UKH

Soooo ... I find myself in the unfamiliar position of wanting England to win a football match!

In the unlikely event of an England v Sweden final I'll still have to support Sweden, of course - but other than that, England all the way.

Do they have what it takes to take down the USA team? Can they win the Cup? If they do, will we finally hear the end of '66?

"It'll all end in tears". "It ain't coming home"

Let's get those usual suspects out of the way first

Sorry, I didn't mean to jinx it.

That VAR thingy's pure rubbish, isn't it?

Bugger!

Same old, I'm afraid.

One of these days...just one of these days, it'll all fit together won't it? 

Well statistically most of the time you lose.......

I guess this comment was made before it was used to confirm the penalty...

What would the parish’s thoughts on women’s games being shortened to say 70mins? 

My thinking is that in tennis slams ladies play best of 3. 

Should womens' athletic field events, marathons, triathlons etc be similarly reduced?

3 is too long for most women's tennis ...

Perhaps tennis as the outlier should be increased to match the men’s game. 

Both teams last night looked wrecked after 80mins, maybe it’s a conditioning thing

I dont know why your first post got the downvotes without the explanations. Last night was the first women's game I have ever watched and I wasnt disappointed. Ok, there isnt the same skill, speed and accuracy of the men's game (hopefully yet) but it was great to watch and I will definitely watch more now.

Anyway, I  watched with my wife last night and we agreed with you. The women looked totally exhausted after about 75 mins. Was this heat? Training? Or simple physiology? Unlike triathletes, being super knackered on a bike or running may not have the the same risk of personal injury or that of another through inadvertent bad timing in a tackle through fatigue. 

Im not calling for a reduced time in football for women but I think its a good discussion point and unlike the virtue signalling down voters here would welcome some views, especially from the ladies of this shire.

given ladies are physically smaller on average, perhaps the pitch size and goals should be adjusted accordingly and leave the time as per. Thoughts? 

It was my first full game too, I enjoyed the following more than men’s game:

- proper tackling

- no play acting

- good behaviour and respect to referee

- mixed fans in the crowd  

Come on England ladies football team!

Be careful with your commas

Are women athletic events scaled down, no.

Are their field sports such as hockey scaled down, no.

Water sports such rowing, etc etc.. 

It's only in recent times that even international women's team players didn't have day jobs between football matches and training. Give it a decade and see how it compares then. 

Ps. It's been a little warm in France..  recovery and training between the games will have been a major factor too. 

I suggest you check out the weather conditions at the match.

Haven't you heard that France (amongst other countries) has been having a major heatwave that the authorities have regarded as a major hazard to health  - and even life in some cases.

You need to watch the Cameroon match!

100m hurdles rather than 110m hurdles?

Lower barriers in the 400m hurdles?

Actually scaling down the goal and/or pitch size doesn't make a lot of sense, since the average size of female players today must be approaching that of the male players at the time the goal size was standardised. Maybe the goals in the male game should now be bigger?

For me, I remember watching women's football maybe 20 years ago and felt like the general standard was certainly no higher than a typical schoolboy match; it was difficult to take it very seriously. I watch it now and I'm in awe of the skill of the players. The game has been transformed and I'm sure it will continue to progress fast now that it's better supported.

It's around 30 years since I ran track competitively, but I was led to believe the hurdle height was based on the historic average leg length, then the spacing was different due to average stride length and the same with distance to the first hurdle from the blocks. 

There is an optimum height or leg length to race hurdles effectively and not feel like you have to either step short to over stride for perfect jump timing. 

A size that allows for goals, goal less games are generally duller. 

Agree, just like male non league football. I think or at least hope it will progress a bit further. The more folk that take up football, the quieter the mountains will be.  

Ok so they were knackered after running around for 75 mins.... don't forget France is still in the midst of a major heat wave

In athletics all the hurdle heights/distances and throwing implement weights were set long ago - 1920's or earlier.

In those days, with few exceptions, "women" didn't really take part in sport, only "girls". Certainly in athletics very few females over 18 took part. Consequently the heights/weights have been set for (probably) the under-17 age group.

If we were to start again today with a blank canvas then I'm sure that increases would be made.

However, back to football; the average height of females is still well less than males, so having a goal the size of the mens' game does seem a bit silly. It's probably not been changed due to the expense of having another set of posts each end, along with the holes to put them in.

The number of times the ladies managed to score last night the goal needs to be made larger not smaller.

Well the acid test is to see who is going to pay at the gate and actually going to a live game next season.

The crossbar was made mandatory in 1882 (originally there were no crossbars but sometime tape of string was used, the 8 yards between post was brought in in 1863) when the average height of a 21yo british male was about 167cm. Current UK average is about 164cm for women so I'd say the goals are about the right size. Maybe they should make the men's goals bigger?

I agree with most of that, but the women's Olympic hurdle distance only increased from 80 to 100m in the 1970s. The IAAF reviews the rulebook every couple of years, so if there was demand they've had plenty chance to change the heights, separation and distance over the years.