Why is there no camping at the Moss Farm football tournament?
March 31st, 2008
Moss Farm, the biggest tournament in the women’s football calendar, has banned camping at this year’s event. Lesbilicious spoke exclusively to the organisers to find out why.
The Moss Farm Women’s Sevens is a legendary tournament in women’s football. More than a thousand players – including some of the England team – come from all over the UK to take play in weekend-long tournament, which has become almost as famous for its party atmosphere as it is for the football.
But the 2008 tournament holds a shock for teams – the organisers have decided that for the first time in its 20-year history, there will be no camping on site.
Bad behaviour
The behaviour of some players in last year’s tournament is to blame, according to tournament organisers Vale Royal Borough Council. “The 2007 event saw a significant increase in vandalism and damage to the buildings, grounds and equipment,” said a Council spokesperson.
“Staff were threatened with verbal and physical abuse, although no assault has yet taken place. The all-night drinking and substance abuse on site put many of the teams in danger and resulted in police intervention. Similarly, complaints from local residents have also been received.”
Caroline Strugnell, Captain of Low Fell Angels in Gateshead doesn’t remember high levels of bad behaviour at last year’s event. “I didn’t see any police on site during the weekend. That’s not to say that maybe some people did get out of hand, in which case why don’t they ban the team or teams responsible? It wouldn’t be too hard to find out who was causing the problems. It seems unfair that we all have to be suffer for what a small minority did.”
“I don’t know what they mean by vandalism and damage at the tournament, unless they’re talking about the facilities,” adds Caroline. “There just aren’t enough toilets or showers for the amount of people there. They get disgusting by the second day, and it’s not that people deliberately damage them – they just can’t cope with the sheer number of people.”
Too much to handle
Could it be that Moss Farm has just become too large? With 1,200 players attending the tournament last year, it is inevitable that there will be some problems – but problems that could be managed if there were more facilities and staff. But that would be expensive, and the cost would have to passed on to the players. Vale Royal worry that this would dissuade players from attending: “The cost of attending the tournament could be prohibitive for many teams.”
Caroline believes that the majority of teams would rather pay more to camp at the festival than have to find alternative accommodation: “No camping on site will make the tournament much more expensive for teams,” she explains. “Last year, we paid £20 for a tent – and you can get maybe seven or eight people in a tent. Now we’ll have to fork out at least £20 a person for a place in a bed and breakfast or hotel, plus pay for transport to get to the site. It’s going to become far too expensive, and a lot of teams won’t be able to afford it.”
Party atmosphere
The extra cost of staying somewhere else is important, but the biggest concerns for players is that by taking away the camping, Vale Royal are ruining the atmosphere of the festival.
More than 300 people have joined the Facebook group ‘We wanna camp at Moss Farm petition’, with many disgruntled players saying that they will give the tournament a miss this summer.
“I don’t think people will boycott on principle, but it’s unsettled teams,” says Caroline. “We were practically signed up for 2008 the minute we left the tournament last year, but when they said there was no camping, our motivation definitely slipped. It’s raised a lot of uncertainties in terms of logistics and general enjoyment. You go for the football, but you also go for the atmosphere.”
Having a drink
Alcohol was a major factor in last year’s problems, and yet it will still be sold onsite at the 2008 tournament. “Moss Farm controls its alcohol sales on site and reserves the right to refuse alcohol if appropriate,” explains a spokesperson for the Council. “Last year’s issues were primarily due to some people bringing excessive supplies for their own consumption and behaving in an inappropriate and irresponsible manner.”
“But when are people going to drink?” asks Caroline. “During the day we’re busy playing football, and most people aren’t going to want to buy drinks. And whereas before people would go back to their tent, relax, have a shower and then have a drink, this time it’s going to have to be ‘play the games, bugger off’. I doubt people will want to go back to a muddy field for a party.”
Focus on the football
Perhaps that’s exactly what the organisers are hoping for. “It is important to remember that this event focuses on promoting the development of women’s and girls football, and we are determined to provide a safe and enjoyable environment in which to do that,” says the Council spokesperson.
By forcing players to stay elsewhere, Vale Royal seem to be trying to force the focus of the tournament away from the partying and back to the football.
Needless to say, Caroline and hundreds of other footballers aren’t happy with how the council are handling the situation. “If the partying is such a problem, a more pragmatic approach would be to reduce the camping, especially the bits near resident areas,” says Caroline. “But by taking away the camping they’re making life a lot more difficult for teams who genuinely want to come for the football – for example, so far they haven’t given us any help in finding alternative accommodation.”
“To be honest, it sounds like Moss Farm will be a flop this year.”
i have been to moss farm for the last four year… and there has been no major conserns at all, there was may be abit of roudyness here and there but nothing to be pointed out as a major issue. last year when i went to moss farm i got took back to my friends house to attend a later party by a police officer beacuase i couldnt get a taxi and he was board as he didnt have anything to do!! this just shows that moss farm was not too much to handle! its a dissgrace to take this away from all the players who work hard all year in their league games and want to attend moss farm for a good tournement and the football social event of the year. due to the camping bieng band all the teams in my area (north east) have said they most likely wont be attending as hotel costs are too much and its not worth the hassle! it will be interesting to see if any teams show up!?!
I LIVE IN VALE ROYAL NOT VANE , I HAVE BEEN GOING TO THE TOUREMENT FOR THE PAST 11 YEARS AND OVER THAT TIME IT HAS SLOWLY GONE DOWN HILL TO THE POINT WERE ITS NOT ABOUT FOOTBALL BUT DRINKING ,I HAVE SEEN TEAMS AT THE SIDE LINES DRINKING BEFORE A GAME AND SOME EVEN BEING SICK DURING A GAME , NOW TO ME THAT IS NOT ON , WHEN THEY USED TO PUT UP A BIG TENT IT USED TO GET WRECKED PEOPLE SWINGING FROM THE ROOF LIKE MONKEYS THEY ACT LIKE IDIOTS IN THE NIGHT TIME SO ITS NO WONDER MOSS FARM HAS HAD ENOUGH