- I can't hide the fact that that really upset me.
- He purposely like knocked me.
- Someone was like, "I'm going to find where you live
and I know where you go to Uni."
(suspenseful music)
- Hi, my name's Briana and I support Arsenal.
- My name is Lia and I support Ajax.
- Hi, I'm Mariah.
I support Arsenal FC and the England national team.
- My name's Naomi and I support
the Champions of Europe, Chelsea.
- So most memorable for me was 2014,
Robin van Persie, flying Dutchman goal
in the World Cup against Spain.
The goal was incredible.
I remember absolutely losing it
and just shouting "That's how football is done!"
- Probably in person I'd say
going to my first North London Derby.
That was amazing.
Like just feeling the atmosphere.
- Think it was 2015 with Aston Villa
and I remember going to the parade when we won.
It was a great day, it was really summery out as well
and I was just like, "Peak Arsenal."
- I'm sure you can guess it's probably
the 29th of May 21 where I got to see Chelsea
lift the Champions League trophy in Porto.
It's an experience that no one
could ever take away from me
or I could even describe how I felt that night.
(upbeat music)
- There was a survey done by women in football
that concluded that two thirds of women
who work in football experience sexism.
I thought that was very disheartening to read
and just indicates that a lot of work
still needs to be done.
- I feel like there's a lot of men
that don't seem to understand that it's actually okay
for us to know what we're talking about with football,
and to actually enjoy football to watch it
and I think it's a stigma
that really needs to be addressed.
- And I also think that one of the issues
with the women's players is that people
highlight their mistakes a lot more on social media
and we see sort of players in the Premier League
do the exact same things.
There's definitely a double standard.
(upbeat music)
- I was out in Prague a couple of years ago
for an away match in the Europa League.
I was standing in my seat
and a boy turned around to me and said,
"Oh is your boyfriend taking you on a weekend away?"
And I can't hide the fact that that really upset me
and I just thought, who are you?
I didn't see you when I was in Belarus watching Chelsea.
I didn't see you in Kiev.
Who are you to say to me
that I can't go and watch my team play and support them?
- People think that I don't understand it
just because I'm a woman.
I'm watching it because I fancy someone
or I'm watching it because my boyfriend's a football fan.
- I think I had an opinion
about a certain football player, I don't remember
and someone was like,
"I'm going to find where you live
and I know where you go to Uni,"
And I just thought it was really
like scary at the time.
I know that it happens to a lot of other women in the game
which does bother me quite a lot.
(upbeat music)
- And I think there's certain nerves
for oh, what's going to happen if we win?
And that certain nerves of,
oh, what's going to happen if we lose, you know?
I think there's always the kind of nerves
that you have of is this going to be
a safe environment and again,
when I was reading about the report
that was done by women in football,
it said that only 12% of cases
were actually reported.
I guess that comes back to a lot of it being,
this is just banter.
It's fine!
You know?
- If you go into the pub on your own
and you're a female, men can get leery.
So I'm always like worried about like,
what if they're physical towards me?
I could be hurt, a friend could be hurt,
but then also being black,
I'm always worried about the slight racism type thing,
like being black and female,
like I've got two things against me really.
(upbeat music)
Male fans just need to stick up for female fans.
It doesn't take much to go,
"Calm down mate, like there's no need for that."
That's so simple and so effective.
You know when people go like,
that could be a sister, that could be your mom,
think of that person as someone that you know,
you wouldn't let that slide.
- Just lay off like the comments
that they wouldn't give to their peers
or give to men in general about football.
You can respectfully disagree
without making it about the fact that I'm a woman.
- I think for male fans,
listen to women's experiences.
Especially if they are different to yours
and, and take that on board
and then talk and discuss it,
and talk to your male friends as well
and if you do see any kind of
behavior that's unacceptable,
I think male allies will be incredibly important in this.
- I just think if you've not got anything nice to say,
just don't say it.
You don't have to make someone
feel like they don't belong somewhere
because at the end of day
everyone's there for one thing,
to watch football.
(upbeat music)
- I'd say hire more women in prominent positions
or for coaching and mentoring.
- Maybe the promotion of women's teams a lot more.
Like better funding for women's football teams.
Like in America, women's football is followed
a lot more over there,
and it'll be great to see that here.
(upbeat rock music)
Nobody can ever stop you from enjoying football.
Nobody can ever take that away from you.
I would say especially during the Euros,
we saw like a lot more women get interested in the sport
and I'd say, stay.
Don't just sort of go away
because the tournament's over.
Definitely stay for the Premier League season
and get involved.
- For female football fans, the game belongs to you
as much as it does to anyone else.
- Keep being a fan.
Keep supporting.
You belong in that space and don't forget it!
Don't let anybody else take you out of that space
because football's for the fans.
(soaring upbeat outro)