It has been curious to watch the almost universal opposition, intensifying, to the Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes’s suggestion that football goals are “just a little too big” for female goalkeepers.

It was easy to react with a double-take. Most people did. Emma Hayes, capping women’s potential? “The goal size does not need to be changed,” tweeted Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock, with an eye-roll emoji. “If a keeper makes a mistake, it’s a mistake – not because of the goal size.”

“What are the social implications?” asked Karen Bardsley, the England goalkeeper. “We have fought so hard to change the perception of female athletes across the planet and I am not sure that would be beneficial. We are trying to keep it on a par and drive equality.”

Is Bardsley asking the wrong question? Only recently, for example, we have realised we need to approach children’s football with a little more intelligence. To be 10 years old in 2007 and playing 11-a-side could be a joyless experience. Teachers have long spoken of the disadvantages to children born in the fourth quarter of the academic year compared to those born in September and November, and nowhere is this more pronounced than in 22 11-year-olds playing on a pitch that is almost comically big.