This is, of course, not the first time a clash between the Blues and the Reds has sparked debate about the quality of pitches in the WSL — their clash at Prenton Park in December 2019 went viral thanks to a similar amount of outrage.
That day, the muddy pitch in Birkenhead drew the ire of Chelsea boss Emma Hayes who blasted it as a “stain on the club.” Images of Cuthbert kneeling on a boggy pitch, kit and flesh doused with runny mud, circulated among women’s football fans and players for weeks. This time, it’s a video supercut of players struggling (and failing) to keep their footing on the frozen pitch with Niamh Charles the unlucky highlight, the Chelsea defender unable to scamper back to her feet after sliding onto the unyielding surface.
After the match, Hayes called for under-pitch heating across the league, but there’s nothing to stop Chelsea, who own their Kingsmeadow home, from installing one. (Unless, of course, they’re being blocked by the powers that be.)
Teams like Arsenal and Brighton, who do not own their regular-league homes — Borehamwood and Crawley, respectively — are not as fortunate given that they’re tenants, even if they have the money to spend on such. Indeed, only Chelsea, Leicester City, Manchester City and Reading own their typical home grounds. With the Foxes and Royals using the men’s stadiums for their games, the quality of their pitches is rarely brought into question, but for everyone else, and where non-league grounds have for so long been the norm for women’s teams in England, it is a constant bone of contention.
There is the argument, of course, that if a club can’t afford to install under-pitch heating or, say, pay their players throughout their pregnancies — Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir’s story has been another difficult lowlight this month — or even fulfil what we have begun to deem as basic requirements, should they have a women’s team in the first place? We know that even among clubs with enough money to bankroll their women’s sides, there’s still a tendency to put in little more than the bare minimum.
A problem seen and felt through the game comes with the accelerated speed of development and growth, not least in England where from the 2018-19 season, all teams in the WSL have been full time. While the men’s game grew organically, crossing bridges and lifting itself over hurdles when it reached them, there is a degree of fast forward about women’s football that sees cart being put before horse. For example, the WSL’s broadcast deal highlights the nation’s appetite for the sport, but with the grounds used by the 12 teams usually being of a lower quality, there is a disconnect, though certainly not the only one, as many clubs fail on the basics like appropriate medical care.
