Job Well Done – BBC Highlighting Womens Game

Date: 13th April 2021

For regular readers of this site, you’ll know that I’ve been calling for better coverage of the women’s game for a long time now.

Our women’s national team have outperformed the men’s side over the last decade and that has seen more interest from fans and on social media.

I was left flummoxed that our domestic game, in particular the Scottish Women’s Premier League, wasn’t getting enough coverage from the mainstream media. Broadcasters weren’t jumping over themselves to show the women’s game as it was starting to gain momentum. That to me was strange.

Then BBC Scotland decided to do more but that was mainly online. Now you always have to start somewhere and more and more people get their content online these days but to really help show off the game I still want to see it on TV Screens.

Now it seems BBC Scotland has agreed with that opinion.

As well as having a live game during the weekend on their BBC Alba channel, The BBC also provide a highlights show every Sunday on their BBC Scotland channel. They also still have their five minute online goals package, which is great for any UK resident that wants to keep up with what’s going on in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.

The show I watched this weekend was great. It has an old Scotsport vibe with various commentary teams taking us through the best bits. I’ve always enjoyed that type of highlights show and it’s good to see it in use covering women’s football.

In Jane Lewis, there’s an experienced and strong host to link everything up perfectly for the viewer. Alongside Jane was Scottish striking legend Julie Fleeting who would help analyse all of the weekend’s action. As a duo I thought they were a great match and worked seamlessly together.

While lockdown unfortunately put the women’s game on the back burner, it’s now great to see it back and getting more exposure. It deserves a bigger audience and a chance to shine on screen.

The games didn’t disappoint either, especially in terms of goals. In total we saw twenty strikes in the four encounters. We also seem to have a strong challenge for the title with Rangers, Celtic and mainstays Glasgow City all vying to become champions.

BBC Scotland’s Tom Connor recently stated:

‘We’re excited to show the best of the Scottish Women’s Premier League as it comes to a dramatic conclusion and this weekly highlights package further underlines our commitment.’

I’ve regularly slated the mainstream media and in particular BBC Scotland for not doing enough when covering the Scottish women’s game. If I am quick enough to point out what I believe to be errors, I should also hand out deserved praise when it is called upon.

Well done BBC Scotland, you now have a strong platform to show off Scottish women’s football and I am glad that the players have taken advantage of that and produced some majestic displays since coming back from lockdown!

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