Growing opportunities for women's football players to play

Overview

Almost a century ago, women’s football was banned in the UK. Since the ending of the ban 50 years ago, women football clubs have been playing catch-up with long established men’s clubs in securing resources, facilities and attracting fans.

The popularity of the women’s game today was seen in the recent £15 million a year TV deal for the Women’s Super League (WSL) over the next three seasons. Kelly Simmons from the FA called it “a landmark moment for the women’s game and a massive breakthrough for women’s sport and women’s football“. This follows a positive worldwide trend with over one billion people watching the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Challenges in Women’s Football

Unfortunately, women who are inspired by watching the World Cup and the WSL may struggle to find a local game themselves. Maggie Murphy @MaggieMrphy is the General Manager at Lewes FC, the first football club to pay their men’s and women’s teams the same. Maggie said that due to the lack of pitch space for women’s games she often had to “travel across London, sometimes only to find out that games had been cancelled when I arrived at the venue“.

A similar sense of frustration lay behind Katee Hui’s 2011 creation of the women and girls community club Hackney Laces. Ten years on, with the launch of sister clubs Limehouse Laces, South London Laces and most recently Manchester Laces, the growing popularity of the grassroots game is evident. However, women’s clubs still often have to restrict numbers due to limited pitch space.

Women in London are so keen to play football that they will sign up to multiple clubs in the hope of getting a game.

Katee Hui @kahui, Founder @hackneylaces

👉 Also, read the challenges @MaggieShiltagh faced trying to play football in England

Women’s Football Programme

Footy Addicts and the LondonFA have a shared objective in providing more opportunities for women’s football to grow. We believe that games should be available locally and throughout the day. Footy Addicts is prioritising creating more women’s games across London. Footy Addicts currently hosts weekly women’s games in Shepherds Bush, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Islington and will be announcing new venues soon. Gemma, who works as a photographer and regularly plays in Footy Addicts women’s games says that “it is such a nice atmosphere to learn and get my confidence up“.

Join a Footy Addicts game and play casual football today ✅

With the announcement of our strategy last year in which we aim to double the number of female players by 2025, LondonFA are committed to increasing the opportunities for women and girls to play football at every stage and at every level
LondonFA

Women’s Teams

It is crucial to ensure that the next generation of female players has more opportunities to play. Footy Addicts is supporting the Girls Super League (GSL), a girls league starting in September running at North and West London venues.

I wanted to create in London the kinds of opportunities that I enjoyed when I played in the USA.
Maria Hasler, Girls Lead at Bloomsbury Football and tournament coordinator of the GSL

Volunteers from Footy Addicts women’s community have signed up to help organise these tournaments and act as ambassadors for the grassroots women’s game.

Footy Addicts is working closely with Bloomsbury Football, Laces clubs and the LondonFA to find additional training venues for girls and women’s teams to make the most of the pitch space available. We believe that if we work together and pool our knowledge we can achieve a similar breakthrough moment in the grassroots women’s game as we have seen in the professional game.

Growing opportunities for women football