BIAS Interview with Ali Mullaley HerGameToo Ambassador Brentford Football Club (HGT)

What a fantastic summer it has been for women’s football with record crowds watching the Euros and seeing England’s women triumph at Wembley. If you use social media you may have seen postings for #HerGameToo.

BIAS caught up with the Brentford HerGameToo Ambassador, Alison Mullaley to find out more

1. What inspired you to get involved with HerGameToo?

I remember seeing the launch video on Cup Final day and thinking WOW! that’s such a powerful message. Casual sexism at football (and online) was one of those things I’d just always felt I had to shrug off. The campaign empowers women to say “no, actually that’s not OK” – that’s why I was keen to get involved.

2. What are the aims of HGT?

The aims of HGT are to get more women & girls involved in football (whether playing or supporting). We aim to do this by: championing female role models in the game (players, officials, fans); creating safe spaces for women at stadiums & in areas surrounding football; taking action against sexist abuse; donating funds towards the development of girls grassroots’ football; encouraging girls to attend live games; educating and pushing the message of equality in football.

3. What does the role of the ambassador involve?

The idea of an ambassador is to be a point of contact between the campaign and their respective club. Ideally, this is someone who knows what it’s like to be a fan of the club, is really connected to it and wants to make it a better place for women and girls in attendance. Ambassadors attend meetings with their clubs, collect information about the fan base, discuss ideas on how the club can support the campaign, go to games and club events and share all the HGT initiatives their club have taken.

4. How did Brentford FC respond to your approach to be a partner of HGT?

Brentford were absolutely brilliant when we approached them. Really enthusiastic about getting involved and partnering. Can’t praise them highly enough. Special mention for Sally Stephens, our Director of Fan Engagement who has been particularly supportive.

5. What initiatives have there been at BFC to support HGT?

The Club organised a dedicated HGT fixture for the men’s team (Newcastle) and got both the men’s and women’s teams to wear HGT t-shirts and then posted them on social media – this helps massively with the visibility of the campaign. They organised an IWD/HGT event around one of the women’s fixtures and encouraged fans to attend. Lots of young girls went down and absolutely loved it. They’ve also put free sanitary products in the ladies toilets at BCS and we recently launched the Female Fans Forum.

6. What has your experience of being a female football fan been like at Brentford?

In person, I have to say I’ve not really had many personal bad experiences at games: I do wish we could move away from casually sexist chants and songs, though – there’s really no place for it in 2022.

The worst experiences are always online.

7. What is HGT hoping to do in the future? Both at your club and nationally?

At Brentford we are particularly looking to champion the Women’s Team a lot more – I’d love to see them get the opportunity to play in the stadium. It’s really important that we keep up the momentum from the Euros. We’re also working to get good and visible reporting systems in place. HGT can’t take the credit for this, but the Trust are doing fantastic work for girls’ football in the Community with proper development pathways. Massive kudos to them for this. As a campaign, we are aiming to partner with more Clubs (both pro and grassroots), work with and promote girls grassroots football, continue to raise awareness of the issues faced by women in football and to educate the next generation about sexism.

HerGameToo has a specific twitter account for Bees fans @HGTBees and can also be found on Instagram hergametoo_brentford.

HerGameToo has a website at hergametoo.co.uk and is also on twitter @HerGameToo and Instagram hergametoo.