The south-west-Londoners only ran out 1-0 victors against their visitors form the north-west but – fittingly – enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had 19 shots at Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s goal. Their opponents only mustered three at the other end.
While two of the game’s biggest names caught up on a league fixture that was originally scheduled for 6th October, the rest of the country was embarking on cup campaigns. That 6th October fixture was cancelled with just one week’s advance notice due to Chelsea being slated for an 8th October Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
At the time, player welfare was cited as the main reason for delaying the contest, which few fans took issue with. There was, however, much uproar around the fact that the game had to be cancelled at all.
The WSL knew before arranging the 6th October game that there was around a 50% chance of Chelsea playing in the Champions League on the 8th October (a Tuesday). The fact the league did not account for this led to accusations of amateurism.
One football fan told the The Rise of Women’s Football when the original fixture was postponed: “This wouldn’t have happened in the men’s game. If there was a decent chance of them playing in Europe on the Tuesday, the league game would have been arranged for the Saturday, or even the Friday night. Why couldn’t the WSL have done the same?”
The fear for many is that if hiccups like these are a frequent occurrence, it will push new women’s football fans away from the game.
“We have to get our house in order,” the fan continued. “With the cost-of-living so high, fans often have to book travel and accommodation for an away game well in advance. Cancelling a game with a week’s notice when you could have foreseen the need to do so is unforgivable really.”
Tom, a regular at Kingsmeadow, said: “With just a week’s notice it’s pretty poor.
“It’s definitely more on the WSL than UEFA – they’ve had the potential European dates scheduled for a year.”
Not all fans were quite as diplomatic, however. James, a regularly with Chelsea’s home contingent at men’s and women’s fixtures called the original cancellation “insane”.
“Teething problems as the league grows are to be expected, but that [the cancellation] was Mickey Mouse stuff.”
Given the league’s infancy, most regular women’s match-goers are likely to forgive this kind of mix-up. However, if women’s football hopes to retain an engaged fanbase in what is already a highly competitive marketplace, its organisers and governing bodies need to ensure that this kind of mix-up is avoided in future.
