The sports broadcaster Jacqui Oatley has said it will take “a couple of generations” before women working in football as reporters, commentators and presenters is seen as normal.
“When I was growing up I didn’t think it was an option to work in football,” said Oatley, who went on to become the first female commentator on Match of the Day.
“Females did reporting on matches, but didn’t commentate or go any further, but I’m a big believer of just because things have always been done a certain way doesn’t mean they have to be done that way in the future. I looked different, I sounded different, but I didn’t think that should be a barrier.”
According to research by the Black Collective of Media in Sports, of 338 roles – excluding behind-the-camera and newsroom roles – across six major tournaments in 2018 including the World Cup and Wimbledon, only 29% were filled by women and 3.25% by BAME women. In addition, only three female writers attended the World Cup.
It is improving, slowly, but Oatley believes that more needs to be done to make 50% of the population feel more welcome in football. She was speaking in one of a series of short videos launched by Twitter on Thursday as part of its support for Women in Football’s #WhatIf campaign.
THREAD 👇
— Twitter UK (@TwitterUK) December 13, 2018
Earlier this year Twitter & @WomenInFootball launched the world’s first female football emoji.
Now it’s time to share these films - four inspiring #WomenInFootball stories.
“I think we have a responsibility to encourage other women,” Oatley said. “I think it’s really important we support each other. It’s been a case of making football more of an equal environment, because there are so many talented women out there.
“There is still a way to go, because we can’t change people’s perception overnight, but hopefully the number of viewers and listeners who feel it is completely normal for a female to report, commentate, present, is there … It is going to take a couple of generations to change but it is changing already.”
In another of the four videos, the twins Rosie and Mollie Kmita, who play for West Ham and Gillingham respectively, discuss being “the only girls who would go out and play football” where they grew up and how, for them, “it was about breaking the mould”.
Having played together for 10 years at Tottenham, Rosie signed her first professional contract with West Ham in the summer, with the professionalism of the top tier offering her an opportunity that did not exist before.
The other videos follow Roya Arabshahi, a performance analyst at Manchester City women, and Charlie Dobres, a board member of Lewes FC, the first club to fund their men’s and women’s teams equally.
Launched in May, #WhatIf challenged organisations and individuals to pledge ways in which they could support women in football or improve the environment for women in football.
Pledges to the campaign have ranged from the individual, with Judy Murray delivering a coaching masterclass to Scottish female football coaches, to companies such as Uefa’s announcement that it would increase spending on women’s football by 50% or Sky Sports committing to including female talent as studio pundits on Soccer Special.
