- Over a million men don’t share their football mad wives’ and girlfriends’ love of the game
- Nearly one in three women are declared football fans, according to the Capital One Cup
Forget the clichéd images of WAGS following footballers, new research from credit card company Capital One, new sponsors of the Capital One Cup, shows more than a million men are ‘football widowers’ with wives and girlfriends more interested in the game than they are. The football season kick-off means they are facing a long haul to next May competing for the attention of partners focused on the ups and downs across the football season.
The Capital One Cup sponsor’s research shows the changing face of football with nearly one in three women (30%) declaring themselves as fans. They are not just armchair supporters; more than three million women attend at least one game a season, with seven per cent going to 10 or more matches and four per cent going to 30 or more. Female fans also watch an average of 25 games on TV or online a season.
That leaves a lot of time to fill for their husbands and boyfriends and the bad news is that dedicated female fans are less likely than male fans to feel guilty about their love of the game. Just 29% of female fans whose partners are not football supporters plan to do anything special for their loved ones to make up for their time spent following football, compared with 54% of men. More than a quarter of men (26%), who do not enjoy the game, still watch matches with their female partners compared to just 12% of females with football-mad partners.
Michael Woodburn, Chief Marketing Officer, Capital One said: “It’s great to see so many dedicated football supporters out there, with millions of men and women following their team on TV and online. Of course not everyone is a football fan and you have to sympathise with partners who don’t share the dedication. There has to be a degree of compromise but that’s probably best left to couples to sort out!”
Men who love football when their partner doesn’t are far more likely to take their loved one out to dinner (19%) than their female counterparts (6%). Football widows are also far more likely to be treated to presents or holidays than football widowers.
WHAT FANS PLAN TO DO MAKE UP FOR TIME SPENT WATCHING FOOTBALL
| ACTIVITY | MEN | WOMEN |
| Make an effort to spend more time outside of match times | 27% | 18% |
| Cook for them or take them out to dinner | 19% | 6% |
| Take them somewhere such as cinema or holiday | 14% | 5% |
| Do additional housework | 14% | 3% |
| Pay for treats such as shopping, massage or tickets to concert | 13% | 4% |
| Buy a present | 6% | 2% |
| Nothing | 46% | 71% |
Source: Capital One Cup