There’s no denying the exponential growth the women’s game in England has experienced in recent years. From multi-million pound broadcasting deals to Arsenal’s Leah Williamson and Beth Mead attending Wimbledon in the Royal Box. The women’s game is finally reaping the rewards associated with regular promotion, financial backing and mass awareness. And if there was one moment in time that epitomises the explosion of English women’s football, it was last summer’s historic Euros when the Lionesses ended the nation’s 56-year wait for silverware. Yet, although the game has grown and made household names out of a select few, there is one major issue that’s continued to be highlighted along the way to ‘the top’: the extreme lack of racial diversity, both on and off the pitch.

Racial inequality is one of the biggest problems plaguing women’s football. Despite the Lionesses’ Euros win, not a single non-white player was selected to be in a Starting XI during the entire tournament. Demi Stokes, Jess Carter and Lauren James were the only players from Black or minority ethnic backgrounds to participate. Compare these worrying statistics to the men’s game where 34% of Premier League players are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, the women’s game looks abnormally homogenous. Why is this the case? A question Spotify, the London City Lionesses and She Plays Football have been attempting to address with their latest programme.

Since May, the trio have been putting on free football sessions for hundreds of girls in Barnet and surrounding North London areas with the long-term aim to have more non-white girls playing football in five to ten years. As a result, they've formed the London City Striker programme: eight brand new teams for 8-12-year-old girls, half of which will be formed by participants from the Spotify x She Plays Football community programme. With continued support, guidance and mentorship from WSL and Championship players, plus coaching from female UEFA A and B coaches, this partnership prioritises the importance of a sustainable growth model when looking to develop girls' football. In other words: they're here to make real, long-lasting and impactful change.

One of the long-term goals of the partnership is to help diversify the current academy landscape and talent pathway opportunities, in the hope of making professional English women's football more representative of wider society. “To see Black coaches and Black women who are professional players, it immediately made my daughter think: 'that’s me! I can do that too!'” Explained Keisha, mum of 10-year-old participant Ava-Rae. “It’s so important she feels and understands that, especially given she doesn’t have much representation at school or even in wider football campaigns around her. She just can’t ‘see’ herself in those spaces, but what she can ‘see’ from these sessions is, she can make it if she wants to.”

Witnessing a fully-attended training session first-hand, it’s clear to see how the programme is striking a chord with both children and parents like Keisha. The need for these sessions is clearly there, and it’s about time football recognises things need to change if the game is supposed to be for everyone, and not a few.

VERSUS sat down with London City’s Karin Muya, Charlotte Fleming and Atlanta Primus to talk about their involvement in the sessions, how impactful they think they’ve been to the local community and why they think visibility, at all levels, is vital if football’s going to really represent those who love it.

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N.B. At the time of this interview all players were signed to London City Lionesses.

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VERSUS: When you see so many young girls come to sessions like this, how does it make you feel?

Charlotte Fleming: I think it makes you feel proud as a woman in football to see this many young girls being brought up to love and play football. It’s also really exciting to see so many want to find a pathway and explore football outside of school. When we were younger, we didn’t have the opportunities that were available to the girls here today, and so actually, being able to coach them and hopefully inspire them – it’s a great feeling. The idea of being a role model for the younger generation, it’s something we don’t take for granted.

The fact you’ve been coaching in the local community – near to where you all play club football – does that make the whole experience even more positive?

Atlanta Primus: I think so! I think with London City being a standalone club, it gives girls in the area a local team to look out for and follow – it’s easier for them to come out and watch us play given how close we are to them. So, not only are these sessions helping to develop these girls as footballers, it’s also helping the club to reach new fans.

Karin Muya: I agree and I think in terms of accessibility, providing sessions like these really helps to bridge the gap between academies and inner-city areas. London clubs for example: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham. Those ‘big’ clubs have academy pathways not everyone can access. So, if you’re playing football at the grassroots level – like here, today – and live in an inner-city area, you’re still able to access high quality training and see a future in the game. There are quite a few girls here who wouldn’t look out of place at an academy but can’t access them for a range of reasons. And there are quite a few girls here who aren’t quite of a certain standard to play at academy level so often get overlooked.

When we look at where these academy pathways are based too, even though they’re associated with London-based clubs, they’re quite far away.

They’re mainly in suburban areas, right?

Yeah! So, unless you have the means to travel to and from, especially during the week, they’re quite inaccessible. I think, in London’s inner-city areas, where children are more likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds, they don’t always have access to a car or their parents and carers might not be able to commute with them to training. So there are a lot of reasons why some of these girls aren’t accessing opportunities, and we’re not seeing them filter through.

Do you think you would have loved something like this when you were younger?

AP: When I was younger, I was playing with the boys! Or I was going to camps in the summer holidays where I was still the only girl there; if I was lucky, there might have been another two or three girls in attendance. So yeah, I would have loved the chance to play with so many other girls regularly.

I think these sessions are great in helping to build confidence and helping the girls to realise there are opportunities out there for them too – not just for boys – and they can be successful in football. This is just a prime example of that and giving them the exposure and resources they need to push onto the next level, if that’s what they want to do.

‍Atlanta and Karin, do you both feel as if you had to leave the UK to develop and experience a better model?

AP: For me, I went to play football in America because playing football and balancing my education in the UK wasn’t really something that was feasible at the time. I felt as if I was being told: “you can play for us but only at this time, so that means we expect you to be in from this time, until this time…”

Is that something that also resonated with you Karin?

KM: Definitely. The hours we were told we needed to play just weren’t realistic if you wanted to study full-time and play football. It just couldn’t work.

AP: I was seriously thinking about going to University at the time anyway, and wasn’t really in love with the game when thinking about making that decision. So being told that just reinforced my decision to move abroad. The fact I could go overseas didn’t only mean I could get a degree, it also provided me with an opportunity to fall in love with football again. And the fact I could do both of those things at the same time and for free! It just made sense. It wasn’t an easy decision though – I am a big home bird and I love being around my family. But if I could do those four years again, I would in a heartbeat.

I was in the England youth set-up at the time too, and before I went to America I was also told: “if you go abroad we won’t be selecting you for camps anymore because we can’t afford to bring you back.”

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Growing up playing at Chelsea, I was one of the few Black girls at the academy. You couldn’t really blame players for gravitating towards what felt more comfortable to them, if that makes sense? You even see that at the professional level, with players of mixed heritage gravitating to their family’s country of origin when playing international football.

There are lots of really young, talented girls of colour who just aren’t ‘getting through’. And it isn’t really a case of simply saying, “it’s racism!”, or teams need to make sure they have ‘X’ amount of diversity in their squads to combat the issue. It’s more a case of: are teams actually looking at themselves and thinking about whether their playing environment is a truly inclusive one. Or if they’re taking into consideration cultural differences and how they might impact the sessions they carry out. Or whether they’ve thought about individuals’ socioeconomic backgrounds and how that might be acting as a barrier to girls accessing football. Very few places do consider these things, which is why the English women’s game isn’t as representative as it could be.

There will be countless girls here today who will hear about Atlanta playing at the World Cup, and who knows, they could now be thinking to themselves maybe one day they can too. How are you feeling about the tournament?

AP: I’m excited. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in and I’m not sure when it will! Maybe when I’m on the plane to Australia or during our first session together? I don’t know but it’s been a full year of preparation for us but it’s now finally here. It’s very surreal but seeing the girls here today makes me feel really excited!

As I’m getting older, I’m realising the importance of appreciating the moment and this tournament is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. I’m just trying to take in every single moment that comes my way. But yeah, I am really excited.‍

What are your hopes for the future of women’s football?

CF: I think all we can ask for is that the growth of the game continues, whether that’s at a steady or quick pace, and as a result of that, the women who are involved in the game get what they deserve. We work just as hard as the men! We give up just as much time and dedicate just as much of our lives to the game as them, and often we’re not recognised for that.

We’re grateful for every opportunity we get and really relish them, and it almost means more to us than the men because we’re not exposed to everything like they are. Because of that, it’s actually a pleasure and often feels like a reward when opportunities do come to us, that’s a really humbling experience as a player.

With continued support, financial backing and access to opportunities traditionally associated with the men’s game, eventually we could be on the same level. That’s what all women’s footballers hope for at the end of the day. Whether that happens in the next five or ten years, who knows! But the day it does happen, it’ll be a happy one.

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KM: In terms of growth, it’s been exponential in a lot of ways, especially since the Euros, but there’s still a lot of improvement that needs to happen. Atlanta is off to the World Cup and even at the highest level of the game there have been logistical issues for several teams in just getting to that tournament. We’ve seen the biggest teams and players continue to grow and reap the rewards post-Euros, but as that happens, the gap between those at the top of the footballing pyramid and those at the bottom, gets bigger and bigger. We need a more sustainable growth model if everyone is to benefit and the game develops as a whole. And arguably, that type of model can start with grassroots sessions like these.

Images were taken by Ellie Ramsden for VERSUS.

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Did it have anything to do with being able to easily monitor your progress, too?

Of course, but it was also because of having to travel back and forth, so the logistics and costs associated with me playing so far away meant I couldn’t attend England camps at youth level. And that wasn’t really a huge thing for me at the time because I wasn’t enjoying football at all, but that gives you an idea of how much things have changed. You see plenty of girls go to America nowadays, come back for camps routinely and find clubs to play for in the UK.

Were your reasons for playing abroad similar, Karin?

KM: Pretty much. I’d say I agreed on most points. Other than that I actually was enjoying football at the time, but for me, education was always important.

When I was playing for Chelsea there just weren’t any educational partnerships I felt I could access. And whether you were playing for the reserves or the first team, the hours you were required to play just did not coordinate with studying at all. At the time, the infrastructure just wasn’t suitable to accommodate play and study.

I felt like my only real option to combine both playing and studying at a level that I wanted, was to go abroad. It has changed now, like Atlanta said, and there are a lot more football related partnerships between clubs and universities which mean more girls don’t feel as if they need to leave the UK in order to pursue a career in football whilst getting an education.

When thinking about the future of the game, how important is representation to the two of you? If we look at last summer’s England squad, only three players were of Black heritage and none of them were in the Starting XI during the tournament. That needs to change.

AP: I think it’s very important. We’re seeing more Black women in higher positions, and it’s really inspiring being able to see people of colour be successful. But that isn’t really something I had when growing up, and we need more of it for those growing up today. Like you said, there isn’t a lot of representation in the England team or even in the WSL, and I find that really frustrating because, who are today’s little girls looking up to for inspiration? I’m not saying Black people only take inspiration from other Black people, but when you see someone that looks like you, it just resonates.

KM: It makes what they’re doing seem ‘real’.

AP: Yeah, you think: “Oh, she looks like me, her hair is curly like mine! Maybe I can do that too!” I think we need more of those moments of realisation, and that comes from making sure there is more representation at all levels of the game. I know that will take some time to change, but it needs to happen.

KM: I think as well, when you look at that Euros squad or the WSL, you need to also consider the cultural differences, socioeconomics as well as unconscious racial bias. There’s not just one reason why we don’t have representation in women’s football.

Growing up playing at Chelsea, I was one of the few Black girls at the academy. You couldn’t really blame players for gravitating towards what felt more comfortable to them, if that makes sense? You even see that at the professional level, with players of mixed heritage gravitating to their family’s country of origin when playing international football.

There are lots of really young, talented girls of colour who just aren’t ‘getting through’. And it isn’t really a case of simply saying, “it’s racism!”, or teams need to make sure they have ‘X’ amount of diversity in their squads to combat the issue. It’s more a case of: are teams actually looking at themselves and thinking about whether their playing environment is a truly inclusive one. Or if they’re taking into consideration cultural differences and how they might impact the sessions they carry out. Or whether they’ve thought about individuals’ socioeconomic backgrounds and how that might be acting as a barrier to girls accessing football. Very few places do consider these things, which is why the English women’s game isn’t as representative as it could be.

There will be countless girls here today who will hear about Atlanta playing at the World Cup, and who knows, they could now be thinking to themselves maybe one day they can too. How are you feeling about the tournament?

AP: I’m excited. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in and I’m not sure when it will! Maybe when I’m on the plane to Australia or during our first session together? I don’t know but it’s been a full year of preparation for us but it’s now finally here. It’s very surreal but seeing the girls here today makes me feel really excited!

As I’m getting older, I’m realising the importance of appreciating the moment and this tournament is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. I’m just trying to take in every single moment that comes my way. But yeah, I am really excited.

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