UWNL: The One Where The Match Is Promoted

Malta’s match against Andorra in the UEFA Women’s Nations League was played in front of the third largest crowd for a women’s football match in Malta. However, two weeks on from the reverse victory in Andorra, the hype has faded. Exactly three weeks away from a final home encounter that could see Malta end commitments on top, there is zero promotion of the match. It’s time to change that.

Big Matches

The 5th of December is an important day for football fans in Malta. It sets one of its national teams in a match against their nearest rivals in the group, Latvia, with the opportunity to confirm promotion to League B for the European Qualifiers phase. The competition is the UEFA Women’s Nations League, where Malta’s Women’s National Team currently holds the top spot in its group. However, three weeks away from such an important date, you’d be forgiven if you were not feeling any excitement. There has hardly been a whisper about it since Malta beat Andorra two-weeks ago.

To be exact, the Maltese contingent could confirm promotion earlier, by winning the away match against Moldova, on the 1st of December. In this regard, the match on the 5th December could end up being a chance for the Maltese public to celebrate the feat of the team, whose character would likely be exhibited by them wanting to still go out with a bang against Latvia in front of a home crowd.

On the other hand, should Malta not manage the victory against Moldova, then the final match could certainly be one of the most dramatic encounters as a direct confrontation for promotion between Latvia and Malta. It all depends on the outcomes of the respective teams in their matches on the 1st of December. One thing’s for sure, the match on the 5th of December has good odds to be a positive moment in Malta’s footballing story, one that gives a rare opportunity to celebrate achievement.

You’d think that based on Malta’s past in football and all of the work being put in to improve the footballing rankings of its national teams, there would be a lot more effort to promote a game that would finally give some reason to cheer. Such a big match offers a perfect opportunity to introduce the team to new audiences or rope back those who perhaps have been disenchanted by the past. However, dead silence is certainly not going to do that.

The Attendances Have Been Steady

To be clear, the UEFA Women’s Nations League matches in Malta have seen a positive consistency in attendances for the women’s game. Malta’s team registered a 5-0 victory in front of in front of a home crowd of 682 attendees at the Centenary Stadium in the previous home spectacle in the competition, just over two weeks ago. It was the third most attended women’s football match in Malta.

The figure just managed to surpass the third-best attendance previously record set in the same competition in September, where 674 attended the match against Moldova. Their desire to support was tested to the full, among the murmurs of possible rain which arrived just at the kick-off whistle. These two matches show an attendance consistency for the games in the inaugural competition.

The second most attended record was almost exactly four years ago in 2019, where the national team played against Italy during the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifications. A total of 764 people attended that match.

The most attended women’s football match was the friendly between Birkirkara and Manchester United played in last January, which unfolded in front of 1,053 spectators at the Tony Bezzina Stadium. It was a match that featured Malta’s current defending league champions, pitted against one of the foreign clubs who enjoy high support from Malta. Manchester United Women also featured a number of recent EURO winners in their squad at the time. The match was free of charge and also featured pre-booking of tickets.

Comparing the two attendances for the national team matches between 2019 and 2023 shows that women’s football in Malta has not capitalised on the boom in women’s football attendances that took over large parts of Europe in the past years, even following the EURO of 2022 or the Women’s World Cup held during this summer. Even with a national team who is by all means flying high, there is a plateau.

It is easy to say that the feel good factor of England winning the EURO of 2022, or the fact that Germany made the final of the competition automatically generated buzz on its own in these two countries. It is true, a big feat like that will automatically boost the interest. However, it is only because their countries had visibility of that feat. It is because the countries could live those moments with the team, whether in the stadium or watching with their mates at the pub, the box-park, or at home, that the momentum was generated and transferred into people in the stadiums in subsequent matches. As to the idea that stadiums are always full in a football-fanatic country like England, that statement sadly did not apply to the women’s game until recently and not even they are there yet.

Additionally, that initial fire dies out unless it is stoked. In regards to England’s national team, one points out that the English public was inundated with promotion before the EURO of 2022. The matches were plastered on billboards and buses, players interviewed and broadcast everywhere. When walking into the tube, minding the Lionesses was the priority, not the gap.

It lead to record crowds in the tournament itself, without the promise of their national team actually winning the competition. Following that, massive efforts have been made and continue to be made, to ensure the stadiums keep getting filled and that the public is informed just exactly when and were the national team is playing.

To give an example, tickets for the match between England’s National Women’s Team and the Netherlands’ National Women’s Team to be played at Wembley Stadium on December 1st were already on sale in the first window of the UEFA Women’s Nations League, back in the end of September. However, the same approach was done for all the matches played at home, irrespective of the adversary.

That lead-time allows the promotional content to be driven week in week out, not just during the international windows, steadily filling seats for the upcoming fixtures. It is not just England either, the Netherlands had sold out all of their home matches by the end of October. Yes they are big names, but one reminds that the Netherlands were in Malta for two friendlies which received little promotion earlier this year and thus also ended up having dismal attendance figures.

Social media drives a big part of driving up promotion, but much in the same way that the promotion of the EURO 2022 competition extended beyond the confines of the virtual world, so did the promotion of these sold-out games. There is currently none of that locally.

How Were The Opening Matches of the UEFA Women’s Nations League Promoted Locally?

In Malta, the promotion in the lead up to the opening UEFA Women’s Nations League games featured a handful of social media posts on the Malta Football Association’s official media accounts in the few days prior to the opening game against Latvia, bar a few articles from independent media outlets.

On the opening match day against Latvia, there was still no clear indicator of how the Maltese public could watch the match (which was taking place in Latvia) until a livestream link surfaced minutes before the kick-off. One might add that should Latvia not have streamed the match on their national television, then the Maltese public would have no way of watching the national team of Malta earn their first and extremely hard-fought, three points. Needless to say, if one has no way to watch a team play the game, there is a very limited chance they will follow them or even be bothered to watch future matches, let alone go to the stadium.

There was an improvement following the opening victory against Latvia, to promote the match against Moldova, which took place four days later at the Centenary Stadium. Clips of national team players and the national team coach urging attendees for the match surfaced just after the encounter against Latvia. This was a positive and important step to properly use the buzz that the opening victory generated. Such methods are simple yet proven to be effective in engaging audiences, globally. It was followed by promotional video Haley Bugeja and Rachel Cuschieri sporting the new kit, as well as additional clips of the coach’s comments ahead of the match and the team’s final training preparations for the match against Moldova. These added visibility.

The second round of fixtures featured more promotional content on the official social media channels including behind the scenes training videos and manager comments. The home match against Andorra also enjoyed the publicity of more media, while there was also engagement from the prolific supporter’s group ‘South End Core’. However, once the team set foot in Andorra, those desiring to watch the match had to scramble for a livestream link due to the lack of local broadcasting.

Since then, not a whisper.

The Problem Is Not That People Don’t Care

It is fantastic to see the crowd of 650+ attending the matches, but surely those wanting the game to grow cannot be satisfied by this turnout. The easy rhetoric is to accept that women’s football, or indeed in this country, all football, is not interesting for the majority of the Maltese public and thus the big numbers are never going to be there.

Speaking broadly, including with respect to the Malta Men’s National Team, the only time the National Stadium of Ta’ Qali sees droves of people is when it faces the giants of international football. The likes of England and Italy. However, the fact that these teams drive crowds to the stands immediately dispels the rhetoric that Maltese public doesn’t care.

Certainly, national teams with players of such high calibre drive interest. However, there is an underlying factor. Many locals support clubs with whom these stars play, besides supporting these national teams in big competitions. Many locals schedule trips abroad to watch these players play. However, any football fan worth their salt supports a team in good and bad. Indeed, the football fan signs on an invisible pact with that team because of the motions they go through when the game deals a triumph or indeed a heartbreaking loss. The reason being that there is a connection that is not tied to a single player, but to the nation or club, in good and in bad.

The reason that the presence of these footballing nations drives crowds is that large sections of the Maltese public has a deep connection with these nations, which means excitement is there by default. Promotion is done merely by word of mouth and people will buy tickets with no push necessary. Their connection to them is already there, because they are plastered on the internet, on our televisions, on our buses and our t-shirts.

There is something sad about the fact that only a small section of the Maltese public has the same connection to our national teams. The Maltese public had pride in its players and national teams in the past, so one wonders why has this changed. Results make a difference yes, but if there is anything that the Women’s National Team has done in this competition is get results.

The reality is that there is limited effort being put into building a connection to these teams, the majority of which is simply being put into social media posts. The great thing about social media is that it reinforces what you like. On the flip side, the problem is that if something is not on your radar then it is highly unlikely that you will encounter a post, even when it is sponsored.

It’s time to put effort outside of just the social media posts, to invest in proper marketing campaigns and reach new audiences. More importantly, it is time to rekindle proper connection of the general public with the teams and not just in sterile campaigns.

A Team To Be Proud Of

This is where there is the opportunity to put in the effort to promote the game, because quite frankly the performances of the team have built an incredible narrative already. The UEFA Women’s Nations League performances of Malta Women’s National Team have been giving every reason to be proud to be a Maltese football fan. The team is undefeated in the UEFA Women’s Nations League in four games played. There are stars across the pitch. A team that has scored eleven goals and conceded none.

There is as much pride to be had in having Haley Bugeja currently topping the scorers list across all the competition (yes that includes strikers from England, Sweden, Spain and so on), as well as Janice Xuereb and the defensive unit conceding zero goals thus far. In the centre of the park, the likes of Rachel Cuschieri, Brenda Borg and Nicole Sciberras have put on a stellar show of delightful passes to cut open defences and deny teams forward momentum. These are just a few names from an entire squad of women who have delivered week in week out, every single time that they have been called upon, for years on end.

It is a Maltese team that needs one win to earn promotion and top the group. A Maltese team who has the opportunity to win something and continue pushing in an upward trajectory. A Maltese team that continues to give every Maltese football fan a reason to be proud of their national team. It is a narrative that makes the possibility to build momentum and a positive promotion campaign for the final games, quite frankly, a piece of cake.

It was great to see the hype that followed the UEFA Women’s Nations League matches transcend into the mainstream media, but no doubt more must be done to engage supporters before the matches so that they show their support during them and not simply celebrate in the aftermath by liking a post on social media.

It’s Time

The opportunity to drive tickets sales from the initial buzz generated by those first wins has already been missed by delaying the opening of online ticketing in the way that other nations, like England and the Netherlands are doing. Their tireless promotion generates the hype to attract 10,000s of spectators. Just putting a fraction of the effort that they put in could enable Malta to break the women’s football match attendance record, which as noted above stands at a meagre 1,053 supporters.

The ‘South End Core’ has announced that 1,300 will be catching a plane, paying for a hotel stay and a ticket to Wembley Stadium, to support the Malta Men’s National Team in their match against England. Considering that, breaking the women’s football attendance record in Malta is straight-forward. The only question that there should be is by how many.

As for the rhetoric that these supporters don’t care to support women’s football, one notes that global studies continue to show that the women’s game is an attractive brand with thousands flocking to stadiums across the world. Studies by Two Circles, Women’s Sport Trust, as well as the recent record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup show that the women’s game is promoted, the more the attendances continue rise, in all corners of the globe. It’s a question of visibility, not of gender.

As noted above, the women’s matches are not getting the same visibility on local television screens. Furthermore, if one wants increase the numbers, then effort must be put in to reach wider audiences. That means investing in a proper marketing campaign.

Three weeks away from the final UEFA Women’s Nations League match in Malta, the home match against the nearest rivals Latvia currently has zero visibility and zero ticketing momentum. There are also no clear plans on whether the away match against Moldova (1st December), will be shown on the national sport television station. To reiterate, this means that it is not confirmed if the local television stations and media channels will be broadcasting a match where if the Maltese team wins, it wins the group, earns promotion and a chance to compete in the upcoming European Qualifiers.

The irony is that as a country, Malta does not only broadcast the games of foreign football teams, but props up big screens in squares to celebrate foreign teams competing in the EURO or the World Cup, but not the matches of its own country. It’s time to change that.

As to the question of money to promote these games, in his speech announcing the bid for the next election the President of the Malta Football Association, Bjorn Vassallo, spoke about building a new national stadium. That’s fantastic. If there is the money to build this, then certainly there is some to properly promote the matches of Malta’s own national teams. After all, what is the point of building a new national stadium, if there is no one to fill it?

Until then, 1st and 5th December. Mark the dates (until tickets go on sale).

Lead Image: Lara Schembri

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