A New Formation by Calum Jacobs

Author:Calum Jacobs [Jacobs, Calum]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781529119121
Publisher: Random House

In the early nineties, moments like this were pivotal. It wasn’t often you’d hear that a West African household had thrown support behind their children when it came to sport –especially girls, for whom pathways to professionalism seemed so scarce. But Anita’s parents bucked the trend. It helped that her father, Kwame, was a massive Arsenal fan. ‘He would’ve dropped everything, done anything, to get me there,’ she said.

The closeness of Anita’s relationship with her parents allowed her to flourish and have confidence in her ability. This meant she was able to go into that first trial free of undue pressure and just play. She wanted to show the coaches what she was about. Anita continued to impress, and was offered a place at the club’s centre of excellence in 1999.

The history of women’s football in England is ugly, a truth from which many in the upper echelons of the FA shy away. The complexity of the game and its relationship with women in England is heavy to say the least. Anita’s entry point into football came just twenty-five years after the FA’s ban on women’s football was lifted. The brutal decision, made on 5 December 1921, was born of bigotry and fear. Dick, Kerr Ladiesfn1 were at the height of their fame and drawing crowds of 53,000 to Goodison Park, which led those in charge to fear the usurpation of the men’s game.

Such a devastating power-play would change the course and culture of women’s football, setting it back decades. When it eventually returned, women were not playing for the dizzying heights of fame or financial reward found in the men’s game, and even now the imbalance persists. Underfunded teams, poor or non-existent facilities, the inevitability of online abuse and a lack of proper medical care mean that women footballers must possess innate drive and determination to make it as a professional player and withstand the difficulties such a career entails.

Anita has all the necessary characteristics but her journey to the top was not always intentional, her path not deliberately carved out. ‘Not until I was in a structured set-up at Arsenal, did I learn more about the game,’ she said. ‘I was thinking, “When I am done with school, I am going to be a psychologist.”’ It took a lot of exposure and convincing for her to realise that professional football was something that she could make a career of.

Asante stands on the shoulders of giants: Mary Phillip, Arsenal teammate, England women’s first senior Black captain and now manager of non-league Peckham Town FC; Hope Powell, a pioneer on the pitch who would later manage Anita in two World Cups and the 2012 Olympics. Then there was Rachel Yankey, the dazzling forward who could light up the left wing but took on many roles. ‘From that early moment of connecting with Rachel’, Anita recalled, ‘I just wanted to know more, I wanted to know how far I could get in the game. She was super-friendly, open, chatty, supportive. She made me feel as if she was always putting a big arm around me.

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