I have to admit I am ;left cold by the constant pushing of the professional women's game down the throats of football supporters, so my interest in the Southampton FC women's team is zero, however this weekend I watched the derby game with Pompey.

I have nothing against women playing football, it gladdens me to see so many young girls and women taking up playing the game and organised leagues at all age groups and levels.

Back in the 1970's when women's football was in it's infancy after only recently having been recognised by the FA, I remember attending an England international game at the Dell and I also saw the odd game of the Southampton Women's team who were then the best team in England winning the FA Cup on about 8 occasions I think.

They are still going, but they are a different team than the Southampton FC Women who play under the club banner.

So zs I said earlier I am pleased to see so many women taking up the playing of the game at all ages and levels.

But the constant pushing of the professional game in the media was actually counter productive in interesting me in following either England at international level or Southampton FC, in my opinion the game was not allowed to grow organically, it was being hyped as being on a par with the men's game, something it clearly wasn't and it put me off.

However with an international break and a two week hiatus from watching Saints in the Premier League, when I saw that the Southampton FC women's team were travelling to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth and it could be watched live on youtube, I thought I would take a look.

Both teams play in the Championship where Saints are near the top and pushing for promotion, whereas Portsmouth are rock bottom and had lost every game in the League.

The first half was a scrappy affair, Portsmouth played with passion, but it was clear that they were an inferior team to Saints, who just looked bigger and faster, as the half went on Saints were becoming more dominant and it looked like the home side would get into the break level.

However on 41 minutes Saints took the lead when a low cross was drilled in across the six yard line and unfortunately it hit a Pompey leg and went in for an own goal, it was truly deserved by the Saints side who had dominated but harsh on Pompey, but I was shedding no tears, a goal against Pompey is a goal at any level.

It could have been two moments later, but a poor shot from a one on one with the keeper was easily saved.

Pompey huffed and puffed a bit after the break, but Saints defended well and looked comfortable and when they got a second on the hour mark you felt that there was no coming back from this one.

It looked like the game was going to end 2-0 until the 87th minute when a third goal sparked a Portsmouth collapse and two more were added to make it a final score of 5-0 to Southampton, in fairness the scoreline did not flatter them, they left it late, but it could have and indeed should have been more.

So what did I take from watching the current Southampton FC Women's team for the first time.

Firstly I have to admit I enjoyed the game, it was entertaining, perhaps some of this feeling was because it was a game against Portsmouth, but I think it would have been entertaining had I been watching them play another team.

But it was not a high standard, there were some good moments and some well worked moves, but overall there was a lack of control on the ball and a lack of an end product on two many occasions.

I am well aware that this is the second tier of the Women's game, so I wasn't expecting too much, like the men's game I would imagine that there is a big gulf between the teams in the Premier League and Championship as well as less investment.

But I cannot lie I was a little surprised at the standard and there is a lot of work to do in this respect.

Given that this is a derby game you would think that this would be at the top end of the attendance scale for the home side, I think they usually play at Havant & Waterlooville's ground rather than Fratton Park, however it was a poor crowd, just 2,390 in attendance around 250 of them supporting Saints and it was good to see that there seemed to be none of the hatred you experience when the men's sides meet.

Only one side of the ground was open and Saints supporters congregated at one end of the North Stand, there were no segregation fences or netting and you could also see the odd Saints shirt amongst the Portsmouth supporters in the rest of the stand.

To put this in perspective when Saints beat Sheffield United a few weeks ago, the crowd at St Mary's was 1,528 and I think that they are making plans to play the bulk of their future home games at Eastleigh and AFC Totton, although at the moment the next game up is Birmingham City at St Mary's.

This would seem a good move, there is nothing worse than watching football whether it is men or women in a stadium that is 90 % empty, it doesn't create much of an atmosphere,

Whereas at Eastleigh for instance 1,500 -2000 would be close to the pitch and create an atmosphere in a ground that didn't feel empty.

That is one of my issues with the professional women's game, it tries to replicate the men's game by playing at big stadiums, it is trying to walk before it can run, but it is counter productive, a youngster going to a game for the first time would get a negative view of the game from the empty stands and echoing voices from both the players and the fans, it would not make them keen to return.

The women's game is flourishing at grass roots level, there are more girls playing the game than ever before and that augurs well for the future of the game going forward, but as I saw on Sunday afternoon, it still has a long way to go before it reaches the standards of the men's game.

In my view at a professional level, to succeed it needs to concentrate on being it's own offering rather than try to make out it is the equal of the men's game, build it's own foundations, build it's own fanbase and it will grow organically.

I'm glad I watched the game on Sunday, as I said it was entertaining and I might well watch another one, but I had the feeling that the Championship is a long way away from the Premier League and I have to admit that the Women's Premier League and it's hyping in the media leaves me cold, but I have the same feelings about the Men's version as well, so this is nothing to do with misogyny.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 11:32 - Oct 14 Think you are missing a trick not watching them more often. They often cheer me up after watching RMs miserable selections and tactics. In Molly Pike they have a top class player, just hope they can keep hold of her unlike the other three excellent players they let go prior to the season start. To be honest I often prefer to watch the women's game given the constant cheating in the men's game (eg. diving and shirt grabbing) and the favouratism shown by the FA and match officials towards certain teams (eg see Arsenal's second). As for the international side at least they win something occasionally, unlike the men's team whi h is constantly beset by favouritism selections.and poor tactics.

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A1079 added 12:59 - Oct 14 I note the following comment in your verdict - if I didn't know better I could be reading about many of our men's first team verdicts here:- But it was not a high standard, there were some good moments and some well worked moves, but overall there was a lack of control on the ball and a lack of an end product on two many occasions.
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ItchenNorth added 13:42 - Oct 14 If the women's game is to thrive, more women need to show an interest in attending games! Women's football forced down our throats because those in charge are too scared of how they might be perceived if everything they do is not deemed to be equal. But that is a nonsense. The reality is, women have every chance to engage attending the women's game, but they really don't in any great numbers. My guess is that in the professional men's game the ratio of women attending is something like 1 in 30. You have to ask therefore where is the market. Yes, they are trying to grow the game, and that's great, but women need to show far more interest in it. Why aren't they? I'm not suggesting for any second that the men's game is for men and vis versa but I honestly don't think that many women are greatly interested in football or we'd see this representation at men's games. They have better things to do!

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Bowlercow added 13:56 - Oct 14 Well done for watching it for 90 minutes Nick I fell asleep before half time
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Number_58 added 17:16 - Oct 14 To balance things out a bit, after reading Nick's article about watching non league football on Saturday, I attended my local team's Wessex League match and the standard was rubbish and the officials received terrible stick from the players, coaches and crowd. If I had to choose between one or the other I think I'd rather watch a Saints women's match.
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BuenosSaint added 04:51 - Oct 15 I agree with your point about playing in 90% empty stadium. I took my daughter last season and it was her first experience of SMS. crowd was around 3.5k but I felt bad that she was surrounded by empty stands. Would have been so much better at Eastleigh it Totton. By all means use SMS but only when the crowds merit it.
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