Belles

[Thorney]

3 ex players just finished a world Cup final game.

1 was captain and 1 won goalkeeper of the tournament. Shame how belles fell down the ladder

[ChrisBx]

Shafted by The FA.

[Filo]

3 ex players just finished a world Cup final game.

1 was captain and 1 won goalkeeper of the tournament. Shame how belles fell down the ladder

They never fell down the ladder, the were shoved off it by the FA

[Thorney]

3 ex players just finished a world Cup final game.

1 was captain and 1 won goalkeeper of the tournament. Shame how belles fell down the ladder

They never fell down the ladder, the were shoved off it by the FA

That's how I was meant it to sound, by saying shame how they fell.

[roversdude]

Will Belles get any money from this similar to Rovers getting money for Dieng and Smith playing in the men’s WC

[Chris Black come back]

Belles were absolutely robbed, as part of a conspiracy to keep us out of the top tier at expense of EPL sides, even when we deserved to be in there on merit. Like the Charlton play off semi and that joke August match at Valley that was called off. Authorities of the game who didn’t lift a finger in 97/98, connive to disadvantage us at every turn. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy but join the dots and it basically is.

[graingrover]

The opening game of the new season FC United of Manchester 1 v Belles 7 ( yes seven).

[graingrover]

First game .

[graingrover]

new kit too!

[ravenrover]

Belles were absolutely robbed, as part of a conspiracy to keep us out of the top tier at expense of EPL sides, even when we deserved to be in there on merit. Like the Charlton play off semi and that joke August match at Valley that was called off. Authorities of the game who didn’t lift a finger in 97/98, connive to disadvantage us at every turn. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy but join the dots and it basically is.

You forgot Bolton

[GazLaz]

Shit what happened to the Belles but even if it was left to sporting achievement, the same thing would have happened eventually. Impossible to compete with the big clubs financially.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Shit what happened to the Belles but even if it was left to sporting achievement, the same thing would have happened eventually. Impossible to compete with the big clubs financially.

If its a sport then let that be found out by results on the pitch.

Otherwise, why don't we just stop the whole process of promotion and relegation in men's football and assign teams to a division by wealth.

In fact, why bother playing matches to determine standing within a division?

[eastender]

3 ex players just finished a world Cup final game.

1 was captain and 1 won goalkeeper of the tournament. Shame how belles fell down the ladder

They never fell down the ladder, the were shoved off it by the FA

The FA didn't need to step in , they finished bottom of the league any way that season on merit.

[GazLaz]

The FA will feel justified regarding the way they’ve managed the women’s game. The national team have never been better.

[EasyforDennis]

3 ex players just finished a world Cup final game.

1 was captain and 1 won goalkeeper of the tournament. Shame how belles fell down the ladder

They never fell down the ladder, the were shoved off it by the FA

The FA didn't need to step in , they finished bottom of the league any way that season on merit.

Yes but their fate had already been sealed earlier in the season.

[silent majority]

The FA will feel justified regarding the way they’ve managed the women’s game. The national team have never been better.

Exactly right.

The FA stated at the start of that process that financial health and good governance would be decisive factors on how the women's game progressed. The Belles ownership at the time was sadly lacking in both of those areas.

[VivaRovers]

The FA will feel justified regarding the way they’ve managed the women’s game. The national team have never been better.

Exactly right.

The FA stated at the start of that process that financial health and good governance would be decisive factors on how the women's game progressed. The Belles ownership at the time was sadly lacking in both of those areas.

The FA wanted a professional women's football top flight, with minimal effort, engagement and involvement on their part. So rather than support the teams that had carried the sport when the FA had made no effort to back it to make the steps to get to that, they instead opted for a model that leant heavily on the finance at the top of the men's game.

The Belles, like a lot of longstanding women's clubs were being run by enthusiastic amateurs. Those people deserved to get the support their endeavours deserved; not to be pushed aside the moment Manchester United et al could finally be arsed to take a commercial interest in the women's game.

It's great that women's football is getting the billing it now is in England, but the ways and methods through which it got there really stink and shouldn't be glossed over or forgotten just because England have seen success. Football is about much more than the success of the national team.

[silent majority]

The FA will feel justified regarding the way they’ve managed the women’s game. The national team have never been better.

Exactly right.

The FA stated at the start of that process that financial health and good governance would be decisive factors on how the women's game progressed. The Belles ownership at the time was sadly lacking in both of those areas.

The FA wanted a professional women's football top flight, with minimal effort, engagement and involvement on their part. So rather than support the teams that had carried the sport when the FA had made no effort to back it to make the steps to get to that, they instead opted for a model that leant heavily on the finance at the top of the men's game.

The Belles, like a lot of longstanding women's clubs were being run by enthusiastic amateurs. Those people deserved to get the support their endeavours deserved; not to be pushed aside the moment Manchester United et al could finally be arsed to take a commercial interest in the women's game.

It's great that women's football is getting the billing it now is in England, but the ways and methods through which it got there really stink and shouldn't be glossed over or forgotten just because England have seen success. Football is about much more than the success of the national team.

I'm not disagreeing with you VR, but the process was spelt out in advance and, rightly or wrongly, the justification is the success of the women's game, not just the national team. From that perspective the FA will consider that the 'franchise model' they adopted in order to catapult the women's game into the modern era was the right one.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

A quick video summary.

https://youtu.be/BIFG0PLZLH4

[graingrover]

An excellent video …thank you for sharing .