WILL CLARK - Call me a ‘fart parcel’, but I don’t agree with Joey Barton
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
JOEY Barton has been making the headlines for his negative views on women commentating on men’s football.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “Any man who listens to women commentary or co-comms need their heads testing #sticktoyourowngame.”
He added: “Stand by everything I’ve said on women commenting and co-comms on the men’s football.
“Like me talking about knitting or netball. Way out of my comfort zone. Some of the men are bad enough. We have gone too far. You cannot watch a game now without hearing the nonsense.
“Any man who says otherwise is an absolute fart parcel.”
His views have rightly brought condemnation from both sexes and are frankly out of order.
The view that only men are qualified to analyse men’s football is an outrageous claim.
Football, like all sport, can be appreciated by everyone and deserves to be accessible to all.
The bigger presence of female pundits on live men’s games is an important part of promoting the women’s game.
Men’s football enjoys a greater platform more than any sport in the world.
But women’s football has made great strides in the last decade and is enjoying greater coverage than it ever has before.
As a result, women’s football is getting the respect it deserves as shown by female pundits and commentators being involved in covering men’s matches.
Gender is no barrier on someone’s ability in being able to analyse a game of football or any other sport.
People are of course entitled to their views on a pundit’s ability, both men and women.
I could name you plenty of male pundits and journalists whose analysis of men’s football which leaves a lot to be desired.
There are women who have become regular panelists on football matches in the UK.
Leanne Crichton, who is a pundit for Sportscene and Sportsound on BBC Scotland, and is regularly covering games on the Scottish Championship, does a great job analysing matches.
Alex Scott has become the presenter of Football Focus on BBC with Jill Scott working as a pundit for Channel Four’s coverage of international football.
Eni Aluko, Karen Carney and Emma Hayes have also featured as pundits on men’s major international tournaments.
Those are only a few of the names where women have featured in covering men’s football.
As football fans, it is always good to see famous names from the men’s game giving their insights on matches. No doubt it is part of the appeal of drawing viewers to watch games.
But to suggest it should remain exclusively for men to comment on is out of order.
The women’s game has come a long way in the last decade, in England and Scotland anyway, and is receiving the respect it deserves which has been far overdue.
That is seen in the Highlands too with more women’s clubs playing than ever before.
Part of the respect shown is by recognising and inviting women to commentate and analyse the men’s game on the most high-profile platforms.
Sports journalism is still dominated by men.
But the greater prescence of women in the industry shows not everybody shares the same views as Joey Barton.
