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A man's game?

A man's game?

Football - For men only?

Changing Face of the Premier League

New research shows that the Barclays Premier League is attracting more and more fans from all parts of society.

Young Southampton fans In the past, there was not much information about Premier League fans, but now there is some new research by a company called Populus. They looked at attendance numbers from Premier League matches and found that of the 13.6 million fans who attended, 2.6 million (19%) were female and 1.1 million (8%) were from black or other ethnic minority groups. They also found that, of the 2.3 million people that have only been going to matches for the last 5 years, 800,000 (33%) are females and 400,000 (16%) are ethnic minorities. This shows that there is an increase in the number of women and minority groups going to Premier League matches.

Safety

Man Utd fans at Old TraffordIt is the extra safety offered by the Premier League clubs that is attracting more and different fans. This extra safety includes more stewards*, CC TV cameras** and refusing fans who have been in trouble in the past. Black and Asian fans also say that they feel safer as the number of women, children and minorities like themselves going to football matches has started to grow.

Families

Ticket sales show that in 2009/10, 13% of season tickets went to children. Populus research has found that over ¼ of people who attend matches take their children and about ⅔ of those said that they see going to a Barclays Premier League match as a family day out. Almost all of them (97%) feel safe outside the stadium before and after the match, and inside the stadium during the match. ¾ feel that their club is trying to make the match more child-friendly.

Parents who take their children to watch football are more likely to talk regularly to their children about football and a lot of other issues too. Research said that it was one of the few times that children were happy to be seen outside the home with their mum or dad!

Ethnic Minorities

Arsenal fansAmong Black fans, the increase in the number of Black players has made a lot of difference to these fans feeling OK when they attend matches. At the moment, there are not many British–born south Asian players at the top of the sport, but Asian groups believe that there will soon be more, like there are in cricket and boxing.

Research

Richard Scudamore of the Premier League said, “Football is increasingly attractive to more sectors of society, which is fantastic”. He went on to say that it was not long ago that football was seen as being for ‘young, white males’ only. “We now attract more of everyone,” he said, “women, children and black and minority ethnic fans”.

* a steward watches the fans at a match and tell the police of any problems

** closed-circuit television cameras to watch the fans

 
A young West Ham fan at a Premier League match, Getty

Comprehension Check

 
Activity 1: There were some difficult words in the article, do you think you understood all the vocabulary? Try this vocabulary activity and match the definitions to some of the words from the article. When you finish, look again at the article and see if you can find the words from this exercise. In this activity, try to answer the questions to show how much of the article you understand.
Useful vocabulary
Activity 2: In this activity, try to answer the questions to show how much of the article you understood. If you get an answer wrong, try to find the correct part of the article and read that part again.
How much did you understand?
Activity 3: In this activity, learn more about quantifiers such as 'many', 'much' and 'a lot of'. After you have read the grammar explanations, have a go at the quiz to check your understanding.
Learn more about quantifiers e.g. much and many

Language Task - Much / Many / A lot of

In the article there were some expressions to talk about quantity:

“there was not MUCH information ...”

“parents talk about football and A LOT OF other issues too”

“the number of Black players has made A LOT OF difference”

“there are not MANY British-born Asian players”


What is the difference between much - many - and a lot of?

A LOT OF  can be used in all sentences ( but  NOT questions with ‘how much’ or ‘how many’)

MANY is used for things we can count eg. apples and hours

MUCH is only used for things we can’t count (UNCOUNTABLE) eg. fruit and time

To learn more about COUNTABLE and UNCOUNTABLE words, have a look here:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/nouns/uncount-nouns

To make things more difficult, MUCH is usually used only in QUESTIONS and NEGATIVE SENTENCES:

  positive sentences questions and negatives sentences
countable words a lot of
MANY
a lot of (NOT questions with 'how many')
MANY
uncountable words a lot of a lot of (NOT questions with 'how much')
MUCH
Activity 4: In the article there were a lot of numbers. Do you know how to say them in spoken English? Try this game to check that you got them right.
Check you understood all the facts and figures in the article.
Activity 5: The best way to learn new vocabulary is to try to use it again. Can you remember the words from the first activity? Try this game to look at the words again:
Revise new words from the article.

 

Quiz

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Over to you: Let us know what you think.

Did you know that on Tuesday 20th September 2011 there was a football match played in front of only women and children?
Fans of the Turkish club Fenerbahçe ran onto the pitch during a friendly match in July, so the game had to be stopped. To stop it happening again, the Turkish Football Federation refused entry to the 20th September match to all men over the age of 12. More than 41,000 women and children attended and it was a big success!
 
What do you think? Was it a good idea to refuse entry to men?
Should it be done more often? How can you stop trouble at football matches?
 
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think :)

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Comments

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
23/03/2021
BR
1512
points

I've not aknowledge of this theme.
I think that the best possible idea is to educate people about behaving in a football match and in society as well. This acctitude plus a heavier police cover and clubs doing their parts at the programm by example should decrease the troubles and violence at football matches.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
23/03/2021 18:05
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

I've not aknowledge of this theme.
I think that the best possible idea is to educate people about behaving in a football match and in society as well. This acctitude plus a heavier police cover and clubs doing their parts at the programm by example should decrease the troubles and violence at football matches.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
06/07/2020
TR
6510
points

It was a brilliant idea and a few of my female friends attended the game and it was an exceptional memory for them in Istanbul.
Equality is the best way to let everyone enjoys the games but if there's any breaking in laws , people must be restricted to enter the stadiums.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
06/07/2020 23:36
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

It was a brilliant idea and a few of my female friends attended the game and it was an exceptional memory for them in Istanbul.
Equality is the best way to let everyone enjoys the games but if there's any breaking in laws , people must be restricted to enter the stadiums.

Izabela
05/07/2020
BR
1505
points

Ok


Izabela
05/07/2020 23:30
Brazil
Newcastle United
1505

Ok

Stephlv
08/07/2019
ES
21
points

i think is not fair because for one man the rest of men that they want to go can't go to see the match. i think that a referee has to stop the game for a person, ban the entry or put a fine to that person.


Stephlv
08/07/2019 10:55
Spain
Liverpool
21

i think is not fair because for one man the rest of men that they want to go can't go to see the match. i think that a referee has to stop the game for a person, ban the entry or put a fine to that person.

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016
GH
4768
points

Stewards and police personnel should ensure that everyone obeys the regulations of the stadia


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016 04:41
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Stewards and police personnel should ensure that everyone obeys the regulations of the stadia

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016
GH
4768
points

I should be done more often until the men decide to put up good behaviour


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016 04:40
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

I should be done more often until the men decide to put up good behaviour

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016
GH
4768
points

That's a great idea once there are no causes for alarm.


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016 04:38
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

That's a great idea once there are no causes for alarm.

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016
GH
4768
points

No I have no idea


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
05/07/2016 04:37
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

No I have no idea

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
08/04/2016
PS
3705
points

I do not think so.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
08/04/2016 12:34
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I do not think so.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
09/03/2016
PS
3705
points

Yes it was.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
09/03/2016 19:31
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Yes it was.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
14/12/2015
ME
3557
points

This is not something that can be done over the night. We must all double our efforts to stop the violence around the stadiums.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
14/12/2015 15:10
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

This is not something that can be done over the night. We must all double our efforts to stop the violence around the stadiums.

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
15/11/2015
RW
2320
points

More stewards and police at the stadium can be right answer to stop troubles.


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
15/11/2015 09:17
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

More stewards and police at the stadium can be right answer to stop troubles.

nikosonris
13/11/2015
UA
2453
points

Very informative. Our football authorities are thinking of re-introducing police at the stadiums, as we have recently witnessed too many bad situations (fans on the pitch, fireworks, fights etc.)


nikosonris
13/11/2015 11:38
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Very informative. Our football authorities are thinking of re-introducing police at the stadiums, as we have recently witnessed too many bad situations (fans on the pitch, fireworks, fights etc.)

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
28/10/2015
ME
3557
points

NO, it was definitely a bad idea. That is not a solution of the problem. People come to stadium to see their club, enjoy in the atmosphere. With strict regulations and penalties, season tickets, more stewards on derbies etc. It also depends a lot on the culture of one people.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
28/10/2015 21:17
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

NO, it was definitely a bad idea. That is not a solution of the problem. People come to stadium to see their club, enjoy in the atmosphere. With strict regulations and penalties, season tickets, more stewards on derbies etc. It also depends a lot on the culture of one people.

Rema's picture
Rema
02/10/2015
RS
538
points

Great lesson and a lot of good advice how countries can build safe place for all fans. I can't believe that 41.000 women and children were attended on one Fenerbahçe game, that's really interesting information.
How I can say 5/6 and what is pattern for that?


Rema's picture
Rema
02/10/2015 12:15
Serbia
West Ham United
538

Great lesson and a lot of good advice how countries can build safe place for all fans. I can't believe that 41.000 women and children were attended on one Fenerbahçe game, that's really interesting information.
How I can say 5/6 and what is pattern for that?

Andrew23h
11/01/2015
MX
0
points

It was an extraordinary idea to encourage women to play soccer. It should be done more often especially at the beginning of the season to increase the attendance. I think the stewards and cameras have stopped trouble at the stadiums, so these kind of measures would keep a safety environment if all clubs implemented them.


Andrew23h
11/01/2015 06:45
Mexico
Manchester City
0

It was an extraordinary idea to encourage women to play soccer. It should be done more often especially at the beginning of the season to increase the attendance. I think the stewards and cameras have stopped trouble at the stadiums, so these kind of measures would keep a safety environment if all clubs implemented them.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19939
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

In this article, you will:

Find out who goes to Premier League matches

Learn and practise some new vocabulary

Practise much/many/a lot of

Practise saying difficult numbers

Hear about a match for women and children only!