Ebony Salmon Bristol City

“Definitely – not only as an athlete, but also as a black woman,” says Babajide. “It’s a modern-day civil-rights movement. It’s important to stand up and be accounted for. We have to show young black players/girls who look like me that they have a voice.” Salmon also makes it clear that they are there to be seen. “The opportunity is definitely there and you see that with the players who are already in the league. It’s obviously not the same as the men at the moment, but people like us can show others that there is an opportunity.” Football’s fight against racism is not exclusive to black athletes. A collective response from black and white athletes is needed as a true show of solidarity. “It’s heartwarming to see that it’s not just black people standing up for the black community,” says Babajide. “It’s also white and people from other ethnicities. It’s not black against white – it’s evil against good. Everyone believes in what is right and standing up to it.” “Whether there will be the same amount of black and white players to me isn’t important” says Carter, who is hoping for equal opportunity for black and mixed-heritage players to be successful in football. “It’s about making sure that if they want to make it, they have that opportunity … their skin colour won’t be a factor.”

The history of black women in football is still relatively unknown, with academics debating the origins of Emma Clarke, a player from 1895 who appeared to be described as black in newspaper coverage of the time. For now, at least, the history of the women’s game continues to be depicted as exclusively white up until the modern era. In more recent times we have had black female icons such as Rachel Yankey, Eniola Aluko and Lianne Sanderson to celebrate. Jess Carter, Rinsola Babajide and Ebony Salmon, among others, give us hope that a brighter future is still to come.