HerGameToo_BCFC

This weekend sees Bristol City’s double header Her Game Too fixtures. Her Game Too is an organisation set up by female football fans in May 2021 to raise awareness to sexism within football - and increase opportunities for girls and women getting involved in the game.Two of the founders, myself and Leah, are Bristol City fans, so it’s really special to have our beloved team involved and so incredibly supportive. Her Game Too has partnered with over 70 clubs across the Premier League and EFL - as well as clubs in Scotland, Wales, France and Greece. Clubs are encouraged to showcase their partnership with Her Game Too around International Women’s Day (8th March) hence this month being a busy period for us - organising over 50 dedicated fixtures. City have been brilliant supporters since our launch in May 2021, and this season is no exception. It sees our third dedicated fixture - and we have been closely working with the club to plan activations to highlight the positive work going on. They have kindly donated 50 complimentary tickets for the Bristol City/Brighton women’s game this Sunday - which have been distributed to partner charities and grassroots clubs - seeing some women and girls attending their first ever football match. We’ve also been offered discount codes - CARDIFF15HGT 15% off - HGTBHA50 50% off - to help increase the already fanatic attendances for the women’s game - and to encourage girls and women to attend the men’s game with their families. Branding will be visible throughout the game - including warm up tees, graphics throughout the game and reporting posters. Part of the partnership agreement includes ensuring clubs have reporting systems in place, where fans can feel comfortable reporting an incident should they experience or see something. We work closely with clubs, the premier league, EFL, White ribbon, the police and other external organisations to support fans who have reported a range of unacceptable experiences - ranging from anything from targeted chanting to sexual assault. Some of the negative reports we deal with can be tricky to digest, but reinforces why we do the work we do, and motivates us to keep going to get to a point where the reporting system can be redundant. We like to focus on the positives around International Women’s Day and will continue to encourage women and girls that there is a place for everyone in the game. The theme this year is ‘inspire inclusion’ - so we intend to flood social media with positive imagery of fixtures and tournaments of women and girls enjoying football! There’s still a way to go in terms of ensuring women and girls can access the sport without feeling they have to justify it - or work that ‘extra bit harder’ just to be seen. If anyone has any direct queries and reservations about particular individuals or situations, we encourage people to speak to the team as we are very transparent about some of the (many) hurdles we have faced along the way. The support we have received so far is overwhelming - so thank you! Please feel free to share photos from the fixtures on socials and do tag us in them (@hergametoo) which in turn will help to reinforce and share our underlining message - football is for all!