In recent months hate comments and online harassment of women’s footballers have come to light in an alarming and increasingly regular fashion.
In April Visa conducted research into the rise of hate in women’s football, finding that the number of posts related to players had tripled since the last two international tournaments.
The study found that 9% of them were negative in sentiment which was equal to over 38,000 posts in just the UK, France and Spain.
The WSL and homophobia
Homophobia has predominately been associated with the men’s game, with the House of Commons reporting that in 2017, “despite the significant change in society’s attitudes to homosexuality in the last 30 years, there is little reflection of this progress being seen in football.”
While there is not a single openly gay player in the Premier League, in the women’s game players such as Katie McCabe, Sam Kerr and Beth Mead have all shared their sexuality with fans online.
In an interview with Gay Community News, McCabe shared her coming out story, while Sam Kerr took to Instagram to share her engagement to West Ham’s Kristie Mewis.
The couple received over half a million likes and swathes of comments congratulating them.
Beth Mead’s autobiography Lioness also touched on the subject, speaking out not only about her current relationship with Manchester City’s Vivianne Miedema, but also coming to terms with her sexuality.
She said: “Ultimately you can’t help who you fall in love with. I want to spend the rest of my life with someone I love. We all do.
“Love is about being happy with the person you’re with. That’s all that matters. Gender and sexuality certainly don’t.”
With all of these influential role models in the women’s game, it has been widely regarded as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, however recent developments suggest otherwise.
Manchester United forward, Geyse shared a picture with her partner on Instagram and the tidal wave of homophobic comments prompted her to speak out on X the following day.
She said: “I reiterate that I will not remain silent in the face of prejudice. I will continue to live and share my life with authenticity and courage, in the hope that one day everyone will be free to love whoever they want, without fear of judgement or reprisal.
View this post on Instagram
Comments were left invalidating her sexuality, questioning it’s legitimacy and calling for her to be with a man.
Gareth Hope, a spokesperson for Manchester United LGBTQ+ Supporters Club, ‘the Rainbow Devils’, spoke to The Guardian about homophobia as a wider issue: “Football doesn’t exist in a bubble.
“Hate crimes have been rising year on year in the UK, and some social media platforms actively court bigotry and reward controversy.
“Football exists in that world, and while it can’t resolve all of society’s ills alone, it has a great power to influence what is acceptable in society, and it must use that power to effect positive change.”
Racism in the women’s game
Last season Chelsea condemned the racial abuse of Lauren James following an incident in their match against Arsenal.
Chelsea released a statement: “Discrimination has no place at Chelsea Football Club or in any of our communities. We will take action against any individual that we can identify. We stand with you, Lauren.”
This was prompted from allegations fans had made that James had purposefully stepped on Lia Wälti in Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over the Blues.
A storm of racist comments and hate ensued despite Wälti coming out in defence of James.
I initially didn’t want to say anything, but I can’t look away. I absolutely can’t stand any sort of abuse – online abuse and any other sort of discrimination is discusting. No one gets better by putting others down!!! https://t.co/f9Vyk9TNVw
— Lia Wälti (@liawaelti) December 13, 2023
Anita Asante told the BBC: “With social media there’s this constant, instant interaction where people can continue to direct their abuse and their hate.”
“I’ve had things dropped into my inbox like on Instagram, like one time dropping the ‘n bomb’ and on Twitter, someone referred to me as an animal.”
In the second half of the 2020-21 season unmoderated racist online abuse increased by 48% in line with the increased exposure of the women’s game.
In the 2022-23 season, Kick It Out, an anti-discrimination charity, reported a 65% increase in incidents of discriminatory behaviour, with racism accounting for nearly half of all reports.
Championship teams and local rivalries
Even in the lower leagues, female footballers are being put through the online wringer, subjected to immense scrutiny and speculation about their careers and club loyalty.
Following her controversial move from Sunderland to Newcastle, 25-year-old goalkeeper, Claudia Moan faced intense backlash from Sunderland men’s fans.
Moan said: “The first week wasn’t the best. It was one of those things where you’re aware you’re always going to get a bit of grief.”
“I’ve been trying to keep off my phone, it’s ridiculous to see how something so small in my eyes could be broadcasted to be so ludicrous.”
“It’s just trying to block out the people who don’t see it for what it is, the people who say I’m a traitor but what they don’t know is that I’ve been to Newcastle two times before this. But that’s not picked up on because I was playing for the development.”
Before the recent growth of women’s football in the public eye, in 2018 Ella Toone moved from WSL team Manchester City to Manchester United, a championship club at the time.
Despite the rivalry between the two clubs, she faced minimal backlash from fans, and received no noticeable reaction from men’s fans at all.
Moan’s struggles suggest a rise in online hate will occur as the profile of women’s football grows alongside the men’s.
She said: “This big moment for me has really brought to the front of my mind how big women’s football is getting and the exposure of it.”
Featured image courtesy of Ronnie Macdonald via Wikimedia Commons. No changes were made to this image. License details found here.
