Diagonal Pass

“Arsenal is my club and I love it more than anything else, it’s in my blood, but I want to be the best coach in the world and that’s why I came here. This country loves women’s football. Loves it.” — Emma Hayes on her decision to leave for the Chicago Red Stars

Anne Kessel (who is fighting the good fight for coverage of women’s football) has a thoughtful article in today’s Guardian on the WPS draft and its effect on women footballers in England, and the frustrating shortcomings of the FA’s approach to the development of the women’s game. Over in the US, people involved in the new league are talking up their awareness of what’s at stake. I hate that after so many accolades for the US team in international tournaments, there’s still so much hard work ahead to establish a league whose sustainability may yet be fragile, but as the example of Germany shows, World Cup trophies are no guarantor for a thriving women’s club football.

That said, I am so fucking excited for the WPS and the Australian W-League (Melbourne! Melbourne!). I won’t be able to watch the matches live on TV where I am, so it’s a heigh-ho, it’s off to streams and torrents I go.