Above: The Hive Stadium
By Rachel Gore (17/03/2024)
On March 7, new research by ‘Kick It Out’ revealed striking statistics about the sexism and misogyny faced by female football coaches.
‘Kick It Out’ is an organisation that aims to fight discrimination within football; set up in 1993 to tackle racism, its focus grew to all types of discrimination in 1997.
Its most recent survey highlighted the inequality within football coaching, it found that 80% of female coaches have experienced some sort of sexism or misogyny in a coaching environment.
For this piece of research, ‘Kick It Out’ surveyed 115 women coaches. This came following a 400% increase in reports of sexism to ‘Kick it Out’ during the 22/23 season compared to the 21/22 season.
Sharing their experiences 57% said that they have been spoken to differently while coaching due to their gender, 55% remember having their opinions ignored or doubted, and 48% have been questioned on their knowledge of the rules of the game.
Like these female coaches, other women and girls in football often feel as if their knowledge of the sport is doubted. England goalkeeper, Mary Earps recently launched a clothing brand, MAE27, which emphasised this; one of the first items she sold was a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Girls know the offside rule too’.
Wiegman, the manager of the English national team, is an example of an extremely successful female coach. Having led various teams to numerous victories, Wiegman commented on the current opinion that the next advance for professional women in football is to move them from working with women’s squads to men’s ones. She mentioned how, “It’s still the question of can a female coach a male team?” Wiegman has previously said that she is not convinced that the best way to advance the women’s game is to have women managing men, however she is confident that they could do so successfully.
Of those surveyed who have experienced sexist abuse, 56% said that it came from coaching staff while 40% said they had experienced it from the parents of the players that they had coached.
These women have not only experience sexism and misogyny once they are working, but also throughout their training. 70% experienced some sort of sexism or misogyny during a coaching course, and 71% of these women did not feel comfortable reporting this discrimination to the leader of the course.
While the percentage of women who have experienced these incidents is overwhelming, 60% did believe that coaching was an inclusive space. Although, 35% said that they had felt unwelcome in coaching environments and 54% declared that they had considered quitting coaching due to the sexism that they have faced.
An anonymous grassroots coach spoke to ‘Kick It Out’; after mentioning her love for inspiring girls to play football through coaching, she spoke on the sexism she has experienced from fellow coaches. Due to this treatment, she is now “no longer coaching because of the sexism [she’s] experienced”.
As a result of this survey, and prior complaints of sexism in football, ‘Kick It Out’ has now appointed grassroots coach educators with the aim of teaching coaches how to tackle unconscious bias withing football. They will also help coaches from minority backgrounds by providing them with support. Through these educators, ‘Kick It Out’ has the goal of preventing other female coaches being treated in the way that the majority of the women surveyed have been.
Sexism and misogyny are often spoken about in relation to women’s football. Usually, however, it is the experiences of young girls and professional players that are discussed. This research has highlighted the experiences of other women working in the footballing world.
Emma Hayes is an example of a successful female coach who has broken boundaries, and has faced discrimination, perhaps, as a result. The Chelsea manager, who is set to move to the USA at the end of the season to coach the American women’s national team, has often spoken about her experience as a female in the football industry. At a McDonald’s Fun Football project event ran alongside ‘Kick It Out’, Hayes spoke on her aim to encourage people to start coaching and create a more diverse talent pool within this sector of football. Beyond coaching, Hayes has also faced discrimination when working as a commentator; she has previously said that the misogynistic comments that female pundits receive are a result of the “sexist society” within English football.
Arsenal WFC brought attention to another sector of football at their recent north London derby. In collaboration with the WSL, Women in Football, and the Grounds Management Association (GMA), the club chose a team of 13 female ground professionals to work at this fixture. This grounds team made history as the first all-female team to work at a WSL game. Prior to this match, many had not thought about the difficulties that women would face working in this area of sport and after it, many women would have considered roles in grounds management for the first time.
The research by ‘Kick It Out’ has brought light to the reality of women working in football. The study has been emphasised by the opinions of leading female managers, and the experiences of women working in various areas within football.
It is evident that, despite efforts from some clubs, to raise awareness of women working in this sport, there is much more that needs to be done to support women in football. Female coaches desperately need support, and male coaches need education in order to prevent this sexist and misogynistic discrimination.
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