Well I bet you think this is going to be about the goings on of footballers and their WAGs. Wrong!

I just spotted this headline on BBC News: FA raises mixed teams age limit. “A Devon girl is celebrating after her campaign to raise the age limit for mixed sex teams from 11 to 13 is accepted by the Football Association.”

Why? Why is there an age limit? Why is this even an issue? Isn’t this (legally) sex discrimination?

Why shouldn’t girls be allowed to play football with boys at any age? If they’re good enough why can’t they play for Manchester United, Arsenal or Dog and Bone Rovers? No, not in ladies’ teams. Alongside the men. Aside from the practicality of needing separate dressing rooms (and even that I don’t really understand; nor is it impossible), where is the issue?

I suggest the issue is all in the heads of the old stuffed shirts that run football – and not just football but all sporting organisations, at every level from the grass-roots to the international.

I remember many years ago (like the mid-70s) when I was 3rd XI captain of my then local cricket club, I got fed up with the lads not always turning up. The wife of one of the guys who played with me was a good cricketer – she played for the local polytechnic (now a university) side which was then one of the top ladies teams in the London area. I made it clear that if the lads weren’t going to be committed I’d play this young lady, who I suspect wouldn’t have disgraced the club 1st XI. And I got roundly condemned by a chorus of “You can’t do that!”. When challenged the only sensible objection was “Where will she change?”. Oh FFS! It’s not exactly an objection which couldn’t be overcome even though we did play on communal recreation grounds.

I found this so pathetic, even at the time, that ever since I’ve had a very jaundiced view of the hierarchy of sport governing bodies. Indeed I got so fed up with the attitudes of the stuffed shirts running cricket (my first love as a sport) that I gave up on cricket entirely some years ago.

Let the girls play with the boys if they want to. Just pick the best (wo)man for the team. OK?!