The Lionesses will wear British Sign Language pre-match jerseys, made in partnership with the FA and EE, ahead of their Euro 2025 qualifying match against Sweden.

Each shirt includes the players’ names, spelled out in BSL as a celebration of British Sign Language and a visual reminder of the ways football can be more accessible to fans and players alike.

According to new research, an estimated 1.2 million adults in the UK have severe hearing loss, but there are approximately only 150,000 BSL signers – 87,000 of whom are deaf.

The jerseys are part of EE’s ‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’ campaign, encouraging the use of sign language from both hearing and non-hearing people to keep the deaf community involved in the football conversation. 

In addition to the pre-match jerseys, England’s deaf women’s football team will attend the match and be celebrated at half-time for their third place finish at the World Deaf Championships in Brazil last year.

With 14.2 million people in the UK estimated to experience hearing loss by 2035, promoting the education and use of BSL in one of the world’s most popular sports is an amazing initiative to promote.

Accessibility in football is still something that needs to be pushed for and improved upon. Campaigns like this one show that accessible football is not only possible, but necessary and game-changing for those impacted.