Southampton FC Women

[Dr Who?]

I am following the debut season of Southampton FC Women in the national league southern. I say following, but I am finding very hard to find out anything when the match is going on. Even the Twitter feed on the official site is rubbish. Looks like sky bet only have from championship up. 

I get the feeling that this is going to be the start of a successful period for the club. Played 4 won 4, with the last game being 9-0, as we look for promotion this season into the Championship and one off the top flight. 

I am fully aware it is not for everyone but it is part of Southampton FC, so to me it will add to the success of the club. So comment if you are interested. 
 

Also if anyone has better ways or anyway of following the team when it comes to matches then please let me know. Going to games is not possible until they have some up north! 
 

some links - 
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/womens-premier-league-south/table - Table

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/womens-premier-league-south/scores-fixtures/2021-08 - results and fixtures 

https://www.southamptonfc.com/women/matches/2021-22/national-league-southern-premier/hounslow-vs-saints-2021-09-05 - Southampton fc page. 

Edited 5 September, 2021 by Dr Who?

[JRM]

My daughter wants to go and watch them so might head along to Totton at some point, should be guaranteed some goals and a win in most matches this season, must admit I find it hard to watch , especially the goalkeeping can be painfully bad. 

For those interested England Women are playing at St Mary's on 17th September 

https://ticketingcontent.thefa.com/England Women v North Macedonia?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_q0rozo8gIVibrtCh3XYw9PEAAYASAAEgIOM_D_BwE

[Dr Who?]

6 minutes ago, JRM said:

My daughter wants to go and watch them so might head along to Totton at some point, should be guaranteed some goals and a win in most matches this season, must admit I find it hard to watch , especially the goalkeeping can be painfully bad. 

For those interested England Women are playing at St Mary's on 17th September 

https://ticketingcontent.thefa.com/England Women v North Macedonia?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_q0rozo8gIVibrtCh3XYw9PEAAYASAAEgIOM_D_BwE

I know a lot of supporters are not or cannot get into it, but now they are part of the club and hopefully heading towards the top flight in the next few years, it is just another part of SFC to get behind and support. We are all Saints after all. 
 

The coverage by the club is awful, as the game finished 20 minutes ago, but I can find out what is happening in the game from the Southampton team that are not associated with the club. 🙄

[Dr Who?]

Turns out not a bad day again. 

I think we may go up again. Always had a good team. 
 

https://www.southamptonfc.com/women/results/2021-22

[JRM]

17 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Turns out not a bad day again. 

I think we may go up again. Always had a good team. 
 

https://www.southamptonfc.com/women/results/2021-22

Yeah another massive win, they're far too good for the division they are in, it's a joke the fa just let Man Utd form a women's team and allow them straight into top flight, it's all part of the marketing agenda to make the women's game appear to be growing in popularity by piggy backing on Uniteds fan base. We'll have to do it the hard way and get a few promotions 

[Dr Who?]

8 minutes ago, JRM said:

Yeah another massive win, they're far too good for the division they are in, it's a joke the fa just let Man Utd form a women's team and allow them straight into top flight, it's all part of the marketing agenda to make the women's game appear to be growing in popularity by piggy backing on Uniteds fan base. We'll have to do it the hard way and get a few promotions 

Oh yeah, it’s all about the ‘big names’ to appeal to the global market. I’m still trying to work out why the winners of the northern and the southern have a playoff to see who get into the championship (according to Wiki) but 2 teams get relegated from the championship? Also what if the teams relegated are 2 southern teams, that just does not add up. I think the whole structure will find its feet over time. 
 

It does seem Ipswich will give us a run for our money. Then in a playoff anything can happen. 
 

The BBC at first only game us a point, so they were checking Twitter and took the result from the other Southampton team. They now have us on results as winning 0-9 not 0-8. It’s all a little shambolic. 

Edited 5 September, 2021 by Dr Who?

[Dr Who?]

Oh my word. It was the BBC that got the score right, and the official Southampton website have updated their score now from 0-8, to 0-9. Unbelievable. 

[benjii]

9 nil! Mickey Mouse league! Can't take it seriously with scores like that.

[VectisSaint]

35 minutes ago, benjii said:

9 nil! Mickey Mouse league! Can't take it seriously with scores like that.

Minnie Mouse surely. Two 9-0s, where have I heard that before?

Coverage will not improve until at least they are in the Championship (next season). Even then coverage is sketchy compared to the top level (Super League or whatever its called).

[Lord Duckhunter]

Load of pony 

[Dr Who?]

1 hour ago, VectisSaint said:

Minnie Mouse surely. Two 9-0s, where have I heard that before?

Coverage will not improve until at least they are in the Championship (next season). Even then coverage is sketchy compared to the top level (Super League or whatever its called).

I see them as part of Southampton Football Club who are a very forward thinking club and should be championing their woman’s team. We have a very good team that I would expect to be in the top flight within 5 years. I know you can check the scores in the championship on Sky Bet (other betting sites available). 

[VectisSaint]

23 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

I see them as part of Southampton Football Club who are a very forward thinking club and should be championing their woman’s team. We have a very good team that I would expect to be in the top flight within 5 years. I know you can check the scores in the championship on Sky Bet (other betting sites available). 

Same here, they should have already been in the top level, they parachuted Man U straight in 3/4 years ago but put Saints at 5th level, then Covid hindered progress. Spacey has been gradually building a squad for the higher levels with some experienced players coming in. They should be in the Championship next year. 

[suewhistle]

4 hours ago, JRM said:

For those interested England Women are playing at St Mary's on 17th September 

https://ticketingcontent.thefa.com/England Women v North Macedonia?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_q0rozo8gIVibrtCh3XYw9PEAAYASAAEgIOM_D_BwE

Thanks for that. It's been appallingly badly publicised as that's the  first mention I've seen and I've just put in on my club's group chat. Nothing I can see on the OS, and you'd think the club would want a good attendance as it would (should?) reflect well on them, if they can organise it properly...

[JRM]

10 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

Thanks for that. It's been appallingly badly publicised as that's the  first mention I've seen and I've just put in on my club's group chat. Nothing I can see on the OS, and you'd think the club would want a good attendance as it would (should?) reflect well on them, if they can organise it properly...

Agree , unless I've missed it Saints have hardly made any effort to promote the fixture, perhaps they are hoping a small crowd will make it easier to cope when turnstiles fail again. If you manage to get a group of 8 it basically makes the tickets half price. In the past there would have been a few school / Sunday league clubs going as an outing but probably too much hassle to arrange in covid era. 

St Mary's is also hosting 3 games in the women's Euro 2022 next summer including an England fixture, good for the city to bring more events in like this with people spending money in town etc. 

[Dr Who?]

1 hour ago, VectisSaint said:

Same here, they should have already been in the top level, they parachuted Man U straight in 3/4 years ago but put Saints at 5th level, then Covid hindered progress. Spacey has been gradually building a squad for the higher levels with some experienced players coming in. They should be in the Championship next year. 

It would be good if the club would have the women’s team play before the men’s team if they have a home game on a Sunday and the women do as well. It would be an amazing experience for team. Or even do it independently for say the home game against the skates, just make it at St.Mary’s and promote it, better than the England game! 

[John Boy Saint]

6 hours ago, JRM said:

My daughter wants to go and watch them so might head along to Totton at some point, should be guaranteed some goals and a win in most matches this season, must admit I find it hard to watch , especially the goalkeeping can be painfully bad. 

For those interested England Women are playing at St Mary's on 17th September 

https://ticketingcontent.thefa.com/England Women v North Macedonia?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_q0rozo8gIVibrtCh3XYw9PEAAYASAAEgIOM_D_BwE

Its well worth making the effort she will enjoy it (you might even be surprised) - £3 to get in, free parking in the trading estate round the corner.............buy her some of the cheesy that many seemed to opting for and you will be the best Dad in the world.

Mrs JBS and I went and saw the Gillingham game at Totton (yup the 2 keeping errors made you laugh) , as a team they are well sorted actually they look a bloody nightmare to play against, they are relentless. Walking back to the car we were talking to a lady who seems to have been going to their games for a while, "they seem to have picked up where they have left off - second half they just keep going and you can see the opposition wilting by the minute". 

Nice little stadium and the pitch is in good nick, no surprise really as the club maintain it as part of the deal with Totton. 

[Patrick Bateman]

I caught a couple of the "WSL" matches on the BBC this weekend, well, bits of them - I couldn't get into them, but then I wouldn't bother watching Man City vs Everton in the Premier League either as I don't support either team.  However, I had zero understanding of the league pyramid and the league Southampton women were in, so I had to look it up. Perhaps the BBC should try to focus on how it's structured and explain that, rather than worry about having 1000 pundits at matches.  

I could get into Saints winning 9-0 every week ... 

I remember Saints women were a decent top flight team, managed by Sue Lopez, is that right?  I met her a couple of times when she used to help with the summer schools (I took my much younger brother around 92/93). I think from memory Saints women was shut down due to the overall administration, is that right? 

 

[Saint_clark]

Tried to follow them the last couple of seasons but the info/coverage is shockingly bad. If they want people to support women's football they need to put something better in place for more than just the WSL. 

 

[suewhistle]

7 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I remember Saints women were a decent top flight team, managed by Sue Lopez, is that right?  I met her a couple of times when she used to help with the summer schools (I took my much younger brother around 92/93). I think from memory Saints women was shut down due to the overall administration, is that right?

Yep, I think so. Quite a number of FA cup wins too.

I don't have any particular knowledge but I suspect that some of the large wins they are having at this level are due to their very professional set up and training a lot more, that makes a difference to skills but particularly fitness. Getting teams to train more than twice a week isn't feasible when players are essentially amateur, although even the time with one team I trained twice a week made a difference to my game (it was hockey at school!).

But getting promotion would certainly make a big difference to the standard and exposure and they certainly seem on course at the moment.

 

[Daft Kerplunk]

One of the biggest budgets of all the teams (including the WSL) so they should be spanking everyone week in week out.  Good to have at least one well funded first team 😎

[The Cat]

9 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I caught a couple of the "WSL" matches on the BBC this weekend, well, bits of them - I couldn't get into them, but then I wouldn't bother watching Man City vs Everton in the Premier League either as I don't support either team.  However, I had zero understanding of the league pyramid and the league Southampton women were in, so I had to look it up. Perhaps the BBC should try to focus on how it's structured and explain that, rather than worry about having 1000 pundits at matches.  

I could get into Saints winning 9-0 every week ... 

I remember Saints women were a decent top flight team, managed by Sue Lopez, is that right?  I met her a couple of times when she used to help with the summer schools (I took my much younger brother around 92/93). I think from memory Saints women was shut down due to the overall administration, is that right? 

 

I think Lowe ditched the women's team around the time he canned the radio station too. From memory it was before administration but the start of his cost cutting regime.

Sue Lopez was the coach when I took some FA badges. She was unreal, probably the best footballer I've been on a pitch with.

 

[Fan The Flames]

Do we still hold the record for most FA cup wins, is it the same Southampton womens team?

Edited 6 September, 2021 by Fan The Flames

[VectisSaint]

26 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

Do we still hold the record for most FA cup wins, is it the same Southampton womens team?

No, Southampton won it 8 times, twice runners-up, but Arsenal have sin e won 14 times. The historical link between the current Southampton Women and the original team in the 1970s (which at some time used to be called RS Southampton I think, Red Star) is tenuous, Southampton Ladies have a probably better claim to that history. Lowe closed down the Ladies team and although it survived it went into serious decline with no funding. 

[Patrick Bateman]

4 hours ago, The Cat said:

I think Lowe ditched the women's team around the time he canned the radio station too. From memory it was before administration but the start of his cost cutting regime.

Sue Lopez was the coach when I took some FA badges. She was unreal, probably the best footballer I've been on a pitch with.

 

I never saw her play but I'd heard that she was ridiculously good. Sadly I've just read that she's another ex-footballer suffering from dementia. 

 

Lowe ditching the team around the same time as the radio station rings bells now, yes. I know the station was making around a £250k loss a year and I presume the women's team was equally seen as a money pit with no revenue.  Shame.

[Badger]

Aren't there two women's teams in Southampton, one organised by the club and another independently founded ?

Is the independent one still going ?

[rooney]

Yes Southampton Women FC and Saints spanked them in a pre season game i believe

[Badger]

9 minutes ago, rooney said:

Yes Southampton Women FC and Saints spanked them in a pre season game i believe

Perhaps an unfortunate choice of phrase . Bound to be some grubby raincoats   prepared to pay a premium on the ticket price for that sight !!

So is this right, we have Southampton Womens FC , and Southampton FC Women ?

Does have a feeling of the Judean Peoples Front to it 

Edited 6 September, 2021 by Badger

[negium]

7 hours ago, Fan The Flames said:

Do we still hold the record for most FA cup wins, is it the same Southampton womens team?

That is what is now southampton women fc. Were their own club back in the day, merged with saints up until the Lowe years when got cut aside and still exist as their own club in the league below saints. My daughter plays for their youth team. Saints women are on a whole other level but the team they beat in pre season was the southampton women reserves.  Southampton women play their home games at alresford fc and drew 2 - 2 with Exeter yesterday.  A season ticket for saints women is just £15 and well worth it in my opinion. If you are a mens season ticket holder then the women's season ticket is just a fiver and kids are free. Is a very entertaining day out and pompey are in our league so a local Derby to look forward to.

[Badger]

Just to ask the obvious question, why did Saints not look to absorb the ongoing Southampton club back into the fold ?

Or did they try and the existing club decide to remain independent ? Perhaps understandable given their earlier experience and prospect of seeing their funding at the whim of someone making a balls up of the men's side of things.

[Dr Who?]

12 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Tried to follow them the last couple of seasons but the info/coverage is shockingly bad. If they want people to support women's football they need to put something better in place for more than just the WSL. 

 

This is what I was saying. The official Southampton FC site gave the final score as 0-8 for an hour! The Twitter feed had nothing during the game and nothing at all even at full time. Even the Facebook page did not put the score up for about 2/3 hours after the game. It is frustrating as the other Southampton team have a Twitter feed that gives up to date action from the game. All in the club could be doing much much more! 

[Dr Who?]

31 minutes ago, Badger said:

Just to ask the obvious question, why did Saints not look to absorb the ongoing Southampton club back into the fold ?

Or did they try and the existing club decide to remain independent ? Perhaps understandable given their earlier experience and prospect of seeing their funding at the whim of someone making a balls up of the men's side of things.

They are in a league lower and independent because Southampton FC did not have a women’s team linked to the club until 2017. But because the independent club is solely a women’s club the coverage is far better as it is not seen as a “little side product”. Southampton FC need to see the bigger picture and buy into it a little more. 

[whelk]

This always makes me chuckle but no offence to the Saints girls

[JRM]

9 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

No, Southampton won it 8 times, twice runners-up, but Arsenal have sin e won 14 times. The historical link between the current Southampton Women and the original team in the 1970s (which at some time used to be called RS Southampton I think, Red Star) is tenuous, Southampton Ladies have a probably better claim to that history. Lowe closed down the Ladies team and although it survived it went into serious decline with no funding. 

A family member of mine played for them in the 70s and has a few FA Cup winners medals, they were brilliant in that era but were not affiliated with the men's team. 

[JRM]

2 hours ago, negium said:

That is what is now southampton women fc. Were their own club back in the day, merged with saints up until the Lowe years when got cut aside and still exist as their own club in the league below saints. My daughter plays for their youth team. Saints women are on a whole other level but the team they beat in pre season was the southampton women reserves.  Southampton women play their home games at alresford fc and drew 2 - 2 with Exeter yesterday.  A season ticket for saints women is just £15 and well worth it in my opinion. If you are a mens season ticket holder then the women's season ticket is just a fiver and kids are free. Is a very entertaining day out and pompey are in our league so a local Derby to look forward to.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_FA_Cup

Southampton were in the final 10 times in 11 years , winning it 8 times, think there's a Southampton Women shirt on display at the National football museum marking this achievement. 

[negium]

3 hours ago, Badger said:

Just to ask the obvious question, why did Saints not look to absorb the ongoing Southampton club back into the fold ?

Or did they try and the existing club decide to remain independent ? Perhaps understandable given their earlier experience and prospect of seeing their funding at the whim of someone making a balls up of the men's side of things.

The saints decided that they wanted to start from scratch and promote their u18 academy team up and build from the bottom. Plus the southampton womens team didn't want to reintegrate with the club having been burned the last time. It basically suited both clubs to do their own thing

[negium]

3 hours ago, Dr Who? said:

They are in a league lower and independent because Southampton FC did not have a women’s team linked to the club until 2017. But because the independent club is solely a women’s club the coverage is far better as it is not seen as a “little side product”. Southampton FC need to see the bigger picture and buy into it a little more. 

The annoying thing is that last season we were getting team news and updates throughout the games on twitter but this season that has stopped

[Saint86]

On 05/09/2021 at 17:00, Dr Who? said:

Oh my word. It was the BBC that got the score right, and the official Southampton website have updated their score now from 0-8, to 0-9. Unbelievable. 

Based on the photo the club have continued to use, I'd say they weren't keeping an eye on the scoreboard...

[Uncle Albert]

Have to say the standards of the top levels of the women’s game have improved a lot, goalkeepers are still shit though. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time before Saints reach that level.

Edited 7 September, 2021 by Uncle Albert

[jasonb]

On 06/09/2021 at 09:52, The Cat said:

I think Lowe ditched the women's team around the time he canned the radio station too. From memory it was before administration but the start of his cost cutting regime.

Sue Lopez was the coach when I took some FA badges. She was unreal, probably the best footballer I've been on a pitch with.

 

Sue Lopez was my PE teacher at Applemore back in the 80s. We had no clue who she was at the time. Only after I left school did I learn of her superb career.  

Ran rings round us on the pitch when she joined in. 

Sorry to read she is now in poor health. 

Edited 8 September, 2021 by jasonb

[Dr Who?]

Not another league game until Sunday 26th, when we are home to London Bees. Cup game this weekend and then international week.

The cup game is against Cheltenham Town FC who play in the league lower FA Women’s National League South West Division, and have a pretty good set up in women’s football (link below if any are interested). It could be a massive score, but might be a good time to play some fringe platers. But maybe not with international week the week after. 

  

Sunday 12th Sept - 2pm 

DON’T KNOW WHY I AM POSTING THIS AS YOU CANNOT FOLLOW IT ANYWHERE, BUT YOU GET THE FULL TIME SCORE ABOUT HALF HOUR AFTER THE GAME. 
 

http://www.ctlfc.com/club/our-club/ 

CHELTENHAM T

SOUTHAMPTON

SUN 12 SEP 2PM

[maysie]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/womens-sport/2020/04/24/super-striker-sue-lopez-paved-way-professionals/

 

Hadn't heard of Sue Lopez but found this interesting  ( and quite sad) article.

Seems she was quite the pioneer

[negium]

Sue Lopez used to be my boss. She was a trailblazer in women's football

[negium]

On 07/09/2021 at 09:42, Uncle Albert said:

Have to say the standards of the top levels of the women’s game have improved a lot, goalkeepers are still shit though. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time before Saints reach that level.

Unfortunately the goalkeeper situation is not great at many clubs but a lot of that comes down to availability and quality of coaching. It is improving but takes time

[JRM]

8 hours ago, negium said:

Unfortunately the goalkeeper situation is not great at many clubs but a lot of that comes down to availability and quality of coaching. It is improving but takes time

I think it would help the women's goalkeepers if they reduced the size of the goals, they are generally not as tall as their male counterparts and jumping seems to be an issue. 

[Turkish]

40 minutes ago, JRM said:

I think it would help the women's goalkeepers if they reduced the size of the goals, they are generally not as tall as their male counterparts and jumping seems to be an issue. 

Personally i think it might have something to do with them being late developers, most women probably dont decide to become keepers into later in life as young girls probably dont want balls smacked at them on winter mornings. I can say that without being sacked unlike some. 

[suewhistle]

Nothing I can really disagree with here regarding the goalkeeping situation, although smaller goals wouldn't be a solution for many practical reasons. I've played in goal, reserve keeper for one team as I was tall, and even had specific coaching from a specialised coach, but that was in another country and is unusual at our level.

It's often the case in the bottom of the pyramid where I play that it is really difficult to get keepers, and you can tell sometimes that the regular keeper is not available! Finding someone who _wants_ to play in goal is a challenge, and yep, they are often quite short!

[Lord Duckhunter]

Why don’t they just allow blokes to go in goal? If it makes the game more popular  that’s a more practical suggestion than tight fitting kit. 

Edited 10 September, 2021 by Lord Duckhunter

[StDunko]

23 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Why don’t they just allow blokes to go in goal? If it makes the game more popular  that’s a more practical suggestion than tight fitting kit. 

If we let them have McCarthy, I'm not sure the quality will improve...

[Raging Bull]

4 hours ago, suewhistle said:

It's often the case in the bottom of the pyramid where I play that it is really difficult to get keepers, and you can tell sometimes that the regular keeper is not available! Finding someone who _wants_ to play in goal is a challenge, and yep, they are often quite short!

I’m assuming some of it might be a boob issue because I asked my wife about this and the conversation went:

Me: would you play in goal if you were asked to? 

Mrs Bull: no, don’t be stupid 

Me: Why?

Mrs Bull: I’ve got big jugs and it would hurt if I landed on them. 

Also Mrs Bull: Stop grinning you perv

[JRM]

24 minutes ago, Raging Bull said:

I’m assuming some of it might be a boob issue because I asked my wife about this and the conversation went:

Me: would you play in goal if you were asked to? 

Mrs Bull: no, don’t be stupid 

Me: Why?

Mrs Bull: I’ve got big jugs and it would hurt if I landed on them. 

Also Mrs Bull: Stop grinning you perv

Is this your Mrs?