Commentary in Women’s Football: “The Players and Viewers deserve so much better!”
It is an open secret that women’s football, as its well-documented growth continues, still sometimes fails to show the highest quality in its reporting. While there are many people who put their heart and soul into their work, others only do the bare minimum – or even less.
This can be particularly noticeable when commentators mispronounce players’ names, misquote managers, or simply do not deal with the sport appropriately. I sat down for an one hour long Zoom video-call with someone who works in the football media for a serious analysis of the current landscape in commentary.
Saturday, 27 May 2023: the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between Chelsea and Reading. Not even a minute was played when the commentator pronounced Chelsea midfielder Guro Reiten’s surname as ‘Roiten’. This was not only repeated several times during the game, but also happened in different variations in many other matches played by the Blues. It got even more absurd when the same person went on to commentate on the Women’s Champions League final last week for the world feed – and proceeded with pronuncing names incorrectly.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case in women’s football, many other teams and players have faced similar problems. Even though the game has been lifted to new heights since the 2022 Euros, there are still a lot of inconsistencies in the quality and quantity of coverage that is provided, particularly in broadcast.
Earlier this month, I spoke to someone who works in football media and was eager to talk about the problem with commentating in women’s football. The person prefers not to be named due to personal reasons, but felt it was of high importance to discuss the issue.
First, it should be made clear what a commentator should do and what qualities he should have to do a good job.
According to this established member of the press pack: “a commentator should ideally be looking to add to the viewer’s enjoyment of the game through bare, natural enthusiasm for what they’re watching.”
Enthusiasm on one hand means doing enough preparation before a game as well as research about the competition, the teams and players. On the other hand, it means appreciating the performances the players put onto the pitch in order to add quality through one’s voice.
Of course, the commentary will naturally be better if the person behind the mic is more involved in what is going on in the league and with the teams; if this person actually cares about what is happening.
Through the background knowledge, they highlight, commentators “should be able to tell their stories and inform you as to what this means and what the significance of what you’re watching is.”
By intertwining this information with what is currently happening in a match there has to be found a balance between people who might be new to the sport or the competition and veterans, so that as many people as possible can enjoy watching the game while ideally also learning something new.
However, in women’s sport and therefore also in women’s football, it seems to happen more often in comparison to men’s sport that not enough research is done in advance.
“Not always, but far too often, the bar of quality of broadcasting that is expected in women’s sport compared to men’s is significantly lower”, the expert – a little frustated – makes clear.
They have tried to search for possible explanations and found out the reason for mispronunciations could be the “culture where English speakers do not seem to understand how important it is for someone who comes from a different culture, background, or language to have their name said correctly.”
We must, of course, differentiate between mistakes and errors that give away a lack of care and preparation.
“A commentator is inevitably going to misspeak at some point in a two-hour broadcast because they’re a human being and make mistakes”, they raise their finger as this is important to point out, “but there were a lot of recurring errors that could have been avoided with better research.
There are multiple examples of those ‘easy’ mistakes. “SHE scores bangers’, a Twitter account specialising in women’s football, even put together threads of mistakes that commentators made. It starts with Mana Iwabuchi; at her debut for Tottenham Hotspur the commentator got her name wrong multiple times. Even when she scored her first goal for the club, it will now forever be remembered as a successful strike from Mana “Iwachubi”.
Other common mispronunciations of names include Arsenal’s Laura Wienroither (“Wineroither”), Katie (“Kirsty”) McCabe and Victoria Pelova (“Pavlova”), Chelsea’s Zećira (“Zecera”), Mušović (“Musemovic”) and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (“Kanard”) – the list goes on much longer.
This is just a small selection from two of the top clubs in the Women’s Super League – there are many more for almost every team in the league. But the tip of the iceberg was probably reached when a broadcaster on air said: “I’m not even gonna attempt to pronounce her name”.
The frequency with which this keeps on happening is alarming and just unacceptable – especially when the reason is a lack of research beforehand – which is part of a commentator’s job.
Other mistakes include spreading false quotes. Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall was once misquoted talking about striker Vivianne Miedema and her form. On top of that, other commentators lack the necessary sensitivity when talking about players like English international Jordan Nobbs where in one game they made an inappropriate joke about her wanting to go use the bathroom while warming up.
Looking at possible solutions for improving the commentary quality in women’s football, it must start with those responsible being serious about their work and appropriately preparing before commentating on a game to get facts and player names correct.
“A starting point is to care enough, to take it seriously enough that it’s seen as a non-negotiable part of the job”, the expert urgently appeals. “Unfortunately, too often, commentators, particularly in women’s football, seem to be viewing this as kind of an optional side thing.”
Additionally, they think that more accountability and commentators taking responsibility for the things they say would improve the situation. Twitter threads as the above mentioned calling out mistakes are another way of generating awareness for this topic.
There are only a few players who have spoken out about the problems women’s football is at times facing in commentary. One of them is Lionesses captain Leah Williamson who tweeted in April 2021: “So frustrating listening to commentary in the WSL when they don’t have a clue who anyone is *facepalm emoji*”.
Another player who spoke about it was Reiten who is among the players with her name often pronounced incorrectly: “I have heard that there was a match recently where they got a lot of different variations [of my name], even my mum said so”, the Norway international laughed it off in an interview, slightly annoyed. “I’ve given up, no one is able to say my name as it really is.”
This should be a wake-up call for every single person working in women’s football. The least everyone can do is to try as hard as possible to get their facts right.
And again, this is not about those who invest a lot of time into their research and still make small mistakes, it is about caring enough to honour the players’ performances and – ultimately – portraying women’s football in the way it deserves. Commentators – and the media in general – should pay more respect towards Reiten and the other players.
“Ultimately, the players and the viewers deserve so much better”, the expert pleads, after taking his time to make every single one of his words count.
“The players are working so hard to play well, to win, to entertain you, and the least they deserve is broadcasters who are equally being paid to do this as professionals to match that level of effort. And just like players will make accidental mistakes on the pitch, broadcasters will do the same. But there’s a big difference between that and errors that just give away a total lack of care, practice and training.”
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