Football clubs in ‘dark ages’ over gender equality – report

Gender equality in English football is “in the dark ages” and is contributing to the sport’s failing finances, according to a new report.

A study called ‘The Gender Divide That Fails Football’s Bottom Line: The Commercial Case for Gender Equality’ found two-thirds of England and Wales’ leading clubs have all-male boards.

The report, published on International Women’s Day by the Fair Game group which is made up from 34 clubs across the pyramid, found clubs to be “hugely naive” when it comes to catering for and marketing to female fans, and that they are missing out on vital revenue as a result.

The report found just 11.1 per cent of board members at Premier League clubs were women, dropping to just 4.2 per cent in the Championship. This compares to 39.1 per cent on the boards of FTSE 100 companies.

In November, the Football Association reported that clubs and governing bodies signed up to the Football Leadership Diversity Code (FLDC) had collectively failed to hit any of the recruitment targets set related to women in the scheme’s first 10 months.

FLDC targets related to recruiting females in senior leadership, team operations and women’s club coaching roles were all missed.

The Code was launched in October 2020, with its stated aim being to ensure the diversity of the elite game better reflects the diversity of the country as awhole.

At the time the first year’s report was published the Code had more than 50 signatories across the elite English game, but collectively they fell short of the target to make 30 per cent of new hires in senior leadership positions female – overall the figure up to the end of August 2021 was 20.8 per cent and just 19.8 per cent among clubs.

Other studies cited in the Fair Game report have