Off the pitch: The push for diversity in English women’s football

Diversity in English women’s football has been brought to the forefront of conversation many times since the game has grown, especially after the Lionesses’ European Championship win at home in 2022. In this 2022 squad, Sarina Wiegman’s had just 3 players who were not white.

After the tournament, the question of what was being done to increase ethnic diversity was proposed to both Sarina Wiegman and England captain Leah Williamson.

Leah Williamson commented in 2022 that “The visibility to game, the accessibility to the game, all of those things from the bottom- grassroots, schools- need to the better, so that we don’t lose the diversity of the game. I’m sure if you took everybody who was interested, you’d see a lot more (diversity) than that what is represented in our team. We’ve pushed the higher powers to know what they are doing.”

The make-up of the England squad is easily compared to the men’s England team, which is much more diverse. However, the number of players available to the men’s team is much greater.

In England currently, there are 73 Emerging Talent Centers for young girls, which England Football claims are being used to provide greater accessibility and more inclusivity for young players in the game.

The English Football Association also has a ‘Discover My Talent’ program that they claim, ‘ensures any talented girl, from any background, can be referred onto the England radar’. In 2023, Forbes suggested that, as a result of this scheme, the number of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Girls participating at U17 level has increased from 5% to 36% in the last 5 years.

In the 2023/2024 season, Arsenal Women’s squad photo highlighted the fact that their squad only included white players

However, the effectiveness of the schemes is still questionable. At club level, questions have also been raised about the diversity in prominent squads. In the 2023/2024 season, Arsenal Women’s squad photo highlighted the fact that their squad only included white players – this picture and squad certainly does not reflect the population surrounding the ‘London’ club. This caused Eni Aluko to call out “lazy player recruitment choices that reflect a narrow view of what is best and instead adopt a wider recruitment approach” in women’s football.

It can be stated that the Arsenal Girls’ academy is more diverse, however, the Arsenal Girls’ main academy is in Hertfordshire, which is important to note as the boy’s academy is located in Hale End, East London. The diverse community of the inner city is lost in commuting to the academy for female talent, and the added disparity of financial support between the academies for travel support is notable too. This shows that the infrastructure is there but not the support of a comprehensive plan. This is an issue facing the majority of girls’ academies.

Kerry Davis, the first Black lioness, spoke to the BBC this October in an article headlined ‘Am I a pioneer?’ The Lionesses’ first black player’. Davis, now 62 years old, made her debut with England in 1982. She then made 81 appearances and scored 44 goals, making her the 3rd highest goal scorer to date.

When looking at the Lionesses’ facilities at St Georges Park, Davis told the BBC, “I thought it could happen in my lifetime, that they’d have the same facilities as the men.”

Kerry Davis, the first black Lioness was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Women’s Football Awards

Davis recalls the racism she faced growing up in Staffordshire, speaking of being in an area where there were only three or four Caribbean families. She said: “School was very painful- more so for my brother and my sister than for me – because my outlet was just go and play football.”

In March 2024, Davis was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Women’s Football Awards, finally gaining recognition under the new scale of the game.

Current England Lioness Lauren James was one of two black players in the 2023 World Cup squad.

Now in 2024, James has announced the LJ10 scholarship program. She announced the names of the five girls she plans to support on Instagram. In her post, she wrote: “I was lucky that I had the support of those around me to play… I saw girls that look like us fall away, because they didn’t have that support.”

We need to get more diversity in the women’s game

– Lauren James

She added: “We need to get more diversity in the women’s game and that starts with giving girls like you- who have the talent to succeed- every chance to do so.”

This reinforces the idea that there is a need for more girls from different backgrounds to be exposed to women’s football. The change needs to come from the bottom to ensure talent makes it all the way to the first team. James’ scholarship programme is one way to ensure that this can happen.

Having a diverse range of talent in first team squads, both domestically and internationally, is vitals as it will allow future young girls to see players who look like them at the top of the game, meaning that they will know they can achieve whatever they desire.