Impetus was launched in September 2019 by Ben Gilby, who is now a member of the Football Writers’ Association. Run by an editorial board of six volunteers, the site has over 100 volunteer writers, photographers, and TikTok content creators based on four continents. Over 60% of the team are female, and over 40% of the contributors are under the age of 21.
The site grew its audience consistently since October 2020 after an article in support of Sam Kerr after she received abuse on social media was read over 3,500 times around the world in the space of 48 hours. In 2023 the site was voted as Women’s Football Platform of the Year at the On Her Side Awards, with Impetus‘ graphics designer Paige Walder also named Women’s Football Designer of the Year at the same time.
Impetus attracts several thousand readers each week from around the world, with a particularly large audience in Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, Sweden, France, and New Zealand.
In June 2022, the British Library announced that it was adding Impetus to its online archives due to the site representing “different aspects of UK heritage as well as important global events.”
Clearinghouse, based at the world-renowned Australian Institute of Sport, regularly includes links to Impetus articles on its daily bulletins which signpost the best articles on Australian sport, as recognition of the quality of the team’s coverage of Australian women’s football.
On 1st January 2024, another UK-based women’s football site Since 71 came across to join Impetus to further strengthen its coverage of the women’s football scene with the site’s writers becoming part of Impetus‘ team.
The site is an Associate Member of the Football Supporters Association’s Women’s Game Network – the national democratic representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. The group played a part in the government’s reviews of football and specifically the women’s game review.
Impetus aims to continue to provide in-depth coverage of international football and is recognised media by the English FA, Football Australia, FA Wales, Football Association of Ireland, and New Zealand Football. Our French editor Jean-Pierre Thiesset holds accreditation to photograph for us from Olympique Lyonnais Feminin home games, and Danja Gerwig at FC Barcelona Femeni.
Follow Impetus on social media –
Twitter (X): @impetusfootball TikTok: @impetusfootball
Instagram: @impetusfootball
impetusfootball.org 