Dr Maurizio Valenti on women's football

Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network Podcast

Dr Maurizio Valenti is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Law at Manchester Metropolitan University and member of the Faculty’s Sports Policy Unit. He is the leader of the BSc (Hons) Sport Business and BSc (Hons) Sport Marketing undergraduate programmes that are offered at Manchester Met. His principal research interests reside around the development of women’s football. He has received support from UEFA to conduct a project on the organisation and management of European women’s football clubs and explore the integration between men’s and women’s football teams. He has also published on the approaches to maximise attendance at UEFA Women’s Champions League matches, and on the policies relating to the international sporting success of the 55 UEFA member associations in the women’s game. In this podcast, Maurizio provided an historical context of women’s football, as well as discussing the current situation, before talking about the pros and cons associated with being an integrated versus an independent club. He talked about the ‘Big Five’ and how this might affect women’s football and particularly, competitive balance and uncertainty of outcome. Gaps in the research, such as targeting those involved in football who are not players or coaches, football in different countries and player welfare were highlighted. Maurizio also talked about his plans for research.