29 years on from establishing a Women’s Football Committee to run women’s football games in the UK, it seems that football is more popular for females than ever before.
The Women’s FA Cup began in 1970, and is now known as the most popular domestic knockout competition within the women’s game. After the Final taking place on the 5th December 2021, Chelsea F.C. Women hold the current champions title. With 417 teams, it is evident that women’s football is increasingly popular in this day and age.
In 2019, Girlguiding launched a campaign which aims to make more school sports available to girls. This is just one of the many steps that have been taken over recent years that serve the purpose of breaking through gender stereotypes within the sporting world.
I spoke to Sam Rostron, a 23 year old from Stourbridge, about her experience growing up as a female who had a passion and talent for the game. Sam now lives in Sheffield and plays Sunday League football.
What age did you start playing football?
“I was 8 or 9 years old. I joined a team outside of school that wasn’t actually in my local town, but the next town along. There was obviously a lot of boys teams, especially for kids, but there wasn’t many for girls which is why I had to join one slightly further away from home.”
What made you want to play football?
“I was always a bit sporty. My two sisters loved dance and gymnastics, but I never really got into them. So, I think I thought that football was a bit different so I’d give it a go. I really enjoyed it straight away and I’m not sure if I’d say that I had a natural skill for it, but I definitely picked it up quite quickly.”
Did you, or do you take an interest in women’s football?
“When I was younger I always loved football, but I never saw women playing as my dad and brother only watched the men’s games. It wasn’t until recently when I started watch female football games and see it a lot more on social media. I now also follow a few female footballers on Instagram and it’s nice to see what they are doing with their lives. It is sometimes sad to see the differences between them and the male footballers. I have watched documentaries about it and seen how women often have their football, which they are playing at a professional level, but also another job as well, just to get by. Whereas, obviously men can obviously full focus on their football because they get paid enough. But, there has been improvements and hopefully it will keep going up from here.”
What do you love the most about football?
“I really, really, really enjoy it. It is something to look forward to and it gets me out of the house which is great, especially since the pandemic. I am a lot more confident now, and I feel like that has allowed me to flourish a lot more in the sport and really push myself to improve and make friends. As I have moved to a Sheffield, I wanted to have a new circle in the new place that I am living in, so it has been great for social as well as physical aspects of my life. I think if I had stayed where I was living before, I may never have joined a team because I would have been stuck in my comfort zone and cared too much about what people think.”
Have you faced any obstacles or had to overcome any unfair experiences as a female player?
“There have been differences at Sunday League level football when it comes to men and women. For example, they are a lot stricter on piercings. I know we can’t have them in for safety reasons, but my boyfriend doesn’t need to take his nose ring out when he plays, whereas our referees are very strict with us about them.
There have also been many occasions where referees have made weird comments about women while they’re playing that have made us uncomfortable. It is always strange, really small things that happen that make you second guess what is going on, but there is no denying that they are there.
I hope one day, the case can be that men and women have the same facilities. I know that at the level I play at, you do see a massive gap between the facilities for the established male teams and the female ones. As it is with anything, we started out as a women’s team who played on a public park, where anyone could go. We ended up splitting away from it, because they wouldn’t let us train on it, even though they let the mens teams train there. It was really weird and it shows a lot of sexism as it makes no logical sense. It clearly loudly because it was a women’s team. So, of course, there are those elements of inequality, but hopefully, one day, they won’t exist.”
What would you say people’s reactions are like when you tell them that you play football?
“Overall, people are always surprised and say ‘that’s so cool’. Men especially seem to find it quite interesting. I don’t know why for certain, but maybe it’s because it’s predominantly their sport, even though it is becoming more popular for women now. I think when I was younger, I felt like when I told people that I played football, I had to prove myself as a female who was capable of playing. Or I felt like you had to be really good, otherwise it didn’t really count. People quite often said ‘oh you’ll get in the team because they will want a girl’, if it was a mixed team. Which was always annoying as it felt like I may only be wanted to balance out the mix of the team, not because of my ability. But, nowadays, most people are more supportive.”
What do you think can be done to continue to grow the popularity of women’s football?
“I think that now it is in the media more, the popularity is growing when it comes to women’s football.. But I think a really good way to expand it even more, would be to encourage girls in schools to give it a go. Not even just football, but any sports. I just think it will make them feel more involved and not like boys or better or they are opportunities just for them.
Sometimes, it is good to have a mix of boys and girls playing together, but I do think girls like to start out in an all female environment, just to find their feet. So, I think in primary schools, getting some women to go in and encourage them to play and maybe having those women taking sessions could help.”
By Arabella Gennard Gardner
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