Fleetwood Town Football Club showed their support to ‘Her Game Too’ on Saturday afternoon during the Sky Bet League One match against Charlton Athletic.
In attendance at Highbury Stadium was Fleetwood Town Wrens Ladies, and the Wildcats – a programme in which young girls aged 5 to 11 take part in football sessions, creating a dynamic and enjoyable environment for them to develop essential skills and a lifelong love for the game.
Before kick-off, the two representatives of the ‘Her Game Too’ campaign walked around Highbury Stadium, raising awareness amongst the fans inside the ground about sexism in the sport, and to talk about their individual journeys to where they are now.
Charlie Adam’s side also wore dedicated ‘Her Game Too’ t-shirts during the warm-ups on Saturday, raising more awareness to the supporters inside the ground.
The Young Wildcats were the flag bearers and Team of the Day on Saturday, and as part of their day, they welcomed both the Cod Army and the Addicks onto the pitch before the league clash.
Joanne Barker, Town’s Her Game Too representative, said on this year’s campaign: “Our mission is to create positive change in sport by promoting inclusivity and diversity, championing participation and challenging sexism and misogyny.
“We want to support female fans who receive sexist abuse and ensure that football is a safe space for all, but we also want to encourage women and girls to get involved in football whether that be playing, coaching, refereeing, journalism, and simply spectatorship for personal enjoyment.
“Unfortunately, sexism in football is an ongoing issue and at Her Game Too we still receive weekly reports. The stats speak for themselves. A survey highlighted that 92.3% of female supporters had seen sexist abuse online towards women in football, 62.8% had experienced such abuse themselves online and 58% had experienced it in a pub or in a football ground.
“Having worked closely with the Directors, I am informed that the Her Game Too Campaign is grateful for the support and efforts of Fleetwood Town Football Club in promoting inclusivity for all and in ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all women and girls who share the love of the beautiful game.”
Sophie Richmond, the Vice Chairwomen at Fleetwood Town’s Wrens Ladies added: “It was good day for myself and the other members of the Wrens Ladies to take part in.
“It’s always great to see the men support the ‘Her Game Too’ initiative, and it was great to see the Team of the Day [The Wildcats] as young aspiring female footballers – and it made our day to see them look up to us and ask lots of questions about how we got into football as young females.
“We can’t wait to keep working closely with the trust, ‘Her Game Too’, and the Club to ensure each event and dedicated fixture gets bigger and bigger!”
If you would like to learn about the good Her Game Too campaign and what it does for our sport, you can check out their causes HERE online!
