Network to help women get to games
STOCKPORT County Supporters’ Co-op Board member Christine Robinson and I attended a ‘Women at the Game’ event at Hotel Football in the shadow of Old Trafford.
This project is the brainchild of Jacqui Forster of Supporters Direct, and the idea is to encourage women who would like to attend a match, but don’t have anyone to go with, a way to go to the game in a supportive environment. The idea is such a simple one, women enjoy doing things and going to places together.
Watching sports events is just one of the things we like to do, but we also know that it isn’t so much fun on our own and that, actually, women generally would not consider going on their own. So Jacqui thought she’d set up something to help women to make new friends and enable groups to grow to watch live sport together in a comfortable, easy, organised group.
Jacqui, an Altrincham FC fan, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2015 – and is using some money that friends raised for her to get this project up and running. It’s a legacy that she can leave behind. The first Women at the Game event was at Jacqui’s home club when they played Gloucester at the start of January.
The launch event had representatives from various sports teams including AFC Wimbledon, Stafford Rangers, Derby County and others.
It was initially due to take place at the National Football Museum but the tragic event earlier in the week at Manchester Arena made this impossible so there was a last minute venue change. It was a very inspiring event with some passionate speakers – including Shelley Alexander, the BBC Sport Lead for Diversity and Women’s sport, and Jacqui herself. Andy Burnham, the newly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, who was due to attend the event in person but understandably couldn’t make it, also sent a message of support.
In terms of a potential Stockport County ‘Women at the Football’ event, a Saturday home match would be selected and promoted via social media.
A friendly venue would be decided upon to meet at pre-match, then the group would head towards the ground together and hopefully spend the afternoon cheering Stockport County on to a win. It is hoped that this project will make more women of all backgrounds, ethnicity and religion more likely to give ‘Going to the Footie’ a go. This is really about making friends with other women who support the same club.
As a result the Stockport County Supporters’ Co-operative will be looking at setting up an event at the start of the season. Further information will follow once the fixtures are released. If you want to read more about this venture the website is womenatthegame. wordpress.com/ and their twitter handle is @ womenatthegame.