International Women’s Day 2023

The Lionesses victory last summer, highlighted women’s football on an international scale. The match was a sell out and reached a global audience of 365 million. Where once football was seen a men’s only game, it is now a sport loved and played all. International Women’s day is a great opportunity to highlight the excellent work done by women across FPL and the footballing world.

Dick, Kerr Ladies FC

Many people believe that it was the victory of the Lionesses that really drove the popularity of the women’s game. This might be true for the younger generations of girls who have female role models to look up too in the way young children have looked up to the likes of David Beckham, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford for years.

However, during World War One there was a growth in women playing the game. When the men left to fight in the war, women found themselves forced to work into factories across the country. This was to ensure the continued running of both the home front and war effort. It was tough work. Many women, known as “munitionettes”, created armaments. They had to work with dangerous machinery and a number of noxious chemicals. The Government, sent Health and welfare advisors to ensure the wellbeing of women. These officers encouraged sports as a respite from the harsh environment that the women now worked, which was a world away from their domestic duties.

Factories set up their own women’s football teams. Some of these teams became incredibly popular, such as Dick, Kerr’s Ladies FC, which was named after the Dick, Kerr & Co munitions factory that the ladies worked in. The team got thousands of spectators at their very first match. As with other women’s teams, their games raised money for charity and the war effort. At the time these women’s teams were regarded as a novelty. But teams like Dick, Kerr’s Ladies FC helped change that perception. It was during the war that women’s football as a legitimate sport in its own right.

Female pundits and presenters

However, it’s not just being able to play the game. The number of female pundits at the Qatar World Cup was up from the number at the last World Cup in Russia in 2018.

At the beginning some sections of the audience and media suggested that they were there for the sake of diversity. However, the insight and understanding shown by the female pundits, experts and presenters as shown that they are there in their own right.

When it comes to introducing the next generation to the sport having key women in the game is important. The likes of Kelly Somers, Jules Breach, Kelly Cates, Karen Carney Hayley McQueen and Alex Scott have given a young girls inspiration. There are now people like them having a lead role in the beautiful game.

Alongside that fan-led campaign Her Game Too has also been working to encourage women to get involved in football.

FPL pundits and experts

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to highlight the brilliant work being done by female content creators in FPL.

The likes of FPL Family’s Sam Bonfield and Holly Shand can be regularly found on Sky Sports News talking about fantasy football. With Sam also appearing on every episode of the Premier League’s FPL Pod alongside Kelly Somers. The pair are also part of the Premier League’s panel of experts and regularly contribute their ideas.

FPL Nymfria was the first female FPL content creator on YouTube and she has paved the way for many others since the game started. In addition this season the organisers of Gameweek 39 have added a female match to the schedule. The North captained by Linn_FPL with the South captained by FPL_LB.