Female Stokies
What are they like? What do they know?
Under min resa till England nu i julas, träffade jag via Dave (vår man på plats) Pete och hans 2 döttrar Charlotte och Victoria. Det var lite speciellt och intressant att tala med tjejer som delar vårt intresse. De följer Stoke riket runt och har en fantastisk kunskap om fotboll. Det märkligaste är att de är födda och har växt upp i staden Redditch som ligger ca 10 mil från Stoke – on – Trent. Deras anknytning är endast pappa Petes kärlek för The Potters. De var mycket nyfikna på vår hemsida och ställde gärna upp på en intervju. Intervjun är uppdelad i 2 delar, en idag och en imorgon.
Charlotte som är äldst är tjejen med Stokes hemma dräkt och 3 år yngre Victoria har Stokes borta dräkt på sig. Charlottes svar kommer alltid först.
Del 1.
Maybe you could start be introducing yourselves, age, occupation etc.
Charlotte, I’m 23 and a paralegal hoping to become a trainee solicitor soon, I also work part time in a pub. I studied Law in Liverpool for 3 years and have done a Masters in Sports Law in Nottingham for 1 year.
Hi I’m Victoria; I’m 20 and currently living in Somerset on a Business placement year. My placement is a marketing position within a National Trust property, although the degree I’m currently studying for is Fashion Marketing at Northampton University!
Questions
1. Girls, how long have you been Stoke supporters? Can you remember your first game(s)?
(Charlotte) I have supported Stoke all my life; I went to my first game at the tender age of just 3! I remember my dad taking a seat for me to sit on and at half time some boys had hidden it at the back of the stand so my dad had to go and find it! We sat above the away fans at the old Victoria ground that day, that’s where I spent most of my early days at Stoke, as I was too little to go in the Boothen. I don’t remember any of the game but dad thinks it may have been Burnley.
(Victoria) I started supporting Stoke when I was about 7, much to the delight of my Dad! He took me to my first game when I was only 3. Watching Stoke at Wembley four years later I was hooked! I don’t remember much of my first game as I was only 3, but I do remember the atmosphere being amazing from the Stoke fans.
2. Football is a popular sport in Sweden for girls, have you played the sport?
(Charlotte) Only very badly! We did a charity game once at school and we entered as Stoke city and my dad had to find all his old shirts out so there was enough shirts for 5 girls to wear one each!
(Victoria) I’ve never played as part of a team, but I could string a few passes together if I had to!
3. Are there many girl sides around? Is it growing?
(Charlotte) It is definitely a growing sport, a very small amount of ladies games are shown on TV.
(Victoria) At the moment women’s football isn’t as huge as men’s football, but I definitely think it’s growing. A lot of the school’s in our area now have girl’s football teams; it’s certainly a popular sport!
4. Not growing up in the area of Stoke – on – Trent, an obvious question must be why Stoke?
(Charlotte) Easily led! Dad has been a stoke supporter all his life after finding an affiliation to Gordon Banks, he used to feed us watching match of the day and as soon as we were old enough we started going to games and ‘getting the bug for it!’
(Victoria) If I had a penny for every time I’d been asked this I’d be a very rich girl! The main reason is simply because Dad supports them so I just followed in his footsteps. It’s also nice (sometimes) to support a team that’s exciting, as you’d know being a Stoke fan is never boring!
5. How many games do you get to see a year?
(Charlotte) I have only missed Hartlepool home and away, league and cup this year and that was because I had the flu and dad wouldn’t let me go! Last season I missed 5. I have been attending home and away for approx 10 years now.
(Victoria) I’ve recently moved down to Somerset as I’m on a business placement year from university, but I still make it to most home games. I’ve also been to the majority of away games this season as we are trying to go to all the grounds we haven’t been to, so have to make the most of this season in the premiership (just in case we DO get relegated, which I’m sure we won’t!)
6. Who do you travel/meet up with on match days? What is your routine?
(Charlotte) Home and away days vary. For home games dad, Victoria and me get to the gardeners retreat pub and meet some friends for about 2 hours before kick off, have 3 pints of Guinness and get to the ground for about 2.55! Away days are much more of an adventure and plans are altered every week depending on whom we are playing. Mark who we go with is a post man, so he is normally running around on a Saturday morning trying to finish his round in time for us to still make an entrance to the pub 2 hours before kick off. If Dave comes, he is the best sausage sandwich maker around and always comes up with the goods and usually a bottle of beer to start a bit earlier!
(Victoria) My Dad, older sister and I usually leave at about 11-12 on a Saturday and go to The Gardeners pub in Stoke for a few pints of Guinness then meet some fellow Stokies in here from Bromsgrove. We’ve been going to the same pub for years now and there’s always a friendly face there and a bit of football banter! For away games it’s usually a bit more of a day out and we’ll usually travel there with the Bromsgrove stokies, we can always rely on Dave to bring some sausage sandwiches for us all too!
7. Are the prices the same for females the same? Do they have (sometimes) any special deals?
(Charlotte) Oh interesting question and one that should definitely be put to Tony Scholes! Unfortunately no there are ‘no ladies get in free offers’ although I have been known to use my student card a few times!
(Victoria) Prices are the same for females sadly, but I’m obviously biased in thinking that’s bad! It is good though as we all go to the game for the same reason at the end of the day, Stoke could always try a promotion for women though and see what happens!
8. Are there many females attending the games in England?
(Charlotte) There are more and more attending. To be honest most of the females that do attend, go to every match!
(Victoria) I suppose it is still quite a male dominated sport but at Stoke there’s a fair amount of women that go to games too! There are certainly a lot of ‘regulars’ that sit by us in the Boothen where our season tickets are.
9. Are you well respected as females watching a man dominated sport?
(Charlotte) As soon as I open my mouth and people find out that I know what I’m talking about then you get a lot more respect. To start with people have an attitude that ‘girls don't know the offside rule’ but it doesn’t bother me too much. Men who usually mock stoke are Man. United, Liverpool etc. supporters who maybe attend 1 game a season, so I feel more than entitled to my opinion!
(Victoria) At university I live in a house with 5 lads and get constant abuse about the state of our team, but deep down I think they do respect me for it and love the fact they can sit and watch a game or Match of the Day without me moaning, as I want to watch it too! It’s always a good conversation starter at university or a night out too, once they realise I know what I’m talking about I soon get some respect!
10. The atmosphere at games in England can be quite raw, strong language is often used, how do you cope with that?
(Charlotte) I try and control myself in front of my dad! Honestly though, at Stoke there isn’t much swearing. Language isn’t any worse than when we were at school or what you would see and hear on an average Saturday night out. However, we don't sing certain words in Delilah!
(Victoria) Absolutely fine, as I’ve been going to the games for so long you just get used to it, and as you will all know it’s quite necessary to use such language when Stoke are having one of their off days!
11. What are you like yourselves at matches? Do you sing, swear and scream or are you quiet observers?
(Charlotte) I don't think that I come under the quiet observer type. I tend to shout a lot and I sing, where we sit in the Boothen is right in the middle of the singing fans so we get a great atmosphere going.
(Victoria) We fully participate in all singing, screaming and (sometimes) swearing, but obviously in the most ladylike way! It wouldn’t be the same experience if we just sat there quietly would it?
12. Do you wear Stoke shirts for all games? If so which ones?
(Charlotte) I have a big superstition about wearing the same clothing to games, my mom doesn’t appreciate it very much when we play on a Saturday and then midweek because it means she has to do the washing! This season my attire is thermals, black jeans, ski socks, white t-shirt, black jumper and this season’s home shirt. I get very cold at games! I took this to another level though when we played Colchester away last year when I had to wear a similar amount of clothes but it was a boiling hot day! I was so hot I had to take off one of the layers, so please feel free to blame me for not getting promoted that day.
(Victoria) Yes, we wear our shirts for every game, although in winter it’s usually under about 500 hundred other layers of clothing because it’s so cold! I usually buy the away shirt but have had a home shirt for the first time this season.
Del 2 av denna intervju läggs ut imorgon.
