Another male bastion has fallen. A survey has found that more female football fans understand the off-side law than their male counterparts.

Thousands of Premiership fans were questioned outside their teams' grounds by researchers, including 100 Bradford supporters as they left Valley Parade.

Fewer than half the male Bantams' fans quizzed could explain the Football Association's Law 11 for offside. But three out of four females were spot on with their answers.

That was even better than the national average, where two-thirds of women got it right, compared to only half the men.

The findings of the survey - commissioned by Guinness- came as no surprise to Leanne Turner, 19, of Yeadon, only the second woman to qualify as an FA referee in the district when she took her exams two years ago.

She said: "Lads tend to argue about all the laws, not just off-side. Quite a few tend to be more emotional than knowledgeable.

"Women are more likely to think about the laws before they open their mouths and give their opinion."

And Vicky Relton, 18, pictured, of Idle, Bradford, who works at Sportsshoes Unlimited in Bradford, said: "I think men dismiss what women say about football and its laws like off-side.

"But more and more of us have actually got the knowledge and this survey has proved that, much to the men's surprise, no doubt!"

FIFA and FA assistant referee Graeme Atkins, who will be on duty at tomorrow's FA Cup final, agreed. He said: "I would say that as the male supporters are more passionate about the sport they tend to see the law in rather blinkered terms and often don't properly understand it. But the female fans try to learn and understand the law.

"They are always being told so much about it by the men.

"The principal guest for this Saturday's game is the Queen, so she will probably have a better understanding of the law than Prince Philip!"

But there was some consolation in the survey for Bradford's downcast male football supporters.

Bantams fans came eighth out of 20 in the Guinness league of fan knowledge, compared with the club's final Premiership position of 17th out of 20.

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