Written evidence submitted by
Dr. Beth Clarkson, University of Portsmouth

 

DCMS Women’s Sport Review – February 2023

 

 

Dr. Beth Clarkson is an award-winning, globally recognised researcher in leadership and governance of women’s football, and equality, diversity and inclusion in football coaching and management. Dr. Clarkson has a parallel working history within the football industry, she has coached and worked in multiple countries that spans a decade. She is a regular contributor and writer of media articles and has published in multiple disciplinary academic journals on a wide scope of topics related to gender and football. Dr. Clarkson consults within the expertise areas of leadership and strategy in football for football governing bodies and their clubs.

 

The evidence and recommendations presented below reflect a dedicated multi-disciplinary research agenda and body of work led by Dr. Clarkson to further knowledge and policy concerning women’s football. Dr. Clarkson is available to provide oral evidence or expand on any of the points made through correspondence if it would be beneficial to the Committee’s inquiry. The views expressed below are research-informed and are that of the author.

 

Please note that recommendations 2,3, and 4 were detailed in written evidence submitted to the FA Women’s Football Review in November 2022.

 

 

HOW CAN THE GROWTH IN DOMESTIC WOMEN’S FOOTBALL BE ACCELERATED?

 

Recommendation 1: Maintain long-term sporting integrity of domestic women’s football leagues by introducing stricter financial regulatory frameworks.

 

  1. Our research shows that there is a trend of increasing debt, rising costs, and increasing losses in the Women’s Super League (WSL). This is reflective of the historical situation in men’s football, men’s rugby league and men’s cricket. Women’s football is at a tipping point where it can choose to follow the men’s professional football model or decide to learn lessons and forge its own path.

 

  1. Promotion and relegation between leagues increases the entertainment value of the women’s game, however emphasis on short-term playing performance must be balanced with the need for financial sustainability.

 

  1. The pressure on open leagues to spend money on playing talent (and wages) to sustain on-pitch performance is on a sharp upward trend. The world and domestic transfer fee records have been broken in the last 12 months (Keira Walsh, £400,000; Beth England £250,000 respectively).

 

  1. Our research demonstrates there is an emerging elite set of more established clubs with greater operational resources and commercial appeal. This represents an issue for the WSL as a financial and sporting gap is developing between them and the rest of the league. This is a problem for competitive balance and will disrupt the joint production and appeal of the league.

 

Recommendation 2: Spread broadcasting revenue throughout clubs within the pyramid to develop high-quality, homegrown players and increase interest in lower domestic leagues.

 

  1. Our research recommendation is for more equal financial distribution of future broadcasting deals, spread throughout the pyramid (to include the third tier National League) and serve to (a) reduce the gap between more dominant and less established clubs within the WSL, and (b) support the player pipeline through investment lower down the pyramid.

 

  1. While we wish to limit comparisons with men’s football, there are financial lessons to be learnt from there; the current parachute payment system in men’s football means a club relegated from the Premier League gets £55m, more than all the men’s clubs in the five divisions lower and the WSL and Women’s Championship, or one club receiving more than 144.

 

Recommendation 3: Introduce financial sustainability as a licensing criterion for WSL clubs to ensure that fast growth is carefully managed.

 

  1. Our analysis showed club debt to have significantly increased over the analysed nine years yet there is currently no sanction for women’s football clubs to curb excessive spending in the same way that Financial Fair Play regulates the bottom-line profit/(loss) of the men’s clubs.

 

  1. Ultimately the level of debt carried by men’s clubs is unsustainable and there are multiple examples of clubs going into administration (e.g., Derby County FC, 2021) or being expelled from league competitions (e.g., Bury FC, 2019). The levels of debt that women’s football clubs carry is comparatively much smaller, yet the same pattern is still evident and unsustainable.

 

Recommendation 4: Reward financially sustainable clubs and promote cost control to ensure that fast growth is carefully managed.

 

  1. Such criteria could look to go further too by implementing a form of sustainability index that rewards positive financial behaviour and financially sustainable clubs as opposed to a regulatory system that is currently only designed to punish infringements. This would need to work hand in hand with a strong licensing system and other cost control measures to ensure it had the desired effect.

 

 

 

 

WHAT ACTION IS NEEDED TO TACKLE SEXISM AND MISOGYNY IN SPORT?

 

Recommendation 5: Recognise intersectionality changes the invisible power relations in football and misogyny plays out in different ways for different women. 

 

  1. Governing bodies, policy makers and academics alike have historically centred gender as an exclusive ‘burden’ in sport, separate to other protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation.

 

  1. We tackle sexism in sport by first considering women as multiple groups. Our recently published research uncovers previously overlooked intricate, overlapping, and multiple socially constructed identities that combine to explain the lived experience of different women in sport.

 

  1. We interviewed Black women football coaches to understand their lived experience in the confined social structures of football. The findings showed how Black women display everyday individual acts of resistance and by doing so, are subtly transforming the White and male-dominated football coaching landscape.

 

  1. Coaches (1) challenged institutional practices, (2) created safe spaces and afforded opportunities to other women and girls, (3) engaged with advocacy groups and media, (4) resisted gender and racial microaggressions, (5) downplayed their ethnic identity. These acts were motivated by a need for safety, to promote women’s and ethnic minorities’ interests, to challenge white privilege, and to (re)educate. These acts led to increased or diminished empowerment depending on their reception. Coaches reported positive organisational changes but also relationship conflict (e.g., were perceived as difficult).

 

Recommendation 6: Financially support bottom-up, women-led community initiatives that provide safe spaces that are created for women by women.

 

  1. Action is needed to ensure sport, and more specifically football, is more equitable and inclusive for all. Our study revealed the effortful nature of Black women participating in football coaching. Challenging both sexism and racism required a great deal of internal fortitude and added a double “burden”. Sport governing bodies should financially support women to create safe spaces through bursaries that empower women and help their career progression. This bottom-up approach to initiatives is likely to be more effective than directive initiatives.

 

  1. Coaches in our research continually felt forced to regulate their behaviours and expression lest they seem difficult or conforming to stereotypical views of women. Clearly education and understanding are required, however formal, more traditionally delivered diversity and inclusion workshops are not changing the landscape fast enough. This requires careful thought and diverse stakeholder opinions sought to ensure that the delivery mechanism is best suitable for the objectives.

 

 

References

 

Clarkson, B. G., Cox, E., & Thelwell, R. C. (2019). Negotiating gender in the English football workplace: Composite vignettes of women head coaches’ experiences. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 27(2), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2018-0052

 

Clarkson, B. G., Parry, K. D., Culvin, A., & Pope, S. (2022). An institutional analysis of gender (in) equalities, COVID-19 and governance of elite women's football in Australia, England and the USA. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 12(4), 459-478. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-01-2021-0004

 

Clarkson, B. G., & Philippou, C. (2022). Gender diversity and financial sustainability in professional football: a competitive strategy and proposed interdisciplinary research agenda. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2022.2089204

 

Clarkson, B. G., Parry, K. D., Sawiuk, R., Grubb, L., & Kavanagh, E. (2022). Transforming the English coaching landscape: Black women football coaches’ acts of resistance against racism and sexism. Managing Sport & Leisure. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2022.2148720

 

Clarkson, B. G., Plumley, D., Philippou, C., Wilson, R., & Webb, T. (in review). Money troubles and problems ahead? The financial health of professional women’s football clubs in England. Working Paper.

 

Parry, K. D., Clarkson, B. G., Kavanagh, E., Sawiuk, R., & Grubb, L. (2022). Ticking the right boxes: A critical examination of the perceptions and attitudes towards the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) acronym in the UK. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902221132802

 

Philippou, C., Clarkson, B.G., Pope, S., Jain, S., Parry, K. D., Huang, X., ... & Cox, A. (2022). The Gender Divide That Fails Football’s Bottom Line: The Commercial Case for Gender Equality. Fair Game Report. https://www.fairgameuk.org/s/The-Gender-Divide-That-Fails-Footballs-Bottom-Line-Fair-Game-Report-March-2022.pdf