Women’s time? Time and temporality in women’s football

Abstract

Time is central to sport, not least football, through measurements and memories. The sophisticated technologies of recording time matter in training and on the pitch, the intensity of spectatorship at the stadium or watching the big screen and memories of being present at big games generate what makes football the beautiful game. What does a focus on time and temporality tell us about the women’s game? Does the Super League mean that this is women’s time? Or are women excluded and marginalized through persistent invisibility? How are the links between past, present and future experienced in women’s football? This essay explores time and temporality in football by looking at some of the transformations, representations and experiences of women’s football.