WE HAD a good laugh in the office on Monday, trying to work out if the Football Assocation’s document for getting more girls involved in football was a joke or not.

When we realised that it wasn’t, the only option we had was to laugh at this sexist, ignorant document which has no place not only in the world of football or sport but society in general.

According to Sussex FA, to attract more girls into playing football we should be advertising “in places where girls go” such as “coffee shops or the backs of toilet doors.”

I’ve seen quite a few men drink coffee and go to the toilet so why the bigwigs in charge thought that that is the perfect place to advertise to women makes no sense.

I’m surprised they didn’t place adverts on tampons or during antenatal classes because that’s the kind of thinking that we are heading towards.

Next up on the FA’s plan to keep girls returning to football sessions was to allow them to “wear casual clothing,” “use colourful bibs” that smell nice and give them stamps for each session they attend, which culminates in prizes.

Are the FA doing that for boys? I don’t think so. So why treat girls differently?

I thought they had come a long way by having the England women’s team to play at Wembley as well as moving the FA Cup to the national stadium.

Factor in that they are moving the Women’s Super League to a winter schedule, to coincide with the men’s game, and it looked like the women’s game was finally being shown the respect that it deserved.

I’m glad that these insulting suggestions are being laughed at by those reporting on it and that the girls at Lumley Junior school were outraged — many other girls would have been too.

Some of the ideas listed were sensible and should be implemented. “Take the group to watch a high-profile women’s football match ie England/FA WSL/Cup finals” is a great way of getting more girls interested in football.

So many people fall in love with the game after seeing a match live, due to a particular player or just an exciting game in itself.

Another good suggestion was “Partner with a local professional club for promotional support — through their match day programmes and community schemes.”

That is a great way to raise the profile of women’s football and to get young girls involved.

More adverts in the men’s game, be it in matchday programmes or on their websites, are needed.

That’s where the failings are, in advertising. More needs to be done in promoting the game.

Have Sky Sports show WSL games and move the highlights show to a more convenient time. Monday nights at 11 isn’t a prime time slot in my opinion.

The answer does not lie in incorporating “set social times into your session” where players can have tea or coffee.

It does not lie in allowing girls to check their phones to tweet in designated breaks.

Giving girls “pocket mirrors,” “pink whistles” and any other pink thing they can find as a gift is just insulting. Who is telling them that this is what girls want or how they behave?

Whose idea was it to suggest girls should play indoors during the winter and outside in the summer?

Are girls not allowed out in the cold? Girls who are interested in football know what the sport is about.

How dare the simple-minded people at the FA treat young girls any differently to young boys.

I have seen so many women playing football who relish the roughness of the sport, the tough-tackling and enjoy playing football in the cold.

Football is technically a winter sport, hence the majority of the games being played in the autumn and winter seasons.

This isn’t cricket or tennis, where the game has to be stopped if it starts raining.

Those suggestions are more likely to move girls away from football than to attract them.

Had I had a daughter and been given that document, I would have ripped it up.

That it is still viewable online is an insult, it should have been taken down immediately.

I don’t want to take my daughter to a football session where she will be on her phone tweeting about what she just did.

I wouldn’t want her scoring goals with her hands. If I wanted that, I would take her to go play netball or basketball.

Attracting girls towards the sport is a great idea. The way the FA has gone about it is stupid beyond belief. Did they not consult any women when creating this?

Why not speak to the England side that reached the World Cup semi-finals and find out what they think?

Ask them what got them involved with football. Ask them what was missing when they were growing up and what could be done.

Speak to young football teams and find out what they would like to be done going forward.

“We aren’t brainless Barbie dolls. We don’t all like the same colour — pink,” one of the pupils at Lumley said after reading the suggestions. Another added: “We don’t need pink whistles and we don’t have big mouths, so why do we need a big mouth water bottle.”

A spokesman for the FA said: “The FA is committed to doubling female football participation by 2020 and to growing the women’s game at all levels, from elite to grassroots.

“The document was created following research into women and girls playing football, with feedback from both participants and non-participants.”

Well if that is true, they are going the wrong way about it and need to rip up their plan and start from scratch before they do irreversible damage.