There were few stranger sights on the opening weekend of the Women\u2019s Super League season than that of the London City Lionesses manager, Jocelyn Pr\u00eacheur, standing in his technical area with large headphones on and a microphone in hand.<\/p>\n
After Nikita Parris went in the book for a hefty challenge on Arsenal\u2019s Katie McCabe 20 minutes in, Pr\u00eacheur was called to do a live interview with the BBC. It was three minutes after Kosovare Asllani had converted from the spot for the visiting team, scoring her side\u2019s first WSL goal and shocking the Emirates Stadium crowd. And there was the manager with his back to the pitch, live on air.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy they didn\u2019t do it in the second half,\u201d the Frenchman joked after his side had conceded four to lose the game, when asked about what it was like to conduct an interview mid-match.<\/p>\n
For Arsenal their manager, Ren\u00e9e Slegers, was interviewed at half-time and the injured Leah Williamson took on mid-match duties with Arsenal leading 2-1 and while play was paused for substitutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something they did in the Swedish League as well so I\u2019ve done it before,\u201d Slegers said. \u201cOf course I want to focus on my team and half-time is crucial for us so it\u2019s not ideal from a coaching perspective, but I also see the bigger picture that we have to collaborate with broadcasters. Every single piece that we can develop in the women\u2019s game and women\u2019s football is positive for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Stamford Bridge on Friday night, the injured Lucy Bronze sat in the press box with Sky Sports for her own mid-match intervention, this one coming while match action was ongoing and included her being asked about Chelsea\u2019s shorts sponsor.<\/p>\n
These new interview slots were included in the new broadcast deal signed by WSL Football with Sky Sports and the BBC with broadcasters requiring ever greater levels of access for the amount of money they pour into the sport.<\/p>\n
In the regulations each manager is required to do in-game and half-time interviews only once per season for Sky Sports and the BBC and requests are to be managed on a match-by-match, club-by-club basis. It is a feature that won\u2019t be used every weekend and only when deemed appropriate and impactful.<\/p>\n
The WSL is not alone in experiencing this shift in broadcast requirements with the Premier League also introducing some half-time interviews and providing some dressing room access.<\/p>\n
Among the reasons are that football authorities and broadcasters across the men\u2019s and women\u2019s games are desperate to engage younger audiences and they have widely concluded that young people prefer to consume news and content in short-form.<\/p>\n
A mid-match interview conducted by the BBC with Arsenal player Leah Williamson. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n
The response has been to try to find ways for football to fit that mould, hence the regular discussions around the prospect of shorter matches, including around the proposals for a European Super League in 2021, and the emergence of non-Fifa affiliated smaller sided leagues with a heavy focus on social media, such as the six-a-side Baller League or seven-a-side World 7s.<\/p>\n
A slight aside: for some reason, in the men\u2019s game specifically, the fact that young fans cannot afford to go to football matches in person, helping to build that long-lasting committed relationship with a club and culture and the sport as a whole, appears alien to the moneymen.<\/p>\n
Then there is a desperation for football to properly crack the lucrative US market and so the American sports experience is being looked at for ideas. There will undoubtedly be some good to come from this exploration of the fan experience on offer around the NFL, NWSL, NBA, WNBA etc but there is also strong resistance among fans to the increasing Americanisation of football.<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Moving the Goalposts<\/p>\n No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women\u2019s football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The response to the WSL\u2019s mid-match interviews has been an emphatic no from fans. Variations of \u201cplease don\u2019t do this again\u201d and \u201cno one wants this\u201d were the dominant replies to the idea on social media. Trawl through the comments in response to the BBC\u2019s own post on the issue (which said: \u201cNew season \u2026 new in-game interviews! Thoughts?\u201d) and your quest for a positive one will be long-lasting.<\/p>\n WSL Football is looking at multiple options to innovate and develop broadcast coverage for fans and any decision related to broadcast regulations is subject to a consultation process with the clubs, and managers and head coaches specifically. It is also understood that some managers met the league on Monday and gave positive feedback about the execution of the mid-game access. There is also believed to be a consensus among all clubs on the need to find more ways to be more accessible to fans and how they engage with managers and head coaches within matches was one of the areas identified as a key way of improving the tactical analysis.<\/p>\n It is widely accepted that WSL viewing figures need to improve and the fanbase needs to grow, and experimentation with things intended to help do that, within reason, should be welcomed. This, though, doesn\u2019t feel like an initiative that is going to get fans to switch on or switch over to watching the WSL. Instead it is alienating the traditional fanbase, the most engaged fanbase, that doesn\u2019t want to see mid-game distractions from what is taking place on the pitch, for themselves or their players and managers.<\/p>\n Concerns also include the possibility of a player swearing, being on air as a goal is scored against their side (see the pregnant Mallory Swanson\u2019s mid-game interview<\/a> interrupted by a goal scored by Bay FC against Chicago Stars) or a manager missing a critical moment as they talk on air. There were some complaints that substitutions were missed by those watching during Williamson\u2019s interview. Meanwhile, Pr\u00eacheur\u2019s interview came during a pause in\u00a0play, often a time when players come towards the technical area\u00a0to\u00a0discuss the game with their head coach.<\/p>\n We shouldn\u2019t automatically criticise new ideas and taking risks, but we can ask questions and discuss whether they work.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email moving.goalposts@theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n