Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 11
For example, the rationale Barclays
applies to its support of the women’s
game is different. Its support for the
men’s game is a straight commercial
decision; sponsorship of the women’s
game comes from its equal
opportunities and equality budget. It
shows what they are trying to achieve
internally and externally – that women
can also achieve; women can also
succeed. There is a moral purpose
to giving women an opportunity to
showcase their talent.
We have seen a real change in the
gender balance of the boards and staff
at the sport’s governing bodies. I think
the growth of the women’s game in
England has been largely because we
have a very balanced workforce. When
it comes to the boards, we do need
people who have a passion and love for
the game, but it needs to be balanced
with people who can give a different
perspective and look at things in a
different way. It is true that many clubs
are behind on that process of change.
1,500
girl-friendly Wildcats centres on the
ground, a place to learn football in
a non-competitive environment
Fran Kirby celebrates with Toni Duggan after scoring the first goal during the International Friendly
between England and Australia Women, October 2018.
To ensure there are women with the
right skills to take up those positions,
we need to make sure that we are
supporting them, particularly younger
women, by developing leadership skills
and attributes. They will then have a real
contribution to make.
Sport is undergoing a cultural
change, and in my experience, cultural
change is never easy – it can be slow
and hard to achieve. Leading it is like
arriving at a house party, in that you
must absorb what is going on before
you decide how to conduct yourself.
An aggressive style does not work.
You have to learn where all the “power
points” are in an organisation. Then you
need to talk to a lot of people about
what the mission is going to be. You
must get buy-in for the mission, so
that it is not your mission, but a shared
mission. You need to keep nudging
the system.
As to the future, we have just
produced a Women’s Professional Game
Strategy, which is a five-year document
looking at the top of the game. That will
go in front of the new Barclays FA WSL/
WC board for check and challenge, and
approval shortly. Commercially, and in
every other way, we want the women’s
game to move to a self-sustaining
model that produces successful
England teams – the senior team and
under-21s, with a clear talent pathway
for the juniors.
There should be a recreational
pathway that starts with “Wildcats”,
going all the way through to the ‘missed
generation’ – girls like me who played
football before they went to school,
and then didn’t play after. And we
need a strong women’s refereeing
and coaching workforce. That is the
ambition in the next five years.
Women’s football has some more
wonderful profile moments coming up
with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and
the UEFA Women’s Euros 2021 being
hosted in England. Every match will
be free-to-air, which should therefore
generate a massive increase in the
number of girls participating, and,
we are planning for its legacy.
Sue Campbell
Baroness Campbell of Loughborough CBE,
Director of Women’s Football,
The Football Association
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