An overview of Women in Football:
our members and our team
With 10,000 members here in the UK and all around the world, Women in Football's reach is impressive. All the more so, maybe, given that our team comprises just eight people.
But with the expertise of our board of directors, and the muscle of our partner organisations, we're continuing to rack up impressive growth in both numbers and influence.
In this section of the annual report, you can find out more about all of those groups... and perhaps discover, if you're not already part of the WIF community, where you might fit in.
With 10,000 individual members,
Women in Football's influence and authority are on the up
Players, coaches, physiotherapists, match officials and ground staff. Directors, lawyers, marketers, brand managers and finance controllers. Journalists and broadcasters. Caterers and events managers, and grassroots volunteers. Women in Football members do every job you can think of in and around the game. There's even a matchday DJ!
As well as all the roles in the game, our members are people of all genders, based across many nations.
Rachel Cossey of the Norfolk FA explains why she joined Women in Football
Rachel Cossey of the Norfolk FA explains why she joined Women in Football
For all of that diversity, there's one common cause: our vision of a gender-equal future for the world's most popular sport – on and off the pitch.
Beyond our 10,000 individual members, WIF has a social media reach in the hundreds of thousands.
Then there are our corporate members, and the many staff in those workplaces – not to mention our other commercial partners.
The WIF community is large, and growing larger still – but it's still as caring and mutually supportive as it was on the day we began, way back in 2006!
Get to know WIF's staff and directors,
as well as our new Membership Committee
Our staff
Internally, day-to-day work here at Women in Football is taken care of by our staff.
There may not be many of us, but we like to think we punch above our weight!
Amy Bullock
Partnerships Manager
Amy has worked in a range of roles across the sports industries, beginning as an account manager and then leading on media and communications for the charitable trust at her hometown club Nottingham Forest FC. She then spent time with Sport England-funded project City of Football and William Hill. Alongside her role with Women in Football she runs a women's five-a-side league in Nottingham.
Sarah Collins
Client Services Manager
Sarah has many years of experience in football administration, including at the FA, where she staffed the central information desk at the organisational HQ during Euro 96. She has also worked with the Premier League and PGMOL to organise match officials for games. With the League Managers Association, Sarah planned many highly successful flagship events. Outside of work Sarah enjoys watching most sports and is a Crystal Palace FC supporter.
Sarah Gordon-Jones
Events Manager
Before joining WIF, Sarah worked in TV sports for more than 20 years, where her employers included ISL, IAAF, HBS, Octagon CSI, Charter Broadcast, Fountain Studios and IMG Media. Her previous clients include the Premier League, NBC, Channel 4, HBS, UEFA and the European Tour. Sarah's background is live outside broadcast of major sporting events, including the Premier League, World Cups, European Championships, Wimbledon and the Grand National.
Pete Green
Communications Manager
Pete joined Women in Football in July 2021 after working in communications for the University of Sheffield, and as a freelance copy editor and writer for creative agencies and a wide range of publishers and other organisations including Scholastic and the British Film Institute. They have written about football for a range of professional and grassroots publications. Pete supports the Lionesses, Grimsby Town FC and Hallam FC.
Yvonne Harrison
CEO
Yvonne began her career with Manchester-based charity GreaterSport, where she became an award-winning CEO. As Managing Director for Project 92 she oversaw the sport and education portfolio for the Class of 92. Before joining WIF in January 2022, Yvonne established StryveUK, a sports consultancy which has worked with professional sports franchises, clubs, national governing bodies and charities.
Yvonne is actively involved with several organisations in a non-executive director capacity, and is Chair of Trustees for Foundation 92. More recently Yvonne was recognised with the award of Women's Football Champion at the 2024 Women's Football Awards.
Louise Matthews
Business Support Manager
Louise joined Women in Football as Administrative Assistant in July 2020 and was promoted to Business Support Manager in 2023. She has a wealth of experience gathered over the past 20 years working as Operations & Admin Manager, Accounts & Sales Manager, and Purchasing & Procurement Manager, mainly in the healthcare and mobility industries. Louise manages our Leadership Course in partnership with Barclays and works on our events programme. A fan of Aston Villa FC, Louise is also a British Cycling volunteer cycling coach.
Lisa Pool
Deputy CEO
Lisa has spent most of her career working in commercial roles with over 20 years’ experience in developing sales and marketing strategies to generate income. She has worked at some of the leading retailers in the UK, such as Argos, Currys and Ryman. Before joining WIF Lisa held director roles in both retail and wholesale, most recently for Professional Music Technology and Tree of Life. A footballer since the age of five, Lisa still plays on a weekly basis for Marple Athletic Juniors FC. She is a supporter of Liverpool FC and Arsenal WFC, but also follows Manchester City WFC and holds a season ticket there.
Dan Taylor
Marketing & Communications Officer
Dan is a graduate of De Montfort University with a degree in advertising and marketing communications. Before joining Women in Football he worked at Intersport UK, managing social media channels, assisting with events and supporting members. Dan supports Chelsea FC and, as well as football, enjoys cricket, darts, American football and basketball. He even represented the ultimate frisbee society during his time at university.
Our directors
Our board of directors are drawn from various backgrounds across the football industry.
They bring knowledge and insight from a range of disciplines and roles.
What they all have in common is a firm belief in gender equality and an unwavering commitment to Women in Football.
Ebru Köksal
Chair
Ebru Köksal began her professional career on Wall Street before joining Galatasaray Sports Club in 2001 as a CFO. She was at the helm of the club as CEO until 2011 and was the first woman to be elected to the executive board of the European Club Association in 2010. In December 2011, she was appointed as the General Secretary of Turkish Football Federation and left her role to serve as a consultant for FIFA and UEFA from 2012 to 2018.
Ebru is currently a senior adviser at J Stern & Co, Chair of Women in Football; director at A-Leagues Australia; and an INED at the Professional Footballers' Association and the International Tennis Integrity Agency. She was the recipient of the Executive of the Year Award 2011 from Stadium Business Awards and the first ever Making a Difference Award from HBS Executive Education in 2018.
Paul Barber OBE
Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman,
Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Ben Carter
Chief Marketing Officer, CarWow
Monique Choudhuri
Managing Director
Versify Consulting
Liz Ellen
Director and Founder
Livida Sport
Lungi Macebo
COO
Birmingham City FC
Lisa Parfitt
Co-Founder
The Space Between
Kelly Simmons OBE
Sports Consultant
Jo Tongue MBE
CEO
Tongue Tied Media
Our Membership Committee
One of the exciting new developments here at WIF over the 2023-24 period has been the establishment of our first ever Membership Committee.
It's exciting because the committee will help to extend our reach into the football community, and our insights into our membership. With their support, we can represent women in football more broadly and more deeply, bringing about meaningful engagement with a greater cross-section of the community.
The committee's members were chosen from a total of almost 80 applications after we appealed in March 2024 for members to come forward and join. Scroll down to meet them!
Sabah Ahmad
Sabah is the founder and captain of inclusive football team Lez Be United. Earlier this year she also created Marta: The Women's Football Collective, an inclusive platform for fans of the game. A senior social worker, Sabah describes herself as having "a strong passion for social justice and impact".
Mel Benson
Mel Benson volunteers with grassroots club Braunton FC as a coach, manager and player. She brings a background in ability football and is especially involved in walking football.
Nicola Beswick
Nicola Beswick is Strategy Director at sports marketing and management agency Wasserman, and part of The Collective, the firm's women’s practice, representing and leading efforts out of the Middle East. She's also a trustee on the board of a UK charity, responsible for community sports centres.
Rachel Cossey
Rachel Cossey is the Head of Football Development at Norfolk FA, and also plays and coaches football outside of work.
Gemma Frith
Gemma works in the video team at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC as a Presenter/Producer, where she co-founded the female employee network Women at Wolves.
Toyin Higgs
Toyin Higgs is Head of People, Culture and Inclusion and Senior Safeguarding Lead with Sported, a non-profit supporting community sports groups, and Chair of the Inclusion Advisory Board at Warwickshire CCC. She also has a background in football coaching and latterly football administration at English county FA level.
Edleen John
Edleen John is Board Safeguarding Champion with the Amateur FA and an ex-director of the FA. She brings extensive experience from the corporate, charitable and public sectors in both an executive and non-executive capacity.
Harry Quirk
Harry works in the commercial team at Brighton & Hove Albion FC, supporting the operations of the 1901 Club hospitality suite.
Gina Stein
Gina Stein is based in Germany and has recently been working in Frankfurt as part of the ticketing team for the men's UEFA EURO 2024 tournament. Her background is in sustainability.
Cassie Whittell
Cassie Whittell is Senior Operations Manager with Brighton & Hove Albion FC, where she also founded and co-chairs the women's staff network.
Maria Xing
Maria Xing is based between Miami and London, working as Head of Investments & Corporate Development with multi-club investment organisation Brera Holdings.
The committee's 'first XI' will be joined by Women in Football's Client Services Manager Sarah Collins and director Lungi Macebo, as well as WIF member and sports marketing specialist Lauren Estwick. Look out for updates on their work soon!
Built with Shorthand