Everton Women Official Supporters Club Secretary Peter McFarlane has demanded that action be taken in response to online abuse directed at Mary Earps, the goalkeeper for Manchester United.
A parent who didn’t pause to talk to their child during Manchester United’s Women’s Super League victory over Everton Women criticized Earps online.
According to McFarlane, occurrences like these will hinder the development of the women’s game and the relationship between fans and the supporters of these clubs.
According to McFarlane’s comment, which was obtained by the Liverpool Echo on October 31, individuals now frequently attend these games for reasons other than just cheering on the players or watching the action.
As supporters, it’s our job to go there and support and the only thing we can expect in return is that the players give their all for 90 minutes. Anything beyond that is not expected and certainly not included in your ticket.
A bad look for the game
Abuse happens at all levels of football, from grassroots to the very top of the men’s game, but for the women’s game especially, incidents like this could have a particularly damaging effect.
Very quickly, the women’s game has gone from being community-focused, where a few loyal fans would attend home games and the occasional away game, to a global spectacle attracting fans from all around the world to attend and view these games.
For the players and the loyal fans, this rise has been both positive and negative. More eyes and therefore more money on the game is always a positive, but incidents like this one are the negative of attracting such a widespread audience.
Expectations of the players tend to overlook the fact that they are just people, and the online abuse targeted at them, especially Earps in this situation, is an unacceptable but seemingly inevitable byproduct of the expansion of the women’s game.
