Female soccer players told to “go back to the kitchen”

Young female footballers say they continue to face a barrage of sexist harassment on social media, including being told to “go back to the kitchen”.

The teenagers, who play for the Birmingham team, said they were often ridiculed and belittled.

Social media posts showing girls scoring goals or training also prompted slander from trolls, the researchers said.

England and Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Nobbs said that while women's football has made great strides, sexism still exists.

She said the issue needs to be discussed and stopped at the source.

Bernville player Lara, 17, said she had received a range of comments online, including “Go back to the kitchen” and “women's football is too painful to watch”.

A TikTok post in which her teammate scored a goal and she asked people who they would pick as a striker drew responses that they were no good and “Are there any boys on your team? If not, then they're not.”

She said: “[Boys my age look at women’s football] Like a joke, just being mocked…it's just not the same.

“When I posted on social media, I got comments like, 'No women, they should be in the kitchen,'” she said.

She added: “I feel like there's no point because I'll never be looked at the same way I was before and it's never going to be the same as it was before.”

“If I tell boys I play football, they quiz me,” said another 16-year-old.

“They'll ask, 'What's the offside rule?', 'Who's England's top scorer?'

“They will challenge you to fight one-on-one… If you accept, they will be very harsh on you, trying to embarrass you.”

A survey of 371 people by non-profit organisation Her Game Too found that 91.9% said they had seen sexist abuse aimed at women in football online, and around 60% said they had experienced it at a football ground or in a pub.

Villa midfielder Nobbs said she faced sexism while growing up.

She said: “I was on a girls' team in a boys' league. It wasn't the norm at the time. People were saying you're not good enough, it's a boys' sport.”

She added: “[Sexism) has definitely got better. I definitely hear less about it now but we don’t want to take away that it’s still out there and we need to be stopping it at source.”

Emily Drakeley, co-founder and director of campaign and community interest company Her Game Too, said it had a reporting line on its website.

She added: “We pass everything on to the football policing unit and relevant clubs to deal with, either as a police matter or… within the club.

“They can be anonymous or [people can] Please share the details. We need these reports to prove that more and more such incidents are happening and there is a lack of reporting.”

Drakeley said the situation doesn't seem as bad as it used to be, but because of a lack of reporting before, “it does seem to be increasing.”

Education is the next major plan for the organization, which was founded in 2021 and also has a presence in France and the United States.

“We believe this starts at a young age. It's a learned behavior. Adults have a responsibility to understand that football is a game for everyone.”