Last night I attended a meeting with the same title as my last blog - Racism in Football.
A fellow socialist who I have known for some years gave the introductory talk, and I realised I am not the only one who believes that football has all the joys of dance, ballet, drama, comedy and opera - among others, rolled into one, and somehow made even better. More of this later, maybe.
At the very end of a good discussion, another (female) friend piped up with a comment along these lines: "What about sexism - are there any women in football? It completely alienates women - the only women you see at football matches are there with their husbands because they think they might get a meal."
There is no doubt that professional football is sexist in the extreme, in the sense that women are not allowed to play, and in that women's football is a starving, poverty-stricken relative of the men's game.
But the sexism is different from the racism. You don't get openly sexist chanting (though the songs about Posh Spice and other players' wives can be abusive).
As fans, women are welcome at matches and regularly attend. Although it is common to see women accompanied by men at matches, and less commonly by women or alone, in my experience women are in it for the football as much as the men are. Even listening to the telly, you can hear them scream as their team comes close to scoring. Stand in front of a woman at a game, chances are your ears will be ringing by the end.
I know a bunch of women who go to every Spurs away game. They have paid for away season tickets to do so, and make the effort to drive their minibus every time from the South Coast to places as far away as Swansea or Newcastle. I have also seen them abroad, watching pre-season friendlies with European sides. Not only do they know all the players' names, where they play, what their strengths and weaknesses are, who we are looking for in the transfer market etc etc they can out-sing and outshout any opposing set of fans anywhere in the country, as all good Yids should.
They don't need a man to take them to games, though they often do take men along with them, and it's patronising, even coming from a woman, to suggest otherwise.
I'd be all in favour of women playing in the football league, I think it would do wonders for the game and would improve skill levels and maybe even tactics.
And one day, given the billionaires' desperation to find the best talent and sell the game to audiences of millions, it will happen. All the big clubs have women's teams and should involve them increasingly with the academies that produce the top male talent.
It is too 'accepted' that football is a man's game, although there are voices out there campaigning for women in football - Tracey Crouch MP, for example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13874899 or players Eni Aluko or Rachel Yankey (a Gooner, unfortunately) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jun/21/england-womens-football-transformed
But to throw the baby out with the bathwater would be wrong.
Watching football at its best is sheer joy. Seeing an ordinary player do something no-one thought he was capable of; seeing the best players do things no-one thought anyone was capable of can inspire and amaze.
An Olympic athlete might dance a beautiful, choreographed dance with a ball, but how would he or she perform if Ledley King were trying to take that ball off them? It is the competitive element in football which demands the quality of skill, agility and strength.
"Football" as it is organised today, is sexist, but it does not alienate all women. Football is racist, but it does not alienate all black people. A game involving the kicking of a leather ball round a field cannot in and of itself alienate anyone.
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