Women's Football Should Build Its Own Identity Instead of Copying the Men's Game Model
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/karen-dobres. "Women’s football shouldn’t have to copy a men’s game that isn’t working – just look at Ted Lasso | Karen Dobres | The Guardian." August 21, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that as women's football grows and gets more money, it's making a mistake by just copying how men's football works—which is already broken (many clubs lose money, fans hate high prices). Instead, women's football should build its own unique identity based on community and inclusion, using its distinct history and appeal to create a better, more sustainable model.
Conclusion
Women's football should develop its own distinct structures, culture, and economic model rather than replicating the men's professional football system.
Premises
- The typical men's football club is loss-making, and more than half of fans feel high ticket costs have reduced their enjoyment, indicating the men's model is flawed and not worth copying
- Women's football has a distinct history of community, accessibility, and inclusion that developed precisely because it existed outside traditional male football structures
- The rapid 'professionalisation' of women's football, driven by big clubs subsidising women's teams, is causing clubs to copy-paste men's game structures rather than innovate
- This fast-track copying is creating a fragile football pyramid, evidenced by clubs like Durham nearly folding, Plymouth Argyle releasing players via email, Forest Green Rovers scrapping their team, and Southampton cutting budgets
- Treating women players and fans as 'small men' rather than designing facilities, medical support, kit, and match experiences around female bodies and lives undermines the game's distinct potential
- Women's football offers unique audience experiences (combining sport with music, food, art, community) that could attract sponsors and fans not traditionally drawn to football
- A more equitable distribution of TV money, league sponsorships, and FA Cup prize money to smaller clubs would enable broader development of the women's game across the football pyramid
Assumptions
- The current men's football financial and structural model is inherently unsustainable or undesirable and not merely imperfect in execution
- Women's football's historical culture of community and inclusion is valuable and worth preserving as it professionalizes
- Financial struggles among women's clubs are primarily caused by copying men's game structures rather than other factors like inherent revenue limitations of a newer sport
- A 'female-centric' redesign of football structures would produce better outcomes than the current professionalisation path
- Increased revenue sharing would meaningfully address the financial instability described without other structural changes