These incredible football players are changing the record on women’s sport

What’s the biggest misconception about women’s football?

The biggest misconception about women’s football is that it is not as exciting as men’s football or as entertaining. It’s something you hear in the discourse a lot but maybe less so nowadays, which is a good thing. The viewership numbers in the WSL and other leagues across the globe have shifted that narrative because records keep getting broken over and over again. We’ve seen here in the WSL with a lot of the teams playing in bigger stadiums that attendance records continue to get broken year after year. It just shows how much the game is growing in the UK, but also across similar leagues such as the NWSL.

One woman who paved the way in your sport?

I can’t choose one woman; I want to choose a group of women, and that is the US National team. The national team has a reputation for standing up and taking on big causes that are meaningful and important, and they have been successful with things like equal pay and triumphing in the end, which was amazing. You can look across the history of the US national team and see them constantly speaking up to injustices in the US and across the world.

People might say, “Stay in your lane and focus on being an athlete,” but the US national team has really gone against the grain, charted its own territory, and taken on causes, championing the people who were voiceless or weren’t the loudest in the room. I think that is something really special and powerful for young women and girls around the globe, and especially in the US, to see that they have changed soccer in the US and they have empowered a lot of women and girls and other national teams to speak out against injustices and fight for what they believe in and what’s right.

Are there any stereotypes about women’s football?

The attitude towards investment in women’s sport. Making sure that women’s teams are treated like professionals, have all the facilities, staff, and everything they need to be successful, perform at the highest level, and play exciting, engaging football for fans. I also think attitudes in engaging with wider communities around teams – going out and finding ways to bring more women and girls to come and watch, getting them in and around the environment, playing football, getting outside, and moving their bodies and learning about the game. There has been so much growth in the last couple of years that you have really seen across the globe that young girls are seeing a real future in playing elite sports. If you look back a couple of years, maybe that wasn’t the case, but we need to find more ways of engaging and bringing more fans to the table. Finding more ways to connect with the communities and get them involved and excited about the incredible product that is being put on in front of them in the WSL.