5/2/22 - TVOS Feature Vs Carlisle United

Hello Everybody! Already a month has passed by and a fantastic one we have had again!

‘The Dale Way’ has more listeners every episode and it is all thanks to you for taking the time to support our podcast. People from all over the world have listened to us, closest country being Ireland and then the likes of Vietnam, Mauritius and even Canada have been mentioned in our analytics.

We are enjoying every single minute of creating and growing ‘The Dale Way’. We appreciate all your feedback and positive comments. So once again thank you!

As most of you know we are big campaigners of #HerGameToo and we are going to talk about the campaign today. It was set up by a group of female supporters on the 15th May 2021 ahead of the FA cup final. These supporters are very passionate about football and are working to eradicate sexism in the football industry. As women and girls of all ages should feel confident about sharing their opinion about football without the fear of sexist abuse.

We were very pleased when Rochdale announced on the 26th October 2021 that they will be supporting the campaign. Our club wrote that ‘they fully support the campaign, which is aiming to create strong relationships with clubs and communities to champion women's football, as well as campaigning against sexism in football and online abuse’

For us girls, this was such amazing news as we have always felt comfortable to be female football fans within our own club and want to promote that Rochdale AFC is a safe environment for females of all ages.

Within all clubs, think it is so important that they do their best to tackle the misogynistic culture surrounding football so there is a more inclusive atmosphere for female fans now and in the future. We are proud that our club supports this campaign. The pair of us want to help any females that are interested in coming to their first Dale game, we know it can be nerve racking and overwhelming. We are more than happy for you to message our social media pages and offer advice, talk about the facilities around the ground, help where to sit and we are more than willing to let any of you join us during the games if you would feel more comfortable.

When we first produced our podcast, the positive comments were overwhelming, especially from girls who support football. We had messages from aspiring young female footballers giving us love and praise. Multiple people told us we had influenced their daughters to go and watch live football and this made us delighted. However, one particular comment that really made us feel proud of our project was when one little girl, Maliyah loved our podcast that much she asked us if we could go and watch her play! These comments really motivate us to keep our podcast progressing and hopefully, we can inspire more females younger and older to not be ashamed of their opinion on football.

Although there have been many positives from the campaign #HerGameToo there are still things that have yet to be changed. For example, one of our fans is 6 years old and we were talking to her father. He told us she has been playing football since she could walk, scouts watch her play every year and cannot believe how good she is for somebody so young. However, she is too young by FA law to play in Girls Academies. If she was a boy she would be able to join an academy as they start teams from Under 6s, but for girls, they don’t have teams until they are Under 9s.

How can anyone that plays above their age range not be scouted just because of their gender… it definitely needs addressing!

We cannot stress enough how important campaigns like #HerGameToo are, to make sure there is equality in football.

Both of us will always support this campaign and try our best to educate and make more people aware of this. We as women, belong in the crowds too.

If you are a female Dale supporter and want to express your views on the podcast, please message one of our social media platforms! We are looking for females of all ages, to join our team and have your say.

Thank you so much,

Charlotte and Isabelle x