Ahead of England’s encounter against USA at Wembley this evening, a new report published by Bournemouth University (BU) has revealed the harmful legacies of the Football Association’s (FA) 1993 takeover of women’s football.
The FA, English football’s governing body was formed in 1863, and is responsible for overseeing all competitive football matches as well as appointing the management of the men’s, women’s and youth national football teams. Up until 1993 women’s football was governed by its own association called the Women's Football Association (WFA), which was formed in 1969 as a result of the growing popularity of women’s football.
The new report, authored by BU’s Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism Dr Rafaelle Nicholson and funded by a FIFA Research Scholarship, concludes that the FA’s decision to abolish the separate WFA in 1993 has directly contributed to the decreased voice of women in football’s governance.
Dr Rafaelle Nicholson states in the report: “Far from using its own professional clout and experience to assist the WFA in its administration efforts, the FA instead appear to have chosen to place pressure on an already overstretched team of volunteers to simply give up and accept that the WFA could not afford to continue overseeing women’s football.”
The study supports the takeover as a “disempowering process for women's football” with firsthand interviews with women involved in governance. Sue Foulkes, who was part of the Midlands WFA Committee, said that the lack of facilities made available to the WFA by those in the men’s game convinced her that a closer relationship with the FA was necessary saying:
“All the doors were slammed in our faces basically. Unless someone opened some doors and let us get into clubs and get grounds, there just wasn’t enough future to grow your clubs really. You can’t forever change in a car, or in the car park.”
June Jaycocks, the WFA’s International Officer, said: “But merger, no, we couldn’t. A merger would mean that they welcomed us with open arms, wouldn’t it? I felt that it was more like a business venture. Because we needed help, they were taking us over.”
Dr Nicholson said: “Many interviewees still feel hurt by what happened, some of them actually compared it to experiencing a death. The FA should publicly acknowledge their grief.”
The report questions whether full alignment with men’s football, the model which was adopted in 1993 is still the best way to grow the women’s game today. Dr Nicholson said:
“The research suggests that the FA are now promoting a one-size-fits-all club model in which women feel they have to join up with the men in order to gain access to resources. But joining up with a men’s club is usually a trade-off. Women get a pitch to play on but often have very little say in how the club runs. Just look at what happened at Thornaby FC recently, a club committee was able to vote to axe all its female teams overnight.”
The report concludes with eight key recommendations for the FA, including dedicated committees devoted to women’s football, a new grant scheme to help women take control of their own facilities, and an independent clubs group to encourage clubs who choose this path to support each other.
For further information about Sports Journalism courses please visit the BU website.
