When the 7th matchday of the women’s Bundesliga kicks off this Friday, these will be games whose kick-off days and times were only scheduled almost two and a half weeks ago. The short-term appointments are a big challenge for everyone involved.
From the perspective of the clubs and players, it makes a difference whether they play on Fridays, at the weekend itself or on Monday evening. Training plans, travel plans, but also other obligations of the players due to studies or a part-time job must be taken into account organizationally. The games on Friday and Monday are particularly important in this regard. The schedule is particularly tight for clubs that have away trips ahead of them – this Friday, for example, Bayer Leverkusen travels to Eintracht Frankfurt – and at this point at the latest the fans will come into the game.
Away fans often have to pass on Fridays and Mondays
Away trips of hundreds of kilometers have to be planned in a timely manner, and some people even take extra vacation days for this. The fans in the women’s Bundesliga stadiums have not only been increasing since last season, they are also becoming more willing to travel in many locations. While separate guest blocks were virtually unthinkable a few years ago, in practice this is becoming more and more common due to the larger groups and a few clubs have already set up fan services specifically to support their women’s departments, including for such organizational issues.
On Friday and Monday evenings, away fans in particular often have to pass over longer distances due to other commitments. If long-term planning cannot be made, this takes away the last chance. Especially since it also involves cost factors such as cheaper train tickets, which will eventually be sold out.
“Extremely frustrating”
“The games on Friday and Monday are already a problem for many at home games, but if you know early enough, you can perhaps plan accordingly,” says a fan of 1. FC Köln who does not want to be named: “But what’s extremely frustrating is when you’re really looking forward to an encounter, and then in the short term it becomes one of those days when you just can’t do it anymore. And then, despite all the explanations, you ask yourself why women’s football is once again must come last.”
FC will play twice on Monday on the 7th and 8th matchdays, first at home against Hoffenheim and then away in Freiburg. The explanations refer to a statement from the DFB, which will be published on its website on October 24th along with the dates for the two upcoming match days. This explains exactly how the dates are created and everything that needs to be taken into account.
While the framework calendar determines which clubs meet each other in which week before a season, the exact days and kick-off times are always set in blocks. This happens in coordination with the clubs and TV partners depending on the schedules of the 1st and 2nd men’s Bundesliga and the 3rd men’s league, the DFB Cup and the fixtures UEFA Women’s Champions League. The exact scheduling of the women’s Bundesliga will only be planned once these dates have been set, according to the DFB.usually five working days after the DFL dates (Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga for men) or the dates of the 3rd league“.
Planning focus: None Overlaps
This is because there should be no overlap. On the one hand, this is due to security concepts, because not too many competitions should take place at one location on the same day. On the other hand, there is also shared use of several stadiums between the men’s and women’s departments or different clubs, for example in Essen, Duisburg and Nuremberg. In addition, according to the DFB, it should be avoided if possible that appointments from the same club take place parallel to the men’s: “This is intended to ensure that a club’s fans are not forced to decide which game (women’s or men’s) they should attend or watch on TV.”
In the current case, in addition to a few catch-up games in the 3rd league, which were scheduled for October 19, 2023, the UEFA Women’s Champions League in particular probably had an influence on the planning. The draw took place on October 20th, the exact schedule of the group phase and thus also the games between FC Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt were announced a day later.
Domino effect
The problem with this approach is that if there is a delay somewhere else in the process beforehand, it will have a domino effect and that will affect everyone. Also on the reporting media and also outside of the TV broadcasts. The problem contains many variables that need to be taken into account, but work should be done to improve it, especially given the desired further growth and professionalization of the league.