Playing men v women (football) has its uses, but is pointless at a pure competitive level due to massive discrepancies of speed and strength. I have seen a good girls team destroy a boys team at U14 level, but a high % of the boys were still lagging behind the girls in maturity, which is the norm at this age. Girls in mixed teams at junior school age fit in well and can compete equally with the boys. It all becomes pointless as they progress into mid/late teens. However, well organised friendlies against mens teams, purely for training purposes are very, very useful for women, giving insight into how quick the game can be, improving match fitness and technical skills. And thats only a good mens local league team. Now funding and wages for women-that's another thing, but you have to put it into perspective:- in my profession, I am equal in all aspects to my male colleagues and that's because I have the same qualifications and work just as hard as the guys and we share out the bad stuff equally. If I wasn't as competent or qualified (equating to strong and fast) as my colleagues, then I would expect to be paid less. In my profession, this applies to all sexes, religions, ethnicities. The problem is that womens football is way,way behind men in funding,wages etc and that is where we should be focussing our energy, not in making a noise about level playing fields in competitions. There is a petition going around at the moment to get the FA to increase funding for womens football at grass roots level. It's a start.