The ‘Fans for Diversity’ campaign, a joint initiative from Kick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), has launched a survey looking to gain the thoughts of women football fans.
The survey is part of a wider piece of research which is designed to help both organisations understand more about women’s experiences of watching men’s football and the role the game plays in their lives.Anwar Uddin, Diversity and Campaigns Manager for the FSF, sees the survey as crucial if football is to understand the opinions of - and the issues faced by - women supporters.
He said: “More women football supporters are attending men’s football matches than ever before, and we want to use this survey as an opportunity to find out about their experiences. This is an important step towards helping us gauge what issues there may be and how we can do more to address them.”
Roisin Wood, Director of Kick It Out and an FSF National Council member, said: “We held an event recently which showed the strong and differing opinions of women football fans, so to get these down on paper and use it to inform our future work is something I hope many thousands of football fans contribute to.
“Last season, we only received two complaints relating to gender, yet anecdotal evidence would prove that this number is far lower than the reality that loyal fans face in the stands. We’re looking forward to seeing the results of this comprehensive survey.”
Fiona McGee, FSF National Council member, said: “For a long time, the opinions of women supporters have been included in general surveys but nobody has taken a step back and looked at what women actually want from their match day experiences.
“It’s important that this survey is undertaken because it is not just about the issue of sexism which needs to be discussed but also how women’s opinions about ticket prices, safe standing and other issues that surround going to a game.”
The survey will take no more than 10 minutes to complete and can be accessed here.