Bristol City slams ‘unacceptable abuse’ towards their women’s team manager while a female Everton fan says she was once groped at Goodison.
The Robins has condemned a reported incident with an unsavoury exchange occurring among spectators at the match on Saturday afternoon, which saw Sunderland win 3-2.
Lauren Smith, head coach of Bristol City women’s team, attended the game and said she was “told women shouldn’t be at the football but in the kitchen”, taking to Twitter to reveal her feelings.
On Twitter, she wrote: “Supporting Bristol City with the team today, and was told women shouldn’t be at the football but in the kitchen. So a message to that guy, we welcome you anytime at the Robins HPC to prove you very very wrong!”
Reacting to the tweet, a post on the Bristol City Twitter account reads: “We wholly condemn such abuse. This behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Ashton Gate. We fully support Lauren Smith and are proud of our women’s team.”
We wholly condemn such abuse.
This behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Ashton Gate.
We fully support Lauren Smith and are proud of our women’s team. https://t.co/wc8g7XMhOr
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) August 6, 2022
In the same weekend, a tweet surfaced from a female fan saying that she experienced being groped inside Goodison Park during a match.
On Sunday morning, Twitter user @sunflowersutr said: “there is sadly a culture of seedy opportunistic vultures at goodison park groping women – I know myself and other female fans have experienced this.
“It feels like something the club needs to address & be firm about, because far too many women have had this shared experience.”
When asked if she reported it, the user wrote: “I was 18 when it happened, far too in shock to let any of my family or anyone around me know.
“and it was as the game finished so all the fans were flooding out the stands and I couldn’t see who did it.
“It was opportunistic and they knew they wouldn’t get caught”
The HerGameToo Twitter account tweeted: “So sorry to hear this – we are working closely with @Everton to ensure Goodison Park is a safe space with adequate reporting systems and staff/steward training so instant appropriate action can be taken. We won’t give up on this 💪🏼”
So sorry to hear this – we are working closely with @Everton to ensure Goodison Park is a safe space with adequate reporting systems and staff/steward training so instant appropriate action can be taken. We won’t give up on this 💪🏼
— Her Game Too (@HerGameToo) August 8, 2022
Founded in May 2021, HerGameToo is a voluntary organisation ran by female football fans; who are committed to growing the campaign with the aim of fostering an ethos in football in which women are welcomed and respected equally. Alongside working full-time in their day jobs, the team dedicate their hours around this to support the progression of HerGameToo.
Here at HerGameToo, we see the value in everyone. We strive to be a catalyst for positive change and we are driven by the same ideas we initially founded our Non-Profit Organization upon: support, empowerment, and progress.
THEIR AIMS:
– Create awareness
– Educate
– Research
– Develop a strong sense of community
– Create regular content to champion women in football (players, staff AND fans)
– Create strong relationships with clubs
– Create strong relationships with club trusts and communities
– Have a presence at football grounds and sports bars to build a more welcoming environment for young girls and women
– Continue to campaign against sexism in football
– Continue to campaign against online abuse
#HerGameToo pic.twitter.com/tYPBJmuNQP
— Her Game Too (@HerGameToo) May 15, 2021
Within 24 hours, the above video had over one million views and received support from big names.
One of the first things the women did after the video had circulated was set up a survey to get the experiences of others.
They received almost 400 responses. A staggering 90% of the women surveyed had seen sexist abuse towards a woman in football online and over 60% had experienced it themselves.
The women decided that one of the next key steps was to get a reporting system in place. Female fans needed somewhere they could go with their experiences, somewhere they could trust it would be taken seriously and followed up.
So, they began approaching clubs about partnerships, advocating for reporting systems and ensuring the campaign has a presence in football stadiums.
The campaign now has a reporting system on their website where incidents of sexism at football can be raised: https://www.hergametoo.co.uk/report
⚠️ WARNING: Sensitive content.
😢 398 female football fans anonymously shared their experiences with us in a survey.
Imagine if this was your mother, daughter or sister? This type of behaviour needs to end. #HerGameToo 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/CFCEM3kvnx
— Her Game Too (@HerGameToo) August 4, 2021
In December 2021, Everton became the first Premier League team to support the campaign at both their men’s and women’s fixtures.
Everton’s link-up with #HerGameToo is part of the Club’s award-winning ‘All Together Now’ initiative, which recently celebrated its third anniversary and aims to shine a spotlight on some of the issues women face, either being involved in, or attending football matches.
Working with supporters and representatives from #HerGameToo, the Club aims to create thought-provoking content and educational pieces championing women in football – including players, staff and fans. The campaign will also reaffirm the Club’s zero tolerance policy on harassment and any form of sexual abuse as it continues to make Goodison Park and Walton Hall Park safe environments for all supporters.
Kim Healey, Director of People, Culture and Workplace Wellbeing at Everton said: “We are delighted to be supporting Her Game Too.
“Everton has a rich history in the women’s game including hosting the famous Dick, Kerr Ladies. Fast forward 100 years and Everton is still playing a key role in women’s football, with Everton Women being the only Club in the WSL to play at a purpose-built football stadium.
“As well as backing Her Game Too campaigns as part of our All Together Now initiative, we’ll also be working with the girls and our Fans’ Forum in 2022 on a number of projects that aims to challenge and make people think about their behaviours and attitudes to women in football.”
Lucy Ford, co-founder of #HerGameToo, said: “This is a major milestone for us and our campaign to have a Club the size of Everton supporting us. The poignant date of the announcement is also special to us as on this day 101 years ago Goodison Park played host to one of the most seminal women’s games in history.
“Everton and the Premier League has a global following and this collaboration gives us a larger platform to help us tackle some of the wider issues of sexism in the game. Having Everton on board just adds to the rich tapestry of clubs we have backing us and we’ve been grateful for the support of all the professional and non-league clubs that have come on-board so far.
“We’ve heard from our colleague and Evertonian, Marva Kreel about Everton’s strong reputation for anti-discrimination work through their ‘All Together Now’ campaign and we were delighted when the Everton Fans’ Forum first approached us to share what they’ve been doing to oppose all forms of discrimination in football. We’re now looking forward to working with Everton and its supporters to create some thoughtful content with the club and fans.”
Everton Fans’ Forum member Siobhan Doran, helped facilitate the conversations between the Club and #HerGameToo after being contacted by a fellow Evertonian. She added: “This is a fantastic collaboration and I’m excited about what is to come. The Fans’ Forum has been working with supporters and supporters’ groups this season to shine a light on the fact that Evertonians stand against any form of discrimination. The conversation with HerGameToo came about after one of our supporters responded to our Evertonians Against Hate campaign.
“I’m now looking forward to working with supporters, on behalf of the Fans’ Forum, who want to not only share their experiences at home and away matches but also contribute to ideas as part of the innovative campaign with HerGameToo and the Club”.
It seems we are still some way from eradicating such abuse whether it’s online or in the stands.
If you’re a SPECTATOR AT A MATCH
The guidance below applies to domestic matches not at Wembley Stadium.
• If you’re a spectator at a professional match and witness discriminatory behaviour from another spectator at any point whilst inside the stadium, please report it to the nearest steward or police officer.
• Many professional clubs also offer fans at their stadium a confidential text service to contact during the match – similar to the one operated by Wembley Stadium.
• If you’re outside the stadium, on the way to/from a match or on social media then report it to Kick It Out through their online reporting form or via their reporting app available on both iOS and Android. Alternatively, email Kick It Out at report@kickitout.org
• You should also report it to the police, either:
– In person
– By calling the local police on 101
– By completing the online reporting form you’ll find here
– By calling 999 if you are in an emergency
– You can also report it to The FA at integrity@TheFA.com
To report discrimination witnessed at Wembley Stadium, click here.
If you are a PROFESSIONAL PLAYER
The guidance below applies to any player in the Premier League, English Football League, National League System (steps 1 to 4), the Barclays FA Women’s Super League or FA Women’s Championship.
• If you or another player is subject to discriminatory abuse at a game by either the crowd or another player, report it to a match official as soon as possible.
• If for any reason you cannot report it to a match official at the time or after the game, you can email integrity@TheFA.com
• Further details on reporting discrimination and the process that is followed in these instances are also provided on pages 26-29 of The FA’s ‘Essential Information for Players’ guidance, which you will have been given at the start of the season and which you can also download below.
• If you are a member or associated member of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), you can report discrimination incidents via equalities@thepfa.com or for online abuse at enough@thepfa.com The PFA has support systems in place. You can read more about the PFA’s work on reporting discrimination in football here.
If you are a club employee at a PROFESSIONAL GAME
• If you are a manager, coach, physio, kit supervisor or any other member of broader team operations and experience discriminatory abuse from another participant connected to the match (e.g. a player or staff member of the other team), you should report it to a match official as soon as possible. In practice this would ordinarily be the fourth official.
• At games where no fourth official is present, you should report it as soon as possible to another one of the match officials.
• If the discriminatory abuse has come from a spectator and there is no fourth official, you should bring it to the attention of either: one of the other match officials, the security officer or senior steward or the person responsible for the security of the game.
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