What sort of money do the Hibs ladies earn? I can't imagine there's more money in the women's game than even League 1 in Scotland looking at attendances so it must be hard to finance a full time squad of 20 odd players.
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Next time out, Hibs need to hope Aberdeen get at least a draw with Partick Thistle or the part time jags will be above Hibs after the first round of league fixtures which would be a poor effort.
The hibs goalkeepers have had absolute howlers tbh. First half all 3 goals are mistakes from the keeper. Then at least 2 in the second should have been dealt with too. Not much you can do with individual errors.
Yeah when I saw we had gifted them a 3 goal head start I became very philosophical at the result.
However, I was absolutely raging with Spartans *****ting the bed!
But Hearts seem to becoming a bit leaky, a good thing given their recent success has been built on being hard to score against.
Must admit to being very surprised that Hibs Women have full time players.
Totally for involvement and promoting the women’s game, but wondering how it’s funded?
Also wondering why we don’t have a female manager?
I'm not really sure of the setup but I think they are a separate entity to the main club?
Looking at attendances I also can't see how they are financing a full time squad. The TV deal from Alba must be pennies and if they are only drawing a few hundred for standard games they can't bring in a ot of revenue.
Might be wrong, but I thought they were integrated to the main club fairly recently (and use East Mains for training). I have no idea how we provide full-time salaries though based on the reasons you mention. However, to remain competitive we have to try I guess, although I suspect Rangers and Celtic (and possibly Hearts) are paying significantly more in wages.
As we've seen with the women's game in England, the market is there for a good product with some amazing crowds now attending both club and international games:
Barclays Women's Super League smashes new records in 2022-23 (thefa.com)
The attendance figures in England are great news, but they are still not generating much cash. Ticket prices are a fraction of the cost of attending a mens game. Tickets are generally between £6 - £11 for adults and half that for any type of concession. You can get a season ticket at Liverpool as a full paying adult for £60 and add a child for another £15...for the whole season! There are a lot of free tickets given out as well. I think a decent estimate is that a 10,000 crowd will generate about £60K revenue and the food and other sales might just cover the cost of opening the stadium. It doesn't even begin to pay anyone wages.
For the same reasons we now have women commentating on football (or rugby). Is it based on merit, their experience in the higher echelons of the game or just the need to make a different kind of statement on inclusivity? Just seems odd to me to have a women's team that is staffed at coaching levels by men (three coaches and a manager).
We have a female coach also. Joelle is Player / Coach. As soon as there are coaches available that are good enough and within budget I'm sure we will see one appointed. But unfortunately there are very few suitably qualified female coaches in Scotland - and thats the same all the way through the system.
Those prices presumably make sense on the basis that they're placing a lot of faith in fans of the club to get behind the women's teams as well as the men's? If you charge the same prices as for men's matches the women's game would never have got off the ground in the way it has down south. Clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal can also afford to accommodate a women's team that at present 'wipes its face' in terms of revenue generated, but with a continually improving product (and the high exposure success of the England women's team filtering down) they can keep building steadily.
I don't disagree, I'm just a little bit defensive from having had a number of conversations with female friends who suggest that Women's football should be treated equally with mens as far as media exposure and wages are concerned because there is "huge interest and big crowds and the standard is as good as men" (they're quotes not yours) and they never really like being reminded that the decent crowds they get are generally paying a fiver or actually being given away free. I think the last Hibs/Hearts Derby had a crowd of about 6,000 and the tickets were all free. The money needs to come from somewhere, If big English clubs can afford to bank roll it, that's great.
The equalities issue. I believe that the professional game is open, so if a woman player becomes good enough to play for Hibs 1st team, then there are no obstacles to doing so. I'm sure any woman making the grade would be paid a first team wage.
I do find the women commentators a bit tokenistic and given that the standard of the football they've directly experienced is, at best, equivalent to the standard of under 15 juveniles, I genuinely wonder how much insight any female commentator has into the male game (my football career highlights were a few games in the EoSL and a miserable trial with Edinburgh United juniors, so I'm not suggesting I am the football oracle either).
That said, we have many male pundits who, despite being able to kick a ball, can barely utter a coherent sentence, so I'm not too troubled by it.
Everything you are saying makes sense. And its why women footballers aren't even on a 10th of what the men earn - There are a tiny amount of female players in the world earning 100k a year. The budgets simply don't add up so every single team will run at a loss for a long long time. Until we are seeing 4 figure paying crowds every week it simply wont be commercially viable. It will continue to run on sponsorship and generosity.
Its also pretty much impossible to find any financial figures for any of the Scottish teams.
Emma Hayes for me is the best commentator in the land. She knows every single bit of football inside out. She can explain systems and phases of play better than any of the men.
Im not sure being directly involved in the mens game makes you in anyway qualified to commentate on the game though. Hence why we have some of the worst pundits in the world on Sportscene every week.
I just want the best people on the TV every week so I can get the most enjoyment and education from that game. Aluko and Cairney are two of the worse pundits I've ever heard on any football game. Up there with Andy Walker!
Tin hat on here , but after watching the highlights of the 7-0 defeat by rangers, i’ve very rarely seen a worse performance from any goalkeeper.
Hopefully it’s a one off , but for the womens game to move forward , athletic tall women should be be fast tracked to compete in goals from other sports.
It’s a hard task, as all the money is currently with the top three sides.
I generally enjoy watching hibs women, but they are rapidly falling away from competing, at the top level.
Goalkeeping has for a long time been the achillies heel of womens football. Just too often goals look soft and keepers look out of their depth. Of course there are notable exceptions such as England's Mary Earps, Germany's Merle Frohms and Canada's Kailen Sheridan to name just three, but generally many women goalkeepers struggle and much of it is due to height. In the recent world cup, the average height of the goalkeepers was 5 foot 7inches which makes the job incredibly hard and means their reach is significantly less than mens football. I really think tere is a case for making the goals smaller in womens football. Not only would it cut down some of the embarrassing thrashings we see in almost every league, but it would just be fairer and proportionate to womens physical atrributes.
I hope it never happens. They will then claim the pitch should be smaller. Maybe play with a size 4 ball. They have smaller goals at the younger level and it doesn't stop teams getting humped.
The trashing in our league are nothing to do with the size of the goals and everything to do with the lack of depth / quality.
Fair enough, I suspect you know more and care more about women's football than I do, but the Hibs Rangers match is very. very painful viewing from a goalkeeping perspective. Katie Fraine is an incredibly experienced goalkeeper that we brought in from abroad. Four of the seven goals she conceded were "howlers" including the first three that basically lost the game for Hibs. Only one or maybe two of the other goals were not pretty poor attempts at saves. Any professional mens goalkeeper putting in that performance would be absolutely slaughtered. I'm not sure they would ever play again.
There was some excellent outfield play in the match, some fantastic physical battles and some real commitment from both teams, it was utterly spoiled by a complete lack of ability between the sticks, that made the match seem comical. Playing the match at Ibrox, also makes the whole game seem weird, I'm not sure of the attendance, but 2000-3000 fans rattling around inside Castle Grey Skull just gives the game a very odd atmosphere
Nice that members are able to discuss the merits of women’s football without any fall outs.
Women’s rowing in our country, was miles behind the men in terms of competing with other countries.
Women’s rowing association, went into universities, and identified women’s who met the physically ability to be good at rowing, none had previously rowed.
This became a great success, it might be a way forward to identify women who are taller and more athletic to play in goals.
I'm told Katie played with a back injury. She didn't come out for the 2nd half. Personally I don't think Hibs have a had a good keeper for a long time. Does make a huge difference. We should have kept hold of Rodgers who is now at Hearts and the Scotland u19 keeper. She is tall and athletic.