If one-half of the TV was a screen recording of somebody playing Subway Surfers, I might be interested in watching a normal football game; that being said, I love the atmosphere of a pub during a Euros game. I love coordinating my outfits with my friends, I love celebrating England, and I love the energy all across the country.
What I don’t love? The ridiculing of women for joining in on the fun. I grew up playing football, but my attention span has always been too short to watch it. Does that mean I shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy the game full stop, or that my support isn’t considered valid?
But this isn’t anything new— there is a longstanding alliance between football and this being an excuse to hate women.
Football can be an incredibly positive experience; it brings people together, promotes fitness, and is just an overall fun atmosphere. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with its downfalls.
Football isn’t a niche, underground game— it’s one of the most famous games in the world. I know men who support a team but don’t watch the games or follow the scores, however, they can be seen as more valid fans than women. The endless questions and women having to prove they understand football perfectly means we can’t have a casual interest in football; we must live and breathe it.
What is it like supporting football as a woman?
I spoke to one of my lifelong friends, Grace, about supporting football as a woman. Grace has been an avid Liverpool supporter for as long as I’ve known her. Growing up, any plans we made had to be worked around match times and days.
I asked Grace how she was treated as a football fan compared to the men around her and if it differed at all.
She told me, “I’ve always been accused of pretending to like it for attention, and also had to prove to boys that I’m a ‘real’ fan. Women can’t be casual fans, to this day if I say I’m a football fan I have to answer questions like naming players and answering random questions on how the games work just for them to believe I actually watch football. I’ve even been at a party before talking to a boy about football and he didn’t believe I’m a fan. He looked over at my boyfriend and asked if I watch football and when he said I do the boy believed me. It was so weird like my word didn’t mean anything but when a boy said it was it was fine!”
It’s confusing how baffling people find it when they meet a female football fan as if we are limited to only liking fashion and cocktails.
Is football all about men?
Football has always, whether we realise it or not, heavily involved women. Whether it’s women’s football, women enjoying the sport, or WAGs, there are plenty of ways we are continuously involved in the sport.
In fact, the popularity of WAGs in the early 2000s meant interest in football soared; fashion and football have been intertwined for years. Victoria Beckham, Cheryl (then Cheryl Cole), and Colleen Rooney served as fashion icons with their chunky sunglasses, highlighted hair, and huge, designer bags on their arms. They showed us that we could enjoy sports with our boyfriends and look incredible doing it.
If men are allowed to be interested in fashion and footballers can release clothing lines and collaborations, there’s no reason why women should be looked down on for putting effort into our outfits. It feels like if we aren’t interested in football we’re boring, but if we are we’re just pretending for male validation. Similarly, just because a woman dresses up for the Euros, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy football!
As a country, this should be a time for celebrating an amazing sports achievement, regardless of whether we win or lose. We should all be allowed to celebrate and have fun without being ridiculed for the reasons we enjoy football, because, as much as some people live and breathe football, the world is so much bigger than kicking a ball.
Let women enjoy sports without gatekeeping and let us look cute whilst doing it!
Words by Beth Orchard