fans Forum have been told that the Womens set up will be nurtured to grow in a sustainable way, then I suspect that will be good enough for 99.9% of Rovers fans.

[MrT]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/10258650.Blackburn_Rovers_decide_against_Women_s_Super_League_bid/

[BlueMonday]

Anyone who still maintains that finances are not a problem for Venkys is a fool. They've got a cheek driving round in Rolls Royces

and penny pinching like this!

Club not safe in their hands

[Tom]

From the FA WSL Club Development Plan Minimum Requirements.

http://www.thefa.com/News/2012/dec/~/media/D8A111434B7D4BC0AAEAF9311328E138.ashx

Section 2.3 Spectator Base

Clubs must provide independent research and / or robust evidence to confirm the following regular spectator attendance projections and the confirmed maximum spectator potential:

2014 FAWSL1 550 MINIMUM FAWSL2 250 MINIMUM

Clubs must also provide figures for historic spectator base from the clubs previous two seasons, showing core/average attendances along with

.. evidence or reason for lack of current / recent support

Surely Blackburn Rovers application for the WSL falls down immediately on the above crowd requirements, and submitting it would have been a total waste of everyones time, never mind the money.

It would seem that the handful of people who are regular spectators at BRFC womens games are basically the immediate entourage, ie staff and players families / friends. How is the club supposed to turn that into a projection of at least 250 regular fans in less than 12 months? Rovers Mens Reserves dont get 250 the last three games at Leigh were 229 / 328 / 237, and the middle one was probably due to scouts coming to see Chelseas fringe players.

Its also disingenuous to start chucking around comparisons to Danny Murphys alleged wage bill when its been clear since last summer that Rovers would ringfence the 1st team budget but make cuts elsewhere.l

Lets not forget that people from the Community Trust lost their jobs in the wake of relegation, and their combined annual salaries would come nowhere close to this £120,000 which everyone is pooh-poohing as small change. Id far rather see those people get their jobs back to benefit local girls playing football at the grass roots before chucking a 6 figure sum at artificially accelerating the status of the Ladies 1st team.

If some of them dont like it then tough like the mens game players come and players go. My understanding is that Karen Silk sits on the board which manages the Womens set up at Rovers thats not consistent with the claim that Rovers arent bothered or that doomsday is approaching. If the Fans Forum have been told that the Womens set up will be nurtured to grow in a sustainable way, then I suspect that will be good enough for 99.9% of Rovers fans.

Very good post

Whilst its a shame its much sadder about people losing their jobs, these girls will find it much easier to find somewhere to play football than people will find getting another job in this current market.

It looks like the women's team will still exist just not to the standard some would like

[footypix]

Blackburn Rovers should today, be celebrating Beth Donaghue's call-up to the England U23 squad (they beat Sweden 2-0), yet Beth will have to find another club,in order to pursue her England career.

Beth will be the only member of the England U23 squad, that doesn't receive a penny for playing for her club...she was the only Amateur player in the squad.

A male England U21 player at Blackburn Rovers would be on a contract worth thousand's a week, yet due to being female...she receives nothing for the work she does for BRFC.

that.... i find very sad indeed....

http://www.shekicks.net/flog/blogs/post/720

[Stuart]

I can understand your bitterness footypix. If I'm in your position, in feeling exactly the same. The club, and possibly the town of Blackburn don't at this moment in time see the need for a professional women's team in the town.

I presume it's impossible to apply independently from the club as a Blackburn Ladies FC team? I expect time is against that though. What disappoints me most is that the club seem to have given you the impression that they were going to apply and have strung you along, only to drop it at the last possible moment, leaving you no time to do anything about it. If that is the case then that is pretty poor from the club. They my say the will continue to support the women's team but what matches will there be for you to play? Is there the potential for an amateur league to be formed out of those teams not in the PL 1 & 2?

Do you have a response to roverzee's post about the required number of fans? Would the application have automatically been turned down on that basis? The phrase 'spectator potential' sounds like something that a good public relations guru could make mincemeat of.

[footypix]

I've watched the team play for the last 8 years, all over the country. Travelled to Fulham for a 12.30 kick off, watched them away at Arsenal. FAWSL was set up to get more people to watch Women's Football.

Birmingham City used to get 60-70 people watching in the WPL, now in the FAWSL they average around 600. Bristol Academy have built a stadium and are at the heart of the community, getting crowds of over 1,000. Liverpool and Everton derby games get over 1,500. Liverpool's gates will go up massively when they start playing at Widnes RL. The 1st game is a derby, so it'll be over 2,000.

The extra marketing will generate the extra supporters, as the game is played in the summer and aimed at families. The sad thing is the team have a home League Cup Qtr-Final and a home semi-final if they win that. The best opportunity to win a major trophy in the club's history. I hope go and win the Cup.

The players are all non-contract...they can walk away tomorrow, they owe nothing to the club, they ALL want to stay for rest of the season...they want that League Cup.

The club has issued the same statement it issued 3 years ago, the players have no time for the PR bullshit.

The players stayed this season on NO PAY & NO EXPENSES due to the promise of WSL. Some of them had better offers elsewhere.

Sadly, my 30 year association as a season ticket and fan of BRFC is over. I'll watch the Ladies team for the rest of the season and spend the summer working in the media covering Everton and Liverpool in the FAWSL.

The club has treated the players very badly....they were asked to play for NOTHING, they all could have walked away at that point, they stayed.. The players want to be treated the same as the men.

As a supporter of BRFC, I support / follow all the teams that play in blue and white.. It's very sad that some won't support a Rovers team simply due to the players being female.

The club haven't gone out into the community and asked the town if they wanted a semi-professional Women's team...they simply took the easy way out. The FA won't forget that in a hurry.

[Stuart]

I've watched the team play for the last 8 years, all over the country. Travelled to Fulham for a 12.30 kick off, watched them away at Arsenal. FAWSL was set up to get more people to watch Women's Football.

Birmingham City used to get 60-70 people watching in the WPL, now in the FAWSL they average around 600. Bristol Academy have built a stadium and are at the heart of the community, getting crowds of over 1,000. Liverpool and Everton derby games get over 1,500. Liverpool's gates will go up massively when they start playing at Widnes RL. The 1st game is a derby, so it'll be over 2,000.

The extra marketing will generate the extra supporters, as the game is played in the summer and aimed at families. The sad thing is the team have a home League Cup Qtr-Final and a home semi-final if they win that. The best opportunity to win a major trophy in the club's history. I hope for god they do and win the Cup....the players are all non-contract...they can walk away tomorrow, they owe nothing to the club, they ALL want to stay for rest of the season...they want that League Cup. The club has issued the same statement it issued 3 years ago, the players have no time for the PR bullshit.

The players stayed this season on NO PAY & NO EXPENSES due to the promise of WSL. Some of them had better offers elsewhere.

Sadly, my 30 year association as a season ticket and fan of BRFC is over. I'll watch the Ladies team for the rest of the season and spend the summer working in the media covering Everton and Liverpool in the FAWSL.

The club has treated the players very badly....they were asked to play for NOTHING, they all could have walked away at that point, they stayed.. The players want to be treated the same as the men.

As a supporter of BRFC, I support / follow all the teams that play in blue and white.. It's very sad that some won't support a Rovers team simply due to the players being female.

The club haven't gone out into the community and asked the town if they wanted a semi-professional Women's team...they simply took the easy way out. The FA won't forget that in a hurry.

Good post.

The bit in bold sickens me.