Women’s football has benefited from tremendous growth in recent years. Countless stadium attendance records have been broken, broadcasting has increased, and the general interest in the sport has surged. In June 2024, Denmark men’s national team captured headlines and gained admiration from the women’s football community when reports surfaced of their refusal to demand a pay increase, ensuring that their female counterparts received equal basic pay for representing their country. This move goes beyond token gestures, it is an act that changed the game.
While their actions are commendable, there are deeper lessons to learn from their example. This action is not about the men’s team being saviours of the women’s team, but rather the men’s team being genuine allies and setting an example for how men in football can bring about change and move beyond token gestures.
On June 14, 2024, FIFPRO announced that the Danish player union, Spillerforeningen, had reached a new agreement with the Danish Football Association (DBU) for the men’s national team. This four-year agreement, which will take effect following the Men’s EURO 2024, includes several conditions aimed at achieving greater equity for the women’s national team.
“The men’s team chose not to demand any changes in the conditions in their new agreement.” – Spillerforeningen Director Michael Sahl Hansen.
“It’s an extraordinary step to help improve the conditions of the women’s national teams. So, instead of looking for better conditions for themselves, the players thought about supporting the women’s team.”
Several prominent players, such as Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, and Kasper Schmeichel. While it sets a remarkable precedent, it does not necessitate all male players to take a pay cut to prove their support for their female counterparts. The important factor is that these male players used their collective voice and, where necessary, agreed to sacrifices to ensure that their female counterparts’ concerns are voiced and addressed.
These players must be aware of their bargaining power and use it to benefit all players of the national teams. The Danish men’s team’s actions not only benefit the women’s team but also, in some aspects, the youth teams. Their example demonstrates that meaningful support for women’s football involves using influence and resources to create lasting, systemic change.
This move demonstrates a profound commitment to equality, ensuring that women’s teams receive the same level of respect and resources that men’s teams have enjoyed for generations. The Danish example highlights the importance of taking substantial actions rather than resorting to symbolic gestures.
Too often, male footballers show interest or support for women’s football in superficial ways, such as posting pictures of themselves in women’s team jerseys or posing with female footballers. While these gestures may be well-intentioned, they lack the impact of concrete action. Genuine support requires more than just symbolic gestures; it demands substantial commitments that drive real change and promote equality. The actions of the Danish men’s team provide a powerful example of how meaningful support can be achieved.
The commendable actions of the Danish national team were quickly overshadowed by some disappointing decisions from the Manchester United Board. Recently, they decided to relocate their women’s team to portable accommodation so that the men’s team could use their facilities while the men’s facilities are renovated.
This move underscores the disregard often shown to women’s teams, relegating them to subpar conditions to facilitate a £50 million investment in renovating the men’s first-team building at Carrington. This investment sharply contrasts the £10 million facility built to house the women’s and academy teams.
Manchester United continue to push their women’s team to the sidelines. At the end of the 2023/24 season, the MU Women’s team’s historic FA Cup victory was overshadowed by the men’s team’s underperformance, leading to the cancellation of the annual awards ceremony to avoid distracting the male players.
If the male players at Manchester United want to be true advocates for equality and support their female counterparts, this is the perfect opportunity to collectively voice their concerns about the proposed actions and the broader implications. Even if they do not achieve immediate change, they will at least have advocated for and voiced their concerns to management, which is far better than remaining silent.
The decision to uproot the Manchester United Women’s team to provide the next best alternative to the Men’s first team is a reflection of broader issues within the women’s game. It shows that many teams are comfortable with providing women’s teams with second-rate facilities, but will ensure that the men’s teams receive the best training facilities, accommodations, and resources possible.
Even in these circumstances, we see time and time again that female athletes continue to be resilient and achieve great successes, however, imagine what can be achieved when women do not have to fight the invisible barriers before they enter the playing field.
Another way that male footballers, broadcasters, and staff can be real supporters of the women’s game is by using more inclusive language. Sports, specifically male-dominated ones like football, tend to become synonymous with men.
When the word “football” is mentioned, listeners typically think of their favourite male player or men’s first team. However, the term “football” should not exclusively reference men and we must take measures to strike out that bias in the minds of listeners. More and more sporting bodies are being asked to refer to competitions as the “Men’s Competition” and the “Women’s Competition,” for example, the “Men’s World Cup” and the “Women’s World Cup”. This differentiation, though small, is crucial as it recognises that sport is not restricted to a particular gender and it is not first owned by men.
This becomes even more important when discussing teams and their achievements. England captain Harry Kane recently faced scrutiny for his comments that England have not won anything in a long time. One might ask if Kane considers the Lionesses’ Women’s Euro victory of 2022 to be “a long time ago.” His exact words were:
“The bottom line is we (England) haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time.”
This sentiment was repeated by Commentator Ian Darke who was the subject of an “X” tweet calling for accuracy, after he stated, “England have never won the Euros in their entire history.” This broad statement paints a general picture of England’s lack of success without acknowledging that the women’s team accomplished what no England team has done since 1966 – bring home a major international trophy. Some may argue that this differentiation is pedantic and unnecessary, as it should be assumed and known that he is referring to the men’s team. However, since sporting terms are usually heard in the masculine, prominent figures and team representatives make this differentiation as often as possible.
This differentiation requires minimal effort from the speaker but makes a significant impact. It requires the speaker to be aware of their language, the questions they receive, and the achievements of their female counterparts, whom they often pose with for photo opportunities to maintain the ‘male ally’ image. Take, for example, tennis player Andy Murray, who consistently ensures his female counterparts’ accomplishments are not overshadowed by his or other male players’ successes. While tennis has mixed competitions, therefore, some may think it is easier for Murray to be aware of female achievements, there are some similar examples from persons in the football industry.
In 2019, Pep Guardiola, Manchester City Men’s Coach, was asked by a journalist about the prospects of his team making history and winning the first-ever domestic treble in England. He quickly responded by saying, “The first men’s, the women, they won it” ensuring that the question was clarified and the women’s accomplishments did not go unmentioned. This interaction lasted less than thirty seconds but informed viewers of the women’s team’s hard-earned success and reminded journalists to use more specific language.
The same level of accuracy must be used when stating accomplishments and records, such as the all-time goalscorer for a particular team, country, or competition. For example, in 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first male player to score in five World Cups. While many news outlets did incorrectly post that Ronaldo was the first player to achieve this feat, a select few were cognisant of the need to include the term ‘male player’, as Brazil’s Marta was the first player to score in five world cups with her goal in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and Canada’s Christine Sinclair later joined her in that achievement.
Most recently, Beth Mead had to correct a prominent sports news outlet when they posted that Gareth Southgate was the only England manager to reach two major international finals after the Men’s team booked their spot in the 2024 Men’s Euro finals, after also reaching the 2021 finals. He, however, is not the only England manager to take his team to two international finals as Sarina Wiegman took the Lionesses to the 2022 Euro final in which the Lionesses won, and the 2023 Women’s World Cup final. After being corrected by Mead, the outlet corrected their post.
All these measures are more deliberate and intentional ways of supporting women’s football globally. Allies worldwide can ensure that their individual countries, men, and specifically male footballers, understand how to truly support the women’s game. Every four years, we see male footballers posting pictures of female footballers’ jerseys, often seen as superficial PR moves. Outside major international tournaments like the Women’s World Cup, Women’s Euro, Copa Feminina, or others, these male players are often silent when their female counterparts most need support. True allyship involves consistent, meaningful actions rather than occasional symbolic gestures.
Photo – https://fifpro.org/en/who-we-are/fifpro-members/how-the-danish-men-s-national-team-is-supporting-the-women-s-side#:~:text=The%20men’s%20players%20refused%20a,appearing%20for%20the%20national%20team.
https://twitter.com/DiCiccoMethod/status/1809645700483051833?s=19
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5584651/2024/06/23/harry-kane-england-gary-lineker
