Let's Hear It For The Girls

I HAVE in previous posts quoted my favourite line as regards how it works in sports contests involving the four Home Nations - Max Boyce's great line: "It matters not who won nor lost, so long as you beat England".

We ought therefore today praise to the heavens the Scottish Women's team, who ended 30 years of hurt on Friday night, by beating their English counterparts 2-0.

In terms of player numbers, money, organisation, any measurement you care to use, England's women's team is better than Scotland's. Arguably, Julie Fleeting is the best woman player in these islands, one or two other Scots are arguably the best in their position, but, across the board, England are far stronger and have much-greater depth of talent than Scotland.

Therefore, this was a magnificent victory for Scotland.

Sadly, women's football is viewed badly by Scotland's overwhelmingly male football congregation, in fact, Andy Grays' views on women and football are probably much closer to the norm in Scotland than in England.

I know of one national newspaper Sports Editor in Scotland, who tarnishes an otherwise pristine reputation for covering the complete sporting spectrum in the country with a paranoid dislike of women's football and a refusal to give the women's game a platform, unless he has to.

His distaste for women's football is mirrored to some extent within Hampden's corridors of power. Now, within Hampden there are two Halls of Fame, the official SFA one and the national Scottish Football Hall of Fame - located within the Hampden Museum.

This latter HoF has already honoured the great Rose Reilly, the wee lassie frae Stewarton who became a huge star in Italy and actually captained the female Azzuri to Women's World Cup glory. Well done to that body.

The official SFA Hall of Fame commissions a painting of each Scottish player who plays 50 full internationals, to hang in the HoF; said player also receives a gold medal. Look all you like within it and, however, you will not find a painting of Ms Fleeting, or Pauline Hamill, both of whom have played over 100 full internationals for the Scottish Women's team - with La Fleeting having weighed-in with goals at a rate of one per game across her century plus of internationals. Also, there is no mention within the HoF of the several Scotswomen who have clocked-up more than 50 internationals.

If the governing body of football in this country cannot show equality in how those representatives of the male and female national teams are treated on reaching the 50 caps milestone, then is this body fit for purpose?

The official SFA website heavily features the women's game; all the girls' age group internationals are covered, as are the full women's team's matches in the women's World Cup and European Championships. In fact, to be fair to the SFA's communications department under wee Daryll Broadfoot, they give the girls better coverage than our mainstream media. But, that parity of reward with the men's team is still being denied them.

So come on George Peat, get yourself out of jail before you are driven from office with a wee populist gesture and get Fleeting, Hamill and the sisterhood properly represented in the SFA's official Hall of Fame.

After all, the girls have beaten the English and that matters.