If I was to adequately express just how bloody annoyed I am at the moment, this post would consist of one long GAH! But that would be very dull, and wouldn’t explain the source of my current ill temper, so I’ll try to convey it in prose, of a sort.

This cartoon. In the Guardian. You know, the newspaper that prides itself on being liberal, unbiased and not promoting stereotypes.

“Oh I see. As a female football fan I must be a morbidly obese peroxide blonde with really bad dress sense. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll get to work on that.”

That’s the comment I left beneath this, umm, steaming pile of someone’s prejudices. Then I thought, maybe some people might think I was being a bit thin-skinned, so I thought I’d drop in here and explain why it offended me so much.

I love football. I don’t just mean I enjoy watching the occasional match, it’s not a hobby. I adore it. I get the same kind of thrill out of a beautifully executed pass that opera buffs get from a pitch perfect aria. I love the passion and drama that unfolds on the pitch, and the roller-coaster of emotions a closely fought match can bring.

I even love the tribalism. Not the nasty, bigoted variety that leads to people yelling, ‘you’re going to get your f****** head kicked in’. No, I love the tribalism that comes from supporting the same team as your grandfather, and great grandfather. The tribalism that occurs when you meet another fan of your team in some far flung place, and immediately know you share a special bond; you too exalt/despair at their form this season, you too remember that cup final when …

The thing is – yes, finally, I’m getting to the point – being a female football fan can be tough. Even harder, is being a female football writer. This is something I have done in the past, and something I hope to do again. The problem is, although blogging is male dominated, football blogging makes the blogosphere in general look like a Blogher convention. Really.

I can count on one hand the women football bloggers I’ve come across, and I’m one of them, and I don’t even need to use all my fingers. There are still a significant number of people who believe women who claim – of course we are only pretending – to like football fall into two categories.

Category One – the airhead who watches because she likes to ogle the players, but who really has no concept of the game and thinks the offside rule is something to do with half-time refreshments.

Category Two – the yob who drinks cheap cider and only watches because she likes a good punch-up afterwards.

The above linked cartoon puts female football fans into that second category. In the Guardian. You know, the newspaper that prides itself on being liberal, unbiased and not promoting stereotypes.

Which is why GAH! would have most adequately expressed how I feel.

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