It’s no mistake that football brings people together, it unites us and gives us something to root for. Take the World Cup for instance, even if our country is knocked out we often end up rooting for a different team! Recently we were lucky enough to add Everton Football Club to our client list...
...On working with the club we visited the mighty Goodison Park which is the home of Everton Football Club and is one of the oldest purpose built football grounds in the UK. Affectionately named The Grand Old Lady by fans, Goodison Park has a colossal all seated capacity for 39,572 revellers.
The Grand Old Lady is a fitting nickname as the ground has an interesting history when it comes to women’s football! During World War I all of the able bodied men, inlacing football playing men were shipped out to fight for England in the war. At the same time the women of England were liberated from the constraints of the family home and joined the war effort in the factories. From this switch of societal norms women’s football began to become far more commonplace, at first the matches were played in order to raise money for war related charities but as the war progressed the women’s game became more formalised and fans started to enjoy the game as more than just a humorous spectacle, they started to enjoy the game for the skill and ability of the women involved. Before long female football teams such as Dick, Kerr’s Ladies were playing in front of tens of thousands of spectators.
The apparent acceptance of women’s football as a legitimate sport was short lived, once the war was over and the factories closed, women were expected to return to the domestic restraints of pre-war England and a bitter jealousy surrounding the popularity of women’s football raised it’s ugly head. In 1921 the FA expressed strong and damning opinions of women’s football stating that it was ‘unsuitable’ for women due to their frame and urged all of the football clubs associated with the FA to refuse use of their stadiums to women’s football teams. This decision resulted in a 50 year ban of women’s football purely because the powers that be felt it threatened the men’s game.
Goodison Park played an important role in women’s football as the stadium held the record for the highest attendance of women’s football which was set in 1920 and stood for an impressive 92 years! Although the subsequent ban cast a shadow over the game, the pioneering success of women’s football during the perils of World War I should never be forgotten. It certainly would be interesting to assess the popularity of women’s football if the ban had never taken place.
The mighty Goodison Park is a place where history was and is made and where football brought people together in the toughest of times.
The irrational fear of gender liberation is hopefully fading into history and women’s football is slowly regaining popularity worldwide. It was such an honour to be standing where such inspirational women stood when implementing this campaign for Street Advertising Services.
Everton Football Club wanted to raise awareness of how their season ticket price freeze which would enable so many more fans to come together under the roof of The Grand old Lady, using our eye-catching and versatile chalk advertising techniques.
We adorned Goodison Park and the surrounding area with the type of advertising that get’s noticed, utilising both the floor around the stadium and the walls inside we placed ads that highlighted the season ticket offer and the ‘We are chosen’ campaign. The style was in keeping with Everton Football Club’s company culture by using a classic font and the best part of this campaign and the use of Chalk Advertising techniques is that the end result genuinely looks good! The ads we put down in and around Goodison Park not only relayed important information but were also easy on the eye, you have the potential to cut out the occasional ‘annoyance’ of typical advertising techniques and provide your audience with something that they are happy to look at. Our team at Street Advertising Services are ready to help you achieve your goal.