Chelsea Women have a Halloween showdown with arch-rivals Man City in a week’s time in the semi-final of last season’s delayed FA Cup, and the match has a primetime slot on BBC One.
It’s a measure of how far women’s football has come in the last two or three years that the nation’s main channel is hosting the live lunchtime game on Sunday 31 October, and a huge television audience is expected to tune in.
The Blues have regained the composure that appeared to be flagging when they laboured to beat Leicester City Women on their first league visit to Kingsmeadow.
That 2-1 midweek away victory against Juventus in the Champions League was just the lift Emma Hayes’ players needed after a flat and heavy-legged showing against the Foxes which – but for two late strikes – could easily have ended as a goalless draw.
Key to Chelsea’s resilience at Kingsmeadow is the input of a dedicated knot of fans in the back rows of what was once called the Paul Strank stand (as the ground is improved, the stand names will change), led by the unlikeliest of cheerleaders.
A pint-sized girl – she must be aged about six or seven – bosses the singing, chooses the chants and chides her fellow ultras if the volume doesn’t meet her high standards.
Everyone grins at the cheerleader’s screeching criticism of their efforts... but no one dares to disobey!
Although it was manager Emma Hayes who was inducted into the newly created Women’s Super League hall of fame last week, there’s a strong argument for Chelsea’s remarkable little chant-starter to join her among the influential elite!
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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