Chelsea fans should do our part in normalizing women in football

Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes was the co-commentator in the Croatia versus Spain Round of 16 match over in England. The game itself was crazy with Croatia taking the lead from a harmless (seemingly) back pass, only to be 3-1 down with seven minutes of regulation time to go. The team dominating the game changed several times, especially toward the end when a Luka Modric-led Croatia mounted a sensational comeback in regulation time, forcing the game to go to extra time. Croatia eventually lost the game in extra time conceding twice before 105’ to lose the game 5-3.

The game of football is growing, with the introduction of women—in any capacity—coming relatively recently. It’s not far-fetched to say that some are still not used to seeing women regularly in football; hopefully all of that will get better with time. This means that the more mature football fans have to play their role in normalizing women around the game in any capacity. Yes, the airheads will always be airheads, but nothing can be done about them.

Normalizing women in football means treating them the same way men will be treated. It means not walking on egg shells when addressing a football matter involving a woman. It means giving your honest opinion on football content involving women. It means digesting football content created or featuring a woman the way you would a man. This also means that reactions toward other people’s opinions regarding women-related football content should also be measured.

This means that for one, we should not be quick to label people sexist or misogynistic when we hear criticism to said football content that we deem harsh. Yes, there are clearly misogynistic ones, and yes there are clearly sexist ones, but we need to separate actual criticism from sexist drivel.

Hayes’ commentary was met with mixed reactions. Many did not like it because she was talking a lot. It’s important to note that a lot of things in football are viewed through the lens of personal preference—a lot. Commentary, playing style, playing philosophies, coaching style, etc. Some people like watching counter-attacking football while others like watching teams play patiently, making short passes and patiently waiting for the right moments to exploit teams’ lapses in concentration. Back to Hayes’s commentary though.

The one criticism she did get that was worth listening to was that she was talking a lot. Despite that, many still enjoyed her commentary, which shows that it’s not as much of an issue as its being made out to be. There were a lot of complaints about her accent and her name pronunciation, which is neither here nor there because no one can change their accent and everyone pronounces names differently. Though, in Hayes’ case, it seems she was actually pronouncing Cesar Azpilicueta‘s name correctly—why wouldn’t she? She knows him better than any of us surely do.

As a co-commentator, Hayes’ job requires her to give more insight into what she’s seeing. It’s intentional that experts are also in the studio. However, if many felt she was talking too much for a co-commentator, that’s a fair criticism, but that is also not a damning observation. For instance, no one will say they don’t want her in the studio again because of that. Yes, part of it is not being used to her (in particular) and women (in general) doing football commentary. People have to be allowed to get used to it, very soon the same people complaining about her talking too much may not find it so irritating anymore.

For the record, I didn’t listen to her as I was on a different broadcast. The point is that when something relatively unfamiliar happens, people would subconsciously start comparing it with what they already hear/know/see, even if what they already hear/know/see may not be particularly correct.

This is where maturity amongst football fans needs to be exercised. Not every criticism of a woman in football needs to be paid attention, or equal attention. It’s not bad for people to not have enjoyed Hayes’ commentary. It’s not bad for people to have complaints about her commentary and most importantly, it’s not sexist. It’s only sexist if a woman in football is over criticized for flimsy reasons, or if she’s not criticized at all because she’s a woman. Women in football cannot become comfortable if we keep reacting very sharply to criticism thrown their way.

The football community is reactionary. The things that trigger sections of them are sometimes the most mundane things. Men have gotten used to it, we should allow women to get used to it too. If we refuse to comment on a woman’s punditry because we don’t want to be labelled sexist, we wouldn’t be treating them equal to the way we treat men. That is not good. This is not to say inappropriate things should be said to them and inappropriate jokes should be cracked about them. There should still be courtesy and civility when discussing with anyone. However, if people feel Hayes was talking too much, they shouldn’t be shouted down or silenced even if you feel she wasn’t.

The attention around her commentary and criticisms of her commentary is way too much. Some of it (the criticism) doesn’t even deserve mentioning. People enjoy different things. Some want to hear tactical talk during the game, others don’t.

Let Hayes be; she doesn’t have anything to prove as a commentator, pundit or football professional. Let people decide who they enjoy listening to and who they don’t, among female and male pundits/commentators. Anyone criticizing female pundits for flimsy reasons shouldn’t be paid any attention, but not every criticism of females in football is sexist.