⚽️ Cornwall Football: Helston Athletic chief urges Duchy to get behind the women's game
Discover more from Cornwall Football
⚽️ Cornwall Football: Helston Athletic chief urges Duchy to get behind the women's game
The Lionesses' Euro 2022 triumph was a huge shot in the arm for women's football in the UK, but Helston Athletic Women boss Paul Parfitt knows there is plenty of work to do to grow the Cornish game.
Welcome to the latest edition of the Cornwall Football newsletter.
The response so far has been fantastic – thanks to all who have subscribed and shared.
We’d love to hear from businesses interested in becoming a Cornwall Football newsletter headline sponsor.
Twice a week, the newsletter drops straight into the email inboxes of our rapidly growing audience, where it is opened and read enthusiastically by a high proportion of recipients.
If you’re interested in reaching those readers, and supporting us in our quest to promote local football, please drop us an email at: info@cornwallsportsmedia.co.uk
⬇️ Inside today’s newsletter ⬇️
⚽️ Helston Athletic chief urges Duchy to get behind the women’s game
👀 What’s on this weekend
⚽️ Helston Athletic chief urges Duchy to get behind the women’s game
By Tom Howe
Helston Athletic Women's manager Paul Parfitt is challenging people to embrace the female grassroots game, arguing that it is more entertaining to watch and technically better than much of the action they will find in local men’s football.
The former Porthleven and Illogan RBL boss took the reins at Kellaway Park almost three years ago and immediately set about achieving some quite ambitious goals, with the Blues since lifting both the Cornwall Women’s League and Cornwall Women’s Cup.
Helston, he says, are ‘right on the front foot with supporting their women’s team’ but was at pains to point out that the infrastructure they have built together isn’t one that’s replicated by many other clubs in the region at this time.
Despite the Lionesses’ success at the European Championships last summer and the rapidly growing Women’s League programme nationally, Parfitt says an awakening of interest is still required at the lower levels and is sure some would be surprised by the level of performance on show.
“We play some lovely football that is very watchable,” began Parfitt. “It is often a better spectacle than actually a lot of the football that is covered on a Saturday. If you take elite level Premier League men’s football and the Women’s Super League, obviously you can see a difference.
“But if you take a lot of the women’s football at grassroots level, technically there are often better players and it is often a better spectacle because there is less aggression and less talking back to referees.
“You talk to most referees and they thoroughly enjoy doing the women’s game because, in many ways, it is more respectful. When we are talking about growing the audience, if you are looking at families going to watch casual football, this is what they should be going to look at.
“It is also very family friendly. Everything in the Cornwall Women’s League is free to watch. There is lots of free football to watch on a Sunday in Cornwall and of very good quality as well.”
Parfitt says the game is going in the right direction, however tinged his statement with the caveat of challenges faced by grassroots women’s football both mentally and logistically.
“We are seeing growth,” he said. “There are more teams coming in and we are definitely seeing more faces and more players although I think there are certainly people within the women’s game that talk it down, certainly at grassroots level.
“You are kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t to some degree. That has an effect. I also think that playing on a Sunday has an effect on players and their availability. There is a big difference from travelling three hours home on a Sunday when the players have work or college the next morning than there is coming back on a Saturday.
“That affects the availability of both players and supporters but I don’t think there is really any solution to that because that is how it is set up nationwide. I also think there is possibly not the player interaction that there is within Saturday football.
“You will get a lot of people on Twitter after the game. Our players are really good, posting pictures of the game and sharing links but I don’t think every player in every team is, whereas the majority of men’s teams are a bit more interactive.”
In his debut season at the helm, Helston won a covid-affected Cornwall Women’s Football League West Division, earning ten wins from as many games, scoring 55 goals and conceding just four.
A challenging campaign followed in the South West Regional Football League where a number of factors contributed to the team finishing bottom of the standings and returning to the Cornish set-up.
The opportunity to blend in the squad’s younger players and give them regular 90 minutes without the pressures of a higher level of competition has been met with great enthusiasm and it shows.
Helston lead the Division One table with nine wins from nine and have quarter- and semi-finals to look forward to in the respective League Cup and County Cup competitions.
“We have got a very strong team and actually, as the season has progressed and the players have matured, we would be competing at South Western League level I think.
“I am hopeful that the league has a restructure. They have six teams who play each other three times with no League Cup. It is not particularly appetising. We will continue to pursue the South Western League though, that is the current aim.
“When everyone is available, we are up there with the best teams in Cornwall. I would put ourselves up with Saltash, Liskeard and St Austell, all of whom when it has mattered over the last 12 months we have beaten.
“We are benefitting from fresh blood coming into the team, deadwood leaving it and existing players going on to a higher level. I think we are probably a fitter, more mobile team this season. We changed the formation slightly and that seems to be benefitting us as well. Right from the beginning of pre-season, it's a happier team with more cohesion.”
👀 What’s on this weekend
⚽️League One: Saturday, 3pm: Plymouth Argyle v Charlton Athletic.
⚽️Southern League Premier South: Saturday, 3pm: Truro City v Hayes & Yeading United.
⚽️Western League: Saturday, 3pm (unless stated): Helston Athletic v Barnstaple Town; Mousehole v Bridgwater United; Saltash United v Cadbury Heath; Sherborne Town v Torpoint Athletic (2pm); Street v Falmouth Town.
⚽️South West Peninsula League Premier West: Friday, 7.30pm: Callington Town v St Blazey. Saturday, 3pm: Bodmin Town v St Dennis; Bude Town v Mullion; Launceston v Penzance; St Austell v Newquay; Wadebridge Town v Dobwalls; Wendron United v Sticker.
⚽️FA Women’s National League Division One South West: Sunday, 2pm: St Austell v Swindon Town.
⚽️South West Regional Women’s Football League Premier Division: Sunday, 2pm: Liskeard Athletic v Bishops Lydeard.
⚽️South West Regional Women’s Football League Western Division: Sunday, 2pm: Bideford v Saltash United; Sticker v Feniton.
📰 Sponsor this newsletter
Are you a business interested in supporting the Cornwall Football newsletter through sponsorship or advertising?
Drop us a message on: info@cornwallsportsmedia.co.uk and let’s talk.
See you next week!
Follow us on Twitter: @sportscornwall
Visit our website: cornwallsportsmedia.co.uk
