The Roar of the Lionesses by Carrie Dunn

Author:Carrie Dunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Jane Watkinson was thinking back over her playing career. A talented footballer, she had first kicked a ball as a small child and never looked back. She played for her school team and was snapped up by a local centre of excellence.

One day she walked off in the middle of a match and gave up football.

‘I just walked in the middle of the game,’ she said. ‘I went off the pitch and I never played until I was 21 or 22. I don’t know. I started to just not really enjoy the game – it was just pressure.’

She was sitting in a cafe in Sheffield city centre alongside Jay Baker, and talking about the events that had led them to create AFC Unity – a women’s football club founded in 2014 without ties to a men’s team. More than that, it was launched with a very distinctive ethos – a commitment to social justice and feminism, principles that have often been shied away from in sport.

Baker, a Doncaster fan, had been involved in the supporters’ trust movement, and both had worked in social enterprise for some years. He had been watching a game in which Watkinson was playing, and came up with the idea for a new style of club.

‘I said could we not run our own club? Could we not run it as a social enterprise with a particular focus on doing social good as well as playing football in – I want to say a fair way, but that sounds a bit clichéd now, “Oh, fair play and respect!”‘ He laughed, referring to the governing bodies’ initiatives to encourage good behaviour on the pitch. ‘Just in a way that’s rooted in the community just as all grassroots clubs are, but yes, that’s how it came about.’

He turned to Watkinson.

‘And your response was, first of all it was, “Have you taken leave of your senses?”‘

They both laughed again.

‘Yeah, it took a while for me to get on board!’ agreed Watkinson. ‘I mean, I loved the idea of it, it fits in with my ethos and the way I perceive football should be, and my own experiences. The key thing with this as well was I wanted it to be more fun, and not just about winning.’

With help from the FA, AFC Unity was up and running within a matter of months. Watkinson advertised in carefully-chosen local media – the idea was not necessarily to attract any player, but the right players, ones who would relish the opportunity to be part of a community project. AFC Unity is now a social enterprise in its own right, thanks to funding from a local scheme, and it has also received funding from South Yorkshire Sport to run sessions for women who are new to the sport or who simply do not want to play competitively. That operates alongside a five-a-side team in the local PowerLeague, and the 11-a-side first team, who play in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women’s County Football League.

Of course

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