DFC Women’s Feature Focus: What Next for the Women’s Game?

DFC’s Lizzie Adams – who also works for the Premier League – discusses the rise of women’s football…. and the challenges it still faces

With two cup wins and a second-place league finish, 2023-24 was a season to remember for Dartford Women.

Their success has led to a move to the main pitch at the Bericote Powerhouse stadium for 24/25, alongside extra training sessions, a higher profile of summer recruits and a steady influx of supporters, as the word continues to spread.

While their rapid rise and winning mentality has increased interest around the team, for one player this comes as no surprise.

Lizzie Adams may be the team’s midfield dynamo on a weekend, but during the week she works for the Premier League, supporting local communities and women and girls’ football.

And she is in as good a position as any to witness first-hand the growth in women’s football that has propelled it to new heights.

She said: “Women and girls’ football has grown massively in recent years. Several of us in the team were often the only girl on a boys’ team, or playing football at lunchtimes at school and now numbers are growing massively which is amazing to see. 

“Coverage on TV and in the mainstream media has increased a lot, which helps with the visibility and profile of women’s football, too.”

Lizzie began her football journey at the age of four playing with her brother in the garden. While she played in boys’ teams, like many girls starting out in previous years, her pathway was blocked as she got older.

She said: “I started playing football with my brother and have always loved it! I played whenever I could with friends at school and outside of school and then for a boys’ team until I was told I wasn’t allowed to play for that team anymore at 11 years old. 

“After that I lost a bit of love for football and it’s only been in more recent years as the game has grown and I’ve had access to different opportunities with it that I’ve found a love for it again.”

Lizzie points to the banning of women from the professional game almost a century ago as one of the reasons women’s football fell so behind the men’s.

During World War One, many women took traditionally male jobs, often in factories. Sporting activity outside of these dark and dirty buildings was encouraged to benefit health and wellbeing, as well as to help aid morale and productivity.

Football became a popular outlet and by 1921 there were around 150 women’s football clubs, with some matches drawing up to 45,000 fans. 

However, post war, many factories closed and women were expected to go back to domestic life or retrained. At the same time, some people questioned whether football was damaging women’s health. 

In 1921, The FA announced a ban on women’s football from being played at the professional grounds and pitches of clubs affiliated to The FA, stating “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” 

The ban meant women’s football was side-lined to public parks for nearly 50 years. 

Fast-forward to today and the game has evolved beyond recognition.

She continued: “Key progress has definitely been made around the professionalism and increased investment, in certain parts of women and girls’ football. 

“This has led to better access to facilities, leagues, equipment and better standards of coaching to drive the quality of the football further. I think women’s football has also challenged many societal issues too, often being a safe space for people who identify as LGBTQ+. It’s also given profile to women competing at the highest levels in sport that has inspired and resonated for so many girls and young women navigating growing up in a world that can often place a lot of negativity – whether overtly or subconsciously – on women’s position in society.

“Trailblazers such as Rachel Yankey, Hope Powell and many others, both men and women, often behind the scenes, who have committed tirelessly to the sport despite facing multiple barriers, have set the foundations for these changes. 

“Key moments such as the GB team at the Olympics in 2012 and the Lionesses winning the Euros in 2022, also gave a platform and spotlight that captivated so many across the country and sparked a passion for women’s football that is just the beginning of a growing movement, hopefully.”

After some time out of the sport during her teens, Lizzie spent two years at an Oxfordshire Centre of Excellence, then stopped again, before playing for Exeter University’s first team for four years. She then moved to France, playing for R.C. Flacé, before settling in London and joining London Girls FC, which became Dartford Women.

From a career perspective, Lizzie worked with some smaller, local charities and was Chair of Trustees for a small charity supporting young refugees. This in turn led to her role of Community Football Relationship Manager at the Premier League.

“I never expected or ever dreamed that I would work in football,” she admitted. “It just wasn’t a career that I knew existed. To now be spending every day talking about and working around women and girls’ football is an absolute dream. It is a huge privilege to be part of conversations that hopefully will help develop, build and champion women’s football.

“An average day varies a lot but it will either be office-based in London, pinching myself as I walk past the Premier League trophy, or out visiting lots of football clubs right across the country and across the football pyramid who deliver community and school programmes funded by the Premier League.

“From my role I can see that as well as the magical moments I mentioned earlier, that long-term and sustainable change comes from the hard work and everyday commitment from those working to develop women’s football behind the scenes. This could be at clubs, leagues, governing bodies, schools or local community organisations. Sometimes these may have been lone voices pushing for change having seen the potential of something but needing to get support and backing to develop it further. These everyday actions and long-term commitments create real change.” 

Despite the progress, it’s clear that women’s football still faces challenges.

Lizzie said: “The three key ones I would highlight are: workforce; access and inclusion; and decision-making. 

“The growth of women’s football has been amazing to see but to sustain it there needs to be a workforce to match this growth. That includes coaches, referees, club staff and many off-pitch roles in media, analysis, comms, marketing and management positions. 

“There are brilliant initiatives already happening to support this but it must remain a focus. And in particular this workforce needs to be representative of the people involved in the sport. This connects to the need for a focus on access and inclusion in women’s football. The demographics of those participating in women’s football are still not fully known but anecdotally there are more barriers for those from underrepresented groups to access football. This is true in both the workforce and players in women’s football. 

“This affects football environments and has an impact on participation and people’s experience of a club. The diversity of thought and experience that a representative playing population and workforce will bring will only strengthen women’s football further. 

“This is also required from those making decisions around women’s football at clubs, leagues and other key bodies involved in shaping the future of women’s football. Working in partnership with many organisations and people across football to tackle these issues together is a key part of my job at the Premier League.”

Dartford, like many clubs, are making changes to support growth, interest and attendance.

She said: “Having the club’s commitment that all of our home games will be played in the stadium this year is hugely significant. We were unbeaten at home last season and it’s a huge priority for us to grow the profile of the women’s team and match day support. 

“Having the games in the stadium will help us do this and we’d love to see more fans there. We’re also so pleased games will be in the stadium for our supporters too who have been with us over many years who will now get even more of a match day experience.”

And for Lizzie and the women’s team, while huge leaps and progress have been made, the real journey is only just beginning.

She added: “I think everyone has a responsibility to inspire the next generation of footballers and sports people. In particular, we all can support and empower girls to get into and access football in everything we do. This starts with really simple things like just making sure that when we talk about a footballer, we give examples of both men’s and women’s footballers. It also starts with not associating certain sports or activities with a specific gender. 

“For me growing up, I was nearly always the only girl playing football and it was very much seen as a boys’ sport. This is something that society had created and constructed, there was literally no reason why I shouldn’t also be playing other than society’s expectations of how I should behave or what activities I should be taking part in at the time. 

“I was fortunate that I had a fair amount of confidence and didn’t face other barriers to play. Other girls who face perhaps socio-economic barriers to playing football can’t just be inspired to play as often it won’t be physically possible so that’s where more significant changes are needed to ensure all girls can access football if they would like to at the right time and place and in an environment where they feel they belong.”

By Gareth Morgan

Find out more about the work Lizzie does here: https://www.premierleague.com/morethanagame

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