Love of the game driving female fans to tackle sexism in stands
Women make up one in five Premier League match attendees, so why do they have to tolerate outdated misogyny when following their clubs, asks Thom Gibbs
In 31 years of watching football I have never had to question if I belong. If only the same could be said for my sister. When we go to QPR as a family, with our dad, it is striking how often the other male fans ignore her. The friendlier sorts ask me and my dad about the game. They might ask my sister about her daughter.
For a pastime that is meant to be fun, being a female supporter is not always an enjoyable undertaking, despite women accounting for one in five Premier League match attendees. Results from a recent Football Supporters’ Association survey paint a grim picture for women. One in five have experienced unwanted physical attention at a men’s match and 44 per cent have experienced the patronising phrase, “you know a lot for a girl/woman”.
Undeterred, the female fans I spoke to for this article convey a sense of joy that shines through with the love they have for their clubs. And yet, they all have an “in spite of…” caveat.
Determined to change the status quo, Bristol Rovers fans Lucy Ford and Caz May launched the “Her Game Too” campaign this year to combat sexism and foster an inclusive environment in football. This has made them both more visible at Rovers and, with grim predictability, brought with it unwanted attention on social media.
“It’s a shame. You shouldn’t need to feel uncomfortable somewhere you’ve been coming since you were 10 years old,” says Ford. May admits her
‘Football is seen as belonging to men. That can result in some terrible behaviours’
and Ford have stopped going to their favourite pub before matches for fear of online abuse transferring to the real world.
“There’s a certain group of fans that abuse us online and I know they go to [the former pub]. So we are now actively avoiding places because we’re worried,” she says.
Port Vale fan Ally Simcock sits on the national council of the FSA and also works as a supporter liaison officer for the League Two side.
She recalls a match at Crewe when one fan started to sing a misogynistic chant. “I went and very gently put my hands at each side of his face and said, ‘Now come on, is that any way to sing towards a woman from an opposite club?’ He said, ‘I’m so sorry Ally. I didn’t mean it, I wasn’t saying it to you’.”
So how do you tackle a culture of toxic rowdiness that often has sexism weaved in?
“I don’t think it’s a quick fix,” says Simcock. “I don’t think it’s something that any one person can do on their own. It is something that we can only ever work on together as a whole.” According to Amy Drucquer, founder of the female fan community “This Fan Girl” who has been attending Leicester City matches since she was nine, “football is
seen as belonging to men”. She recalls one of her recent visits to the King Power, Leicester’s thrilling 4-2 win against Manchester United: “We were going bonkers obviously, up-down, up-down.
“This guy sat behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me to sit down. The undercurrent of it was that I was being a bit hysterical or silly. He’s not said ‘you stupid woman, sit down’, but you do know that if I was a man I would not have been told that. I think it’s a
question of perceived ownership. Football is seen as belonging to men… ‘It’s ours, this is where we are safe, this is where we are powerful’. That can result in some terrible behaviours which are awful for women, and especially women of colour.”
Arsenal supporter and “Goal Diggers” podcast contributor Samantha Rusike feels “safer going with a group of girls”. “There’s a channel of feminine energy. No one can disrupt it. It’s like, don’t even try it, because we will fight each other’s corners.”
Charlton fan Jen Offord “can absolutely see why you don’t see many lone women at matches”. Offord’s enthusiasm for the game diminished during the years of unrest at the Valley, but it returned at the 2019 League One play-off final and led her to write a book titled The Year of the Robin, which is out next year. It was her experience at Wembley, however, sitting in front of “the drunkest humans” she has ever seen, that has left a lasting physical impression. Offord was barged into throughout the game then, at its conclusion, two of the men fell over the top of her seat and directly onto her, leaving her with scars from where the seat in front cut into her shins.
“It didn’t sour the game,” she says, though. “Lee Bowyer and Alan Curbishley were embracing on the pitch. It was so magical.”
Booze is a frequent factor in women’s stories in stadiums. Chelsea supporter Feyi Ajewole-ayinde, another contributor to “Goal Diggers”, who has worked at Stamford Bridge as a cashier and is now attending more games as a fan, says less prevalent alcohol is the one thing that would improve her experience.
“You see people who are drunk, they’re screaming, the majority are male and old enough to be my dad. A lot of stewards just don’t care. Going home you’re packed on the Tube and don’t really want to be next to these drunk older men.” Sabah Mahmood, girls’ coach at Leytonstone FC and Arsenal diehard fan, concurs that travelling to matches is where she feels most vulnerable. “You find yourself in a different kind of atmosphere going back home,” she says. “The game is always great, but you do dread that journey back by yourself or even with friends. I don’t know if guys have that same thought process.” It is clear there needs to be a collective action to make football more welcoming for its female fans. Terms and conditions on match tickets forbid racist and homophobic chanting. Surprisingly, there is rarely anything mentioned about sexism. Taking a knee has not solved racism, nor rainbow laces homophobia. But a similarly targeted campaign to force men to think more carefully about their fellow female fans might be a start. Women who watch their team are there to experience the same exhilaration as men: the anticipation, the fun and the hedonism. Yet every female fan is having to navigate a set of tedious terms and conditions, when all they really want is an enjoyable day out. Why do we tolerate it?