We're working on many fronts to celebrate and advocate
for women working and volunteering in the game
Words are not enough: Women in Football exists to make a difference, and we want to see action. When discrimination takes place directly, we'll challenge it – but we're lobbying for change in the corridors of power, to transform the culture that enables discrimination in the first place. We're bringing about tangible actions that support our members' career development and helps to rebalance the historic gender inequality in the game. And we're celebrating the vital and wonderful contributions made by women and football, on and off the pitch.
#GetOnside
Now in its third year, our flagship campaign continues to bring about practical changes to support women and girls.
Launched in September 2021 in partnership with Barclays, Women in Football’s high-profile #GetOnside campaign continues to attract new pledges of action every month, each one helping to rebalance gender equality in football.
From 130 pledges at the launch of the campaign, the total now stands at a remarkable 253. Check out the adjacent pledge cards to see some of the organisations who've joined the #GetOnside family in 2023-24, and the wonderful actions they're taking.
Over the duration of the campaign we've seen a tremendous variety in the organisations and people making pledges for #GetOnside.
Some are national and international media organisations, offering paid internships for women aiming to break into broadcasting. Some are top-flight clubs, shining a light on the vital work done by the women on their staff. Others are providers of kit and training equipment, offering free products for grassroots women’s teams.
Then there are the individual pledgers, offering mentoring for women targeting careers in various branches of the football industry.
#GetOnside pledges come in all shapes and sizes, then. But they have one thing in common: they all make a real difference.
#GetOnside in 2023-24
- More than 163 free places for members at conferences and workshops, on programmes, and at other events
- More than £137,000 worth of monetary value made in pledges to Women in Football members
Open Doors Agenda
Think back to the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia. We remember a hard-fought contest, showcasing the world's leading footballers, deservedly edged by a Spain side featuring player of the tournament Aitana Bonmatí.
But perhaps even more than that, we remember the incident involving Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso during the awards presentation after the match. And then we remember the aftermath.
It wasn't an isolated incident: it was the latest in a long sequence of events which bear out the structural inequality that continues to exist in our game.
Like many others around the world, we called for change. Our call was the Open Doors Agenda.
Launched in September 2023, the Open Doors Agenda sets out six principles, which we called on governing bodies to adopt. These principles would reform the way football is governed, effecting a reform of the game's culture, starting at the top.
Ultimately, the result would be a football industry where women working in the game, on and off the pitch, feel safe, welcome and supported.
Women in Football Chair Ebru Köksal appears on CNN to introduce the Open Doors Agenda
The context for reform
At the time of the 2023 World Cup, when Luis Rubiales was the president of the Spanish football federation, only six of the federation's 150 members/delegates were women.
Examples of inequality and abuse are far from uncommon across the world. In the United States the 2022 Yates report described a culture of misconduct at clubs, identifying not only a lack of safety measures to protect players, but also inaction by the national governing body and retaliation against those who reported abuse.
The Women in Football survey has repeatedly found a large majority of the game's female workforce reporting discrimination at work – in 2023, the figure stood at 82 per cent.
Other sectors have accelerated the rate of change by the use of targets for gender representation. The FTSE Women Leaders Review set a goal of 40 per cent female membership of boards and attained that goal more than three years ahead of the December 2025 target. Organisations have reported substantially improved performance and corporate culture as a result.
The Open Doors principles
At an event at the House of Lords in October 2023, we presented the Open Doors Agenda to an influential audience of leaders and policymakers. We'll continue to press for change, and another WIF event at the Lords will take place in September 2024.
“We’re calling on FIFA and the continental confederations to make our proposals mandatory for all national associations.
"We recognise that transformative change can take time and our doors are open to every football organisation that wishes to harness our expertise to help set the roadmap for change.
"But we are clear that without the kind of culture change in governance that the Open Doors Agenda sets out, the playing field will never be levelled.”
Ebru Köksal
Chair, Women in Football
#TodayAndEveryDay
On International Women's Day 2024 we launched #TodayAndEveryDay: a campaign calling on the football industry to welcome, value and celebrate women not just for one day a year, but throughout the calendar.
“Showing support for gender equality on International Women’s Day is great, but one day is not enough. It’s time for football to acknowledge that it depends on the work done by thousands of women all the time, to recognise their contribution, and to push harder for gender equality – today and every day.”
Our campaign video, developed in partnership with our then content creation partners Beat Media Group, showcases the huge variety of roles performed by women in the sport – grounds person, broadcaster, journalist, administrator, player, and manager and more.
The video features contributions from Lionesses legend Jill Scott MBE, record-breaking manager Emma Hayes OBE, trailblazing football commentator Jacqui Oatley MBE, and ex-professional footballers and hosts of the Barclays Women’s Championship Show on Sky Sports, Mollie and Rosie Kmita.
Give it a click and see.
Please keep an eye on our communications channels for the next stage of #TodayAndEveryDay. Later in 2024 and 2025 we'll be looking to extend the campaign! A photography project is in the pipeline here at WIF, which plans to showcase the work done by a group of women in a range of roles in and around the football industry.
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