‘Women now have their own safe space’
Whelan has a new role at the PFA and tackling online abuse, maternity contracts and diversity are high on the agenda
As the Professional Football Association’s first executive for equality, diversity and inclusion in women’s football – a position she has taken up just six months after giving birth to her first child – Fern Whelan has her hands full.
The new mum to baby Jenson unsurprisingly has maternity contracts – which remain practically non-existent in the women’s top flight – as a priority, along with tackling online abuse.
Georgia Stanway was the latest victim of abusive messages after being sent off nine days ago in the Manchester derby – a match which drew a record 1.1 million peak audience on BBC One as the Women’s Super League continues to reap the rewards of its £8million broadcast deal. “It’s probably bigger than us and the PFA,” Whelan, the former Brighton player, said. “The players are in the public eye a lot more – a couple of years ago Georgia wouldn’t have gotten that abuse. My role is about being a face for the players so they know that we’re there as their union.”
It has been more than a year since Whelan hung up her boots after endless knee injuries put paid to her 15-year career, which also included spells at Everton, Liverpool and Notts County and three England caps. Retirement offered time for reflection, which has become a buzzword for women’s football of late after it was rocked with allegations of sexual abuse in America, Australia and Venezuela.
Whelan is quick to point out that each
WSL club have a designated safeguarding officer to report such concerns – or players can approach the PFA directly – and says she wants to help foster a culture where players can air any grievances openly.
“You’d like to hope that these types of things haven’t happened in our league – but as you saw over the course of the week, all the players are standing up for the players across the rest of the world, which is amazing to see,” says Whelan, touching on the show of solidarity from the English players at recent WSL matches. “There might have been a culture in the past where players were scared to say anything, but we want players to feel comfortable and know that they have a safe space [to report concerns].”
Never one to publicly air her views as a player, having experienced the game largely before the explosion of social media, Whelan admits the murder of George Floyd in the United States last year was a “turning point” in her wanting to be more vocal about the lack of diversity in women’s football.
Black athletes make up an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of players in the WSL – significantly less than in the men’s top tier – and Whelan points to the grassroots scene as the instigator for change. “It’s about
‘Players are in the public eye a lot more – a couple of years ago she would not have got that abuse’
chatting to the academies, their recruitment departments, seeing how they generate their pools of players,” says Whelan, who used to be ferried by her mum and sister on public transport on a four-hour round trip from her home on the outskirts of Liverpool to Tranmere’s centre of excellence as a child. “We want them [players of colour] to be visible, for the pathways to follow through, so they can get to the WSL stage and filter through to our Lionesses team, so we have more people from diverse backgrounds playing for England on the big stage.” At the heart of Whelan’s determination is the desire to repay an organisation that helped her throughout so much of her career. “I got my physiotherapy degree through the PFA. Well-being-wise, I’ve seen a lot of their counsellors from time to time. I really lent on them.” Now, she says, is the time to give back by helping to elevate the female game.