Female fans questions assistance

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

We are a handful running Milan Club Svezia. I started with an Excel-file organizing get-togethers in various cities through email somewhere around 2001-02. Man did that get easier with Facebook.
There are a bit over 7,000 of us throughout Sweden now. Quite a decent number of these are women but as always within this particular part of life which is football, they seem not as keen on contributing in daily discussions and so on.

Not to brag but Milan Club Svezia is handled quite well as far as how the female fans are treated. Not talking about myself, by the whole. All in all I can't remember one single incident where someone has been disrespectful and arrogant towards one of our female fans in the way it sometimes can occur within football culture. And I know if someone did there would be people flocking to straighten that person our, demand he be kicked out depending on scale.

However, I am sure there are things which could be better in MCS as far as this topic goes. I'm sure it can be as intimidating and difficult for a female fan to elbow her way through all us dudes constantly commenting on every single little thing and taking command of every topic, never able to just shut the F up sit back and listen for a bit.

So as one step is we're helping in organizing a special event where the female fans (only) can meet one day. When I threw the question out - where all the voices of our female fans were - I got response immediately from several female fans that they themselves wondered as well. So this idea with an event was welcomed.

The other is I am putting up an article on our web page where the intention is to interview a handful of our female fans, 5-6 questions. The first one is the obvious and one which every supporter is asked; what made them follow Milan? I also have another obvious and that is; which irritating and/or ridiculous comment/reaction they have experienced from blokes related to them following Milan or football in general?
I can come up with this myself but why not throw it out and see what OTF-gem might turn up.

So this is where you come in, two-fold.

- Anyone out there who can share own experience with how to better a similar environment where female fans are encouraged to participate more, inviting in a sensible way without doing it moronically bad by being pushy instead?

- Any suggestions for questions to ask? A few more of them will be the same simple, basic as if you'd ask a bloke and why shouldn't they? But I would like suggestions on a few good to ask which is related to them being female. Which after all is the angle here. Something, when answered, which will possibly make all the blokes reading get to think a bit about the experience of the female fans amongst us.

I welcome suggestions for both serious questions, but also some which could be funny in-between them all. Funny to answer or where the answer could be a bit funny on behalf of the male fans. Spontaneously I thought "what would a female fan of Milan never degrade herself do, which you know/have seen male fans do?" Or maybe that's just a stupid question?

Cheers
And by all means ride away with the topic female fans amongst male testosterone, even if it doesn't relate to what I asked for above.

[delicatemoth]

Any suggestions for questions to ask?

Why not invite one or more of those female fans who've already responded to guest edit your web page? I suspect they'd be best situated to come up with appropriate content. Hope the event goes well.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Any suggestions for questions to ask?

Why not invite one or more of those female fans who've already responded to guest edit your web page? I suspect they'd be best situated to come up with appropriate content. Hope the event goes well.

Obviously a great suggestions.
One of our best writers for the page (actually the best), and one of the biggest Milanfans among us, is a woman. But she almost has no time to write for us anymore. Her delivery was so good that she was head hunted by one of Sweden's biggest daily newspaper and is part of their editorial staff in the sports section now.
Last time we needed to replace one of the writers the question went out specifically welcoming women to join and contribute regularly.
But of course, now is the time to ask that question again.

[Gerontophile]

Ask: Do they go to matches on their own, and do they feel safe?

*Any matches, not just Milan.

[EIM]

"Any suggestions for questions to ask?"

"What are you wearing"?

[EIM]

Just ask them what you'd ask a male fan. Favourite player, favourite match, best kit, all that anodyne shite.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Just ask them what you'd ask a male fan. Favourite player, favourite match, best kit, all that anodyne shite.

There will be some of the anodyne shite.
Have "any brothers / male relatives following other club giving you a hard time with cheap shots for following Milan?". But need to think about that one. Still, it's a Milan fan page, not New York Post.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Ask: Do they go to matches on their own, and do they feel safe?

*Any matches, not just Milan.

Cheers

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

"Any suggestions for questions to ask?"

"What are you wearing"?

Before or after "do you have any Milan tattoos, and if so, where?"

[pebblethefish]

Damn - I thought it was the women asking the men the questions about football. Because then you could have called your answers "Milansplaining"

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Damn - I thought it was the women asking the men the questions about football. Because then you could have called your answers "Milansplaining"

Heh, might use that somehow just for the fun of it.

[Fussbudget]

Why not invite one or more of those female fans who've already responded to guest edit your web page? I suspect they'd be best situated to come up with appropriate content.

Yes this would be the best way to do this. Failing that, just ask them exactly the same questions you'd ask male fans. Anything else is likely to come off as patronising.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Whatever you do Pietro, do not contact former French international and Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe for suggestions. Or maybe do actually, go ahead, email the dinosaur.

Bernard Lacombe conseille aux femmes de s'occuper «de leurs casseroles» plutôt que de football (Lacombe advises women to stick to their "pots and pans" instead of taking an interest in football).

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Yes this would be the best way to do this. Failing that, just ask them exactly the same questions you'd ask male fans. Anything else is likely to come off as patronising.

Please see my above post and replies.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

OK, these are the questions I finally asked six female Milan fans in Milan Club Svezia. Compiled after asking one of them to help me out a bit.

The purpose was to lift the query (I) why we don't have more AC Milan women participating daily when we know that a lot of women follow us. What (II) we can do better when we have over 7000 Milanfans in tiny Sweden, regarding this, and (III) let's rock this house with something different which isn't about the tedious what player Milan should sell or sign.

And you can laugh your arse off as much as you wish. I'm not a journalist.

1. Let's start with the classic, what made you follow Milan?

2. Who's your favourite player ever, and why?

3. What's your favourite memory related to Milan?

4. What game, which you've never seen live, would be top on your list to see?

5. How many close to you know that you follow Milan and does this manifest itself in some way, from your end or theirs?

6. What is the most irritating or ridiculous comment/reaction/question you have experience, from men, as a woman rooting for Milan or following football in general?

7. Is there any conduct during games - in the stadium, in a sports bar, afront the telly - almost no woman would lower herself to but you have seen guys do?

8. Do you have any brothers, male relatives or friends which root for another club and often have cheap digs simply because your club is Milan?

9. Why do you think more women are not actively participating in Milan Club Svezia?

10. If Facebook had a button where you could shut off the comments from all the blokes in this forum and make it a "Ladies Night" during one day when only the Milan Donna could write and comment freely, would that be a button worth using sometimes? And why would it be worth using, or nor worth using?

11. Is there anything you miss here on Milan Club Svezia, and if so what?

12. Which question do you feel we have missed here - if any - which should have been asked a female Milan fan amongst all the Milan blokes?

That's it.
Not very pro and brilliant, but as I said we're not running the Washington Post.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Whatever you do Pietro, do not contact former French international and Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe for suggestions. Or maybe do actually, go ahead, email the dinosaur.

Bernard Lacombe conseille aux femmes de s'occuper «de leurs casseroles» plutôt que de football (Lacombe advises women to stick to their "pots and pans" instead of taking an interest in football).

Well, I don't understand french but from what you said there.
Not really the kind of bloke I'd bee keen on getting aboard here.

But if if you can get hold of his email, I'll send him the questions just to fuck with him a bit.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Sorry, I don’t have his private email addy, but he is J-M Aulas’s right-hand man (Aulas is the chairman-owner of Olympique Lyonnais, arguably France’s most detested chairman, even the Lyon fans can’t stand him) so contact him via the club, maybe this:

https://www.olweb.fr/en/club/contact-us-276.html

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Too much french for me there, Kev. I wouldn't know where the fuck to begin. But thanks anyway.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Pietro, I know it’s off-putting but my link to that "homepage in English" on the Olympique Lyonnais site (https://www.olweb.fr/en/club/contact-us-276.html) is your typical English page on a French site, i.e most of it is in French.

That said, the boxes to fill in are in English and that’s what matters in your case:

First Name

Name

Date of Birth

E-mail

Phone Number

Subject

Your Message

So just fill them in and stick your text in English the "Your Message" box (grovel a bit and butter them up, particularly on the fact that they a very successful women’s football club). Something short along the lines of:

"Dear Olympique Lyonnais staff,

My name is X and I run the pan-European AC Milan supporters’ group "Milan Club Svezia" based in Sweden. I am keen to gather the views of leading European clubs such as yours on female fans through a survey that we have devised. Your club being the undisputed world leader in women’s football, I instantly thought of contacting you as a priority. It is common knowledge throughout Europe that Bernard Lacombe is an impassioned champion of women’s football and feminine issues in general (he is even sometimes called the "Simon(e) de Beauvoir of women’s football" in Scandinavia) so I would be particularly interested in contacting him directly. I would therefore be very grateful if you could give me his email address for me to send him our short questionnaire. Regards, X."

https://twitter.com/WRenard/status/825454086510223361

https://twitter.com/losclive/status/826403410622742528

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Heh, I'll give it a go

Answers have started to come in, very positive to the initiative. Nine female Milan fans are replying to the questions and lo and behold, already after two it's a billion times more interesting than if nine blokes would have been asked.
Just one of them:
Sara K
3. What's your favourite memory related to Milan?
"Extremely difficult to pick a favourite memory... But being there watching a game always is a special feeling, an unbeatable feeling, completely indescribable feeling, so that's why I chose one of the games I was at. Milan-Inter January 2006, 3-0. It was a trip together with several other Swedish Milan fans. Fantastic trip which ended with that wonderful game which you really didn't have high expectations for. We had a shitty season, suddenly we win such an important game which a derby is, with 3-0!? Who would have thought!?
The craziest was that I got to enjoy it together with other Milanisti [from Sweden] feeling the exact same joy.

Also remember that I was at some night club and happened to end up in the VIP-section with Kevin Constant and the guys. And the day after when me and my friend happaned to chill in Essien's apartment discussing his favourite music. Totally freaked out trip, that one"