Opinion: Less chauvinism and more support needed for our girls in green

As Ireland enjoys its maiden appearance in FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, pathetic jokes about washing and tea towel flags are something which should be long consigned to the bin. 

Prior to Ireland’s second game against Canada, which they lost out on a 2-1 scoreline, a chipper in Dublin shared a joke about putting out flags of support, with a tea towel in the window. Sadly, the post had been doing the rounds prior to Ireland’s first game, also. 

Another social media post circulated was of a female player running on with a note with team instructions and when it zoomed in, it was a shopping list. 

Then there was a comedian who finished with the line “the washing will still be here when ye get home”. 

I’m sure the defence is that it’s just a bit of humour. But it’s not. It’s just good old-fashioned sexism. 

Instead, it should be noted that some of the Irish players have overcome significant adversity. 

Chloe Mustaki has recovered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, and also a career threatening cruciate ligament injury. 

In fact, many female players have overcome a dreaded ACL injury. Estimates of women athletes’ ACL injuries range from two to six times greater than that of male athletes. The peak ages for these injuries is 15-19, according to the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

Added to that, football boots are designed specifically for men. This isn’t the case for ordinary footwear or runners etc. It is believed that boots designed for the male foot may be a contributory factor in higher ACL injuries for female players and boots specifically designed for women have only just been released, but at a very high cost. 

In addition to overcoming many obstacles, those who do make the grade as full-time professional players exist on short-term contracts and low wages, apart from a very small minority. 

The Irish team had to go on strike to get basic things like tracksuits, compensation for time taken off work and physio treatment, when players only played part-time. 

Now, only a number of years later, players like Katie McCabe and Denise O'Sullivan are trailblazing and inspiring young girls to dream of playing in the World Cup. 

Instead of sexist jibes, credit should be given for the enormous strides made by the national team. 

With the women’s team having been founded in 1973, they finally qualified for their first World Cup, approximately 50 years later. 

This is a faster trajectory than their male counterparts, who didn’t qualify for their first World Cup until Italia 90, despite a much longer existence. The FAI/IFA split, War of Independence, Partition etc all played its part - and is far too complicated a subject to go into here. 

However, there is no point in falling into the trap of comparing teams along male and females lines, just enjoy and support both. Equally. 

But it is clear that there is an underlying sexism about female partition in sport. The incorrect sharing of details of Wrexham beating the USA Women’s team recently, with the game supposedly abandoned early due to the one-sided contest, was debunked. Many of the women on the USA team no longer played and it was an exhibition game not featuring any current international players. 

However, it suited chauvinists to ignore the facts and gladly share the incorrect details all the same. 

Instead, it might be better to learn a little more about the Irish players and their achievements to date. 

Less of the jibes about tea towels lads, unless you want to use them yourselves before watching the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. You might be enlightened.