“I’ve had comments made to me online and in person about how I don’t belong in football, how I don’t belong here and how I need to get back in the kitchen.”
Chloe Watts says football has “always been in her blood” as she was brought up going to Bristol Rovers games with her dad.
But Watts, from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, has experienced her fair share of misogyny at games.
She has now become an ambassador of a campaign against sexism in sport – Her Game Too.
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Her Game Too was founded in May 2021 and, while it initially focused on football, it grew to include sports including cricket, rugby, and ice hockey.
Watts, who says she was once touched inappropriately at a cricket game, says “there’s still some stigma to get rid of”.
One statistic that she says has stuck with her is that 58% of female sports fans have personally experienced sexism in a pub or in a stadium, according to a survey by Her Game Too.
As a result of this sexism, some pubs have become Her Game Too pubs.
Watts says this means they are designated safe spaces for women to watch games, with staff given training in spotting sexism and pledging to show more women’s sports.
The Abbey in Gloucester and The Miller in Cheltenham have signed up to the scheme, Watts says.
“We’ve seen a massive increase in women and girls getting involved in football from the successes of the Lionesses,” she explains.
“I think a lot of people obviously forget that women’s football was banned for 50 years, and I think a lot of people then try to just directly compare it to the men’s game.”
Crediting the progress made so far, she said: “We’re now seeing record attendances at women’s games… it’s been really brilliant to see the successes of female national teams across multiple sports.”
‘Not the same game’
Ellie Scrivens, also from the Forest of Dean, was inspired to start watching football after losing her Arsenal supporter dad.
She began playing herself after watching the Lionesses win the Euros in 2022.
But Scrivens, who now plays for Abbeymead Rovers Ladies, says she has experienced negativity about the women’s game.
She says expressing her love of Arsenal WFC has led to comments including “it’s not the same game” and “they just give away the tickets”.
But she says that, sometimes, conversations are opened up that “go really well”.
Scrivens says her local pub has been great in supporting Abbeymead Rovers and the women’s game in general.
“If we ring them up and say ‘Look, we’ve got this really important Women’s Super League game’, they’ll always make sure it’s on for us, even if there’s another big men’s game on at the same time,” Scrivens said.
“Having those social spaces where you can go and share those experiences is really important, and I think that’s only going to help in the long run of breaking down all of those outdated views in regards to women’s football.”
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