The Liverpool FC Ladies’ hotel on the edge of Madrid was an apt location for their pre-season trip to the Spanish capital because for the moment they are on the periphery of the global game.
However with the creation of a new domestic league, the female Reds and women’s football are hoping to move closer to centre stage than ever before.
Financially backed by the Football Association and broadcaster ESPN, hope is the Women’s FA Super League provides a watershed moment for a side of the sport which has to fight for exposure and shrug off stigma in equal measure.
Liverpool are one of eight clubs who successfully bid for a two-year license to be in the elite division and will carry the aspirations of all of those involved in the game as the two-year funding from football’s governing body, matched by each parent club to the tune of up to £70,000 per season, drives the dream from March next year.
The loss Robbie Johnson’s ladies suffered at the hands of their Atletico Madrid counterparts in a friendly on Saturday will be of little significance to the Anfield side if they can ultimately make the Super League a success.
Anything less than a positive return for the engaging Johnson, his side and the band of enthusiastic and dedicated backroom staff, as well as all clubs involved in the venture, would be nothing short of cruel.
But regardless of their ambitions the project needs support and in defeat to the Feminas of Atletico, whose new campaign is only a couple of weeks away, there emerged a core group of players talented and skilful enough to entice fans to part with their cash to watch the ladies in Red regularly.
A reported crowd of near 1,700 lined the stands at the Campo Municipal de Deportes Alberto Ruiz over the weekend to witness Liverpool remain in contention for an hour before perishing in the unforgiving early evening heat, 5-2.
The lure of a visiting side from Anfield certainly played its part in the healthy crowd and gathering of local TV crews but the Spanish have clearly taken to the women’s game faster than on these shores with the approach to the national sport no doubt a factor.
English fans are fed on the power and pace of the Premier League, but as Liverpool striker Cheryl Foster explains, the women’s approach is based on technique and patient passing, aspects of the game which feature prominently in La Liga.
“I think the most important thing is people don’t approach the women’s game with a mindset that we are like the men”, she said.
“The comparison of men’s and women’s tennis often gets used in our case because the game is maybe a little slower but we are perhaps more tactical. But there’s still going to be goals, chances and mistakes.”
Johnson, who spent 15 years as a coach with Liverpool’s youth teams and helped nurture the talents of Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, added: “There’s a lot less of an ability to play the ball long. Many of the girls can’t drive the ball long so they have a tendency to keep the ball tighter.
“But because I’ve been ingrained in the Liverpool Way, if you like, then teaching the girls to play in a certain manner comes automatically to me.”
Johnson admits his move away from schooling the potential stars of the men’s senior side to building the women’s team, along with Andy Williams as his assistant, was an essentially smooth transition based purely on the game, not gender.
“It was one of football mentalities”, he said.
“When I came I said to the girls I was going to coach them as players, not as girls. It was a learning experience for me and I’m sure it was for them. I’ve always worked with players who have the ethos of running as fast as they can because otherwise someone would run past them.
“The biggest problem for me was understanding where the girls were in the pyramid and how much they knew about the game. There were very common football terms the girls did not understand. We are certainly improving every season. Last year we won the league by 10 clear points but this season we are effectively moving up from the Championship, straight into the Champions League if you like. Arsenal and Everton have been the dominant force for so many years in the Premier League but being in their shadow is not something I worry about. If we improve our stock and they stand still then we get closer to them, that is all we’ve been concentrating on.”
Unfortunately dedicating themselves full-time to the cause is not an option for the side with the players balancing studies or jobs with their playing duties at present.
Foster, a PE teacher in Chester, believes their part-time status warrants the same level of respect they have when representing Liverpool FC.
“At the end of the day, everyone here is either working or a student who trains on top of that. People need to respect that fact and the immense commitment in the women’s game.
“Wearing the badge does bring great expectations with it, whether it’s the senior men, youth teams or the women, Liverpool has a great history you always making sure we are doing our best and doing the shirt proud. It’s a fantastic club and we are very grateful for all their support. We feel more and more part of the club each year as women’s football develops.”
Foster, the club’s leading scorer last season with 22, is Wales’ all time leading appearance holder and agrees for the Super League to truly find that crossover appeal, a star must be unearthed.
England international Kelly Smith would have been that high profile player the league could have used, says 29-year-old Foster, but she has been drawn to the professional set-up in America.
“Kelly Smith has gone to America, she would’ve been that icon the Super League is looking for. But there will be someone who emerges from this new division as that star who can hopefully raise the profile of the game beyond where it is now. A player who sets the world alight, but the rollercoaster has already started.”
The eight teams who make up the Women’s Super League are Arsenal, Birmingham City, Bristol Academy, Chelsea, Doncaster Rovers, Everton, Lincoln and Liverpool.
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