OPINION – Women’s football is great sport, so why do we still sometimes patronise it?

The similarities were disconcertingly neat. Lauren James and David Beckham, both in their early 20s, scoring goals for club and country, received a red card for a petulant, off-the-ball incident midway through a tense World Cup second round match. The only difference has been the public and media reaction. While Beckham was vilified for months, James has swiftly been forgiven.