Equality in Football at the Olympics?

David Beckham is grabbing the headlines once again with rumours Stuart Pearce will choose him to captain our Olympic team - much of the media attention is as always drawn to the men's game.  But hold on, who's this standing next to Stuart Pearce at press conferences?  A few papers have started to notice our women's team, and one woman in particular - perhaps one 

of the most successful women in football (and equally as accomplished as Stuart Pearce).

She has won 66 caps for England and won the women's FA cup three times – but as a coach, she has reached the top of her game, one that is not best known for its enlightened approach to women.

She has been in charge of the English team since 1998, and in 2003 became the first woman anywhere to get the Uefa pro licence, the highest coaching qualification available. Powell, 44, has taken her team into the European Championship three times, and this summer will be the second time she has led them to the World Cup. 

The British Women's team will be serious contenders at the Olympics - one I'm sure many from my home, Birmingham, will be watching closely.  The England squad already has 6 Birmingham City Players, and with recent success at the FA cup, likey to figure in the Olympics too.

Equality on the football pitch may yet be a while off.  Birmingham City won The FA Women’s Cup for the first-ever time after beating Chelsea in The Final after a penalty shoot-out, receiving a total of £5,000 from the FA cup prize fund, compared to £1,800,000 for the men's FA cup winners last year.