If the past is indeed a foreign country where they do things differently, nowhere is it most evident than in the world of women’s football.
There is a suspicion that every generation suspects the one that came behind got life that little bit cushier.
The current era of female footballers are hardly living it up in nirvana as the events not just of recent weeks but also of a tumultuous summer where there has been global discord at internal structure of the sport would underline. But the difference culturally between now and just a decade or so ago has never felt more acute.
In the current climate, it is easy to overlook the fact that women’s football was banned by the SFA until 1974.
Closer to home, for those of us who grew up in the ‘80s era of PE teachers straight off the set of Kes who barked ad nauseum that Football Was Not For Girls and re-directed traffic to netball courts and hockey pitches, the stories must sound to contemporaneous ears like the time of the dunce’s cap and segregated playgrounds so far removed those experiences are from modern life.
Still, it is only six years ago that a European Championship game between England and Scotland - Scotland’s first appearance at a major tournament - drew a crowd of just 5,578. Friday night’s game at the Stadium of Light attracted a crowd of 41,947supporters headed to Sunderland for the opening game of the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League game.
Granted, that 2017 game was played in Utrecht in Holland, so not on home soil, but the rapid rise in interest of the women’s game is impossible to ignore.
In April this year, Arsenal attracted just over 60,000 for their Champions League semi-final against Wolfsburg; the same fixture ten years previously had drawn in 1,406 supporters. A decade’s growth was reflected in a crowd 40 times - 40 times - as large.
This week there was another groundbreaking moment with Glasgow City at its heart. The new FIFA game, or rather EA Sports 24, given that the console game severed ties with FIFA after three decades of the bestselling franchise, has the Petershill side listed as one of the clubs available for selection.
Essentially Lauren Davidson and Hayley Lauder can be found rubbing shoulders with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the game with participants able to select and play their favourite club. If anything signals that one has arrived then this, surely, would be it.
For those who purport that to be it you have to see it, this feels like another notable moment on the journey that ought to help accelerate the exposure to the SWPL. For a kid simply sitting at home playing an Xbox or a Playstation, it is another stage of normalising something that not so long ago would have been considered socially unusual.
The fights that have taken place across recent months between the SWNT players and the SFA and that have reflected a similar story of unrest in many countries over parity of conditions and pay and resources, are important ones.
It was only this week that the Lionesses agreed on their performance-related bonus structure with the FA.
The arguments and grievances have had to be aired and to be heard. The resolution brokered may feel uneasy with historic grudges not always easy to brush aside.
But the most important aspect of the women’s game that should not be overlooked by those inside the tent is that it is of interest to an increasingly larger audience. The pressure to amplify its reach has to be laid firmly at the feet of those who market the game, who sign the commercial deals and the numbers need to ensure that there are significantly more zeros added on to the back of current deals.
This is what will drive up the salary levels and the training facilities but, of equal importance on the journey there, is a transparency from all involved that moves beyond glib soundbites and stage-managed press conferences.
The women’s game has come a long way but the crossroads it now finds itself at will determine just how far it continues to go.
AND ANOTHER THING
Scotland take on Belgium on Tuesday night at Hampden. It was not so long ago that the national stadium being in use for a women’s game was something of a novelty. It has now become recognised as the home of Pedro Martinez Losa’s side as much as it is for Steve Clarke’s side.
There is an argument to be had about whether it would be better to use a smaller ground such as St Mirren’s or Partick Thistle’s and pack it out although the arguments around the optics of that are understandable.
But on the back of a strong display against England where Scotland will feel that their performance merited a point, the signs point to Martinez Losa putting down genuine foundations with the national side.
More importantly, there is a sense of belief and a clear sense of identity in the women’s team.
The Spaniard’s agreement to extend his stay is another positive step as he looks to get the team back to a major tournament.
AND FINALLY
Team GB will qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris should nominated nation England reach the Nations League final, or finish third if hosts France reach the final.
It was announced this week that Sarina Wiegman will take charge of that team with a few in Scotland colours potentially offering food for thought with their performances on Friday night.
Caroline Weir would most certainly not look out of place in that company but there are one or two others who will feel that they offered a telling account of themselves against the World Cup finalists and reigning European Champions.
