A simple way for Scottish Women’s soccer to extend its profile skyrocketed as the media coverage went viral with an unsavory twist at the end of the game.
It started off as a simple way for Scottish women’s soccer to extend their profile to more soccer fans when Sky Sports, the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK, scheduled their first-ever live league match between Celtic and Rangers at the end of March. The post-match media coverage though went viral with an unsavory twist at the end of the game.
Women’s soccer in England had a huge boost from their Lionesses European Championship win last summer. That of course may have had a much lesser impact, given traditional rivalries, north of the border in Scotland. The women’s game is flourishing up there with growing attendance for matches. But more media coverage is not just welcome, it’s vital.
Talking of rivalries, it’s often been said that fans of Celtic and Rangers would turn up to watch a game at any level between their sides. Reserve and youth matches have at times drawn large crowds to back that up. That’s especially true during the international break period when fans of men’s soccer are desperate for club action.
So you can understand why Sky Sports televising the live clash between the two Glasgow rivals women’s teams looked like a huge step forward in reaching that wider audience. But no one expected the impact we’ve seen afterward.
TV drama in stunning end to women’s soccer match
The match itself ended in a 1-1 draw when a dramatic and very late 99th-minute equalizer pulled Celtic level after a first-half Rangers lead. A controversial post-match incident caught by the Sky cameras added to the late drama. Craig McPherson, one of the Rangers coaches, seems to have taken his frustration at the late draw onto the pitch where he appeared to headbutt the Celtic manager Fran Alonso.
Investigations are already underway involving both the police and the Scottish Football Association. McPherson eventually issued a public apology a few days later, but in the meantime reporting of the incident rocketed across mainstream news outlets in print, online and via social media.
As just two examples of the additional reach, a single ScotlandSky post-match tweet on the incident has over 800k views, against a norm of around 50k views per message. @Football_Scot normally sees views of around 3 to 4k per tweet. So far it has over 500k views for a handful of messages on this topic in the last few days.
With crowds for the top league matches typically measured in hundreds or low thousands the TV coverage alone would have been a huge step up. This media coverage has taken it to a stratospheric level by comparison.
Hopefully, the fact that it was two males involved and not part of the actual match nor involving the players themselves have minimized any negative impact on women’s soccer specifically from this undesirable behavior.
It’s certainly not an ideal way to spark interest but perhaps showing that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, the reporting of the headbutt incident has undoubtedly brought the women’s soccer game in Scotland to many people’s attention now.
Check out our NWSL hub page for more news, analysis, opinion and unique women’s soccer coverage. And don’t forget to follow FOR(E) on Twitter, FanSided’s home for women’s sports.
