July 2017

[Sweder]

Dan makes an interesting point about relative levels but it's academic to me. Having the two main teams at the same club being paid the same seems more important than where they are in their evolution.

Well done Lewes. The Rosa Parks of football. One for the record books. Perhaps one day there'll be coachloads of reverent schoolgirls arriving at the Dripping Pan for guided tours from an 89-year-old Sweder.

Apologies, Andy. In my haste to rebut the dismissive missive from the 1950's I failed to spot your post. The point you make is at the heart of this. Comparisons between gender performance are spurious, especially against a backdrop of historical prejudice. Men are undeniably faster, stronger. It will most likely always be thus. Why should that detract from the spectacle? The Women's 100 metres final is just as exciting as the men's, albeit up to a full ten percent slower. The athletes train every bit as hard to reach the pinnacle of their sport. 

Sport is wonderful. We should encourage everyone to take part, regardless of how they store their reproductive organs. We've received a lot of mail from parents thanking us for giving their daughter hope for a fairer world. It all sounds rather grand, but as for the dinosaurs, the tide is turning. There's something in the air just now, and for once it's not Charliecat's sweaty hummocks.

The BBC Gender Pay Gap row highlights that this is not about performance, it's about misogyny. 
It's about Man's inequitable right to place himself above all others. Frankly, with as much irony as I can drag up from the primordial ooze, it's bollocks. 

As for the last comment, I can't wait for my dotage and can only hope that particular position is nailed on. I was at training last night. The joy and enthusiasm arriving with those players lit up the dull night. One look a tiny their faces told me we're doing the right thing.