Events of the last week involving Angy Gray, Richard Keys and ‘linogate’ have frankly endorsed my feelings about football, writes Charlie Cashdan.

I don’t like football, and recent events have made me like it even less.

There is a dark and nasty undercurrent of sexism which is rife in the male-dominated world of football.  There is a general disregard for women, from the lack of women in top jobs to the footballer’s treatment of women off the pitch.

Football feels like a place where it’s OK for men/young boys to be sexist, aggressive, even sometimes racist.

I saw a young boy about nine years old on a family day out shopping recently, and he was wearing a t-shirt with ‘**** on the Albion’ written on the back.  It’s disgusting, why did his parents think this was OK?  Maybe because his Dad was wearing one too . . .

Players, managers and TV pundits are all role models for young boys who adore the sport and all connected to it.  What kind of example does the world of football really give to its young fans about how to treat other people?

I’ll be honest, I do hate football.  It’s just a massive multi-billion pound industry full of ruthless businessmen and ridiculously over-paid, spoilt young men who are a million miles away from the fans who slavishly follow them.

I think fans get ripped off and clubs have lost all touch with their local areas and fan-base.  It seems to be all foreign money, swearing in the stands, sexist behaviour, racism, drinking and aggression.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but incidences like the ones that have come to light this week do nothing to dissuade me.

Clubs are quite happy for women to ferry their young boys to the academies every night, wash their kit, clean their football boots, buy tickets and programmes, buy all the merchandise, but heaven forbid a woman should ever try and get a decent job in the sport (outside of woman’s football of course).

Boys football teams and professional academies would fall apart of it wasn’t for the hundreds of hours of unpaid labour women put in.  My colleague’s son was at a football academy and she spent years rushing around taking him most nights to training (almost an hour’s drive each way), going to every match, dealing with all the scouts who pestered her constantly trying to get him t sign with them, washing kit etc.  Only for him to be dropped after a year or so for being too short.

Female fans and mums make a big contribution to the game but the industry remains closed off to women in any professional capacity.  Women are still regarded as ‘knowing nothing about football’ regardless of how many games they take their little boys to watch, kits they buy etc.  And the way footballers treat women, well, that says it all really.