Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur Women faced off in the FA Cup Final yesterday, at Wembley Stadium. and a photo began to circulate around Twitter/X of Arsenal Women’s Kyra Cooney-Cross, at the final in a Tottenham scarf and the internet has gone crazy.
Personally, I’m from England but I currently live in Australia, and have for 17 years, and the culture of football here is a lot different to the culture of football in England. Here, football isn’t the biggest sport and, in the local league, players swap around to different teams like it’s nothing, and because it’s such a small league compared to Australia’s national sport, AFL, nobody really cares about the fact that players go from one team to another, no matter the rivalry.
In England, of course, this is different. The football clubs have long histories and long rivalries that go back centuries, and kids are brought up to support one club and hate another. Of course, in Australia they have derbies and rivalries, but it’s not the same level as hate as you would see in England, and it’s not uncommon to see two fans of rival clubs sit together and enjoy a game.
In England obviously this doesn’t happen, and fans are always separated for safety concerns, and that’s just a part of the culture and stems back to things that have happened in the past with rival clubs. Fans wouldn’t been seen dead in a rivals merchandise, but in Australia, it’s not that big of a deal.
I’ve seen a lot of Arsenal Women fans unhappy about the fact Kyra wore a Spurs scarf, and I get it. We were brought up to hate the other side of London and wouldn’t dream of putting on their scarf, but for Kyra, it isn’t that deep and yes, maybe she should have known that it was going to cause an uproar of Arsenal Women fans outraged but I can assure you, she wouldn’t have had a second thought about it.
In Australia, football fans, especially women’s football fans, feel like they must fight for everything football related, so when they see another Matilda or Socceroo doing well and playing at the highest level, they support them. There are hundreds of Arsenal fans in Australia that hate Spurs, but love Ange Postecoglu, why? Simply because he’s Australian and they know that any success is good success and will only help football grow in the country.
Kyra was obviously there to support her best friend and Tottenham player, Charli Grant, and although seeing her in a Spurs scarf feels like blasphemy for some, I really wouldn’t think too deep into it.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
Follow JustArsenal’s Gooner Women on Just Gooner Women on Twitter for regular updates on the Arsenal Womens Team!
Do you want to read more about the Arsenal Women’s Team? Click here….
