“I don’t think women’s football, not in our lifetimes anyway, can be equal to men’s”: players’, coaches’, and managers’ perceptions on the economic future of women’s football in Europe

Forsyth, Jacky J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9646-9246, Sams, Lorna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0900-1547, Ellis, Naomi ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1909-4169, Abouna, Marie-Stephanie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9498-6581, Leiva-Arcas, Alejandro ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2096-0274, Vaquero-Cristóbal, Raquel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2708-4817, Díaz-Aroca, Álvaro ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2637-9146, Blackett, Alex ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4948-0060 and Valenti, Maurizio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8029-9863 (2025) “I don’t think women’s football, not in our lifetimes anyway, can be equal to men’s”: players’, coaches’, and managers’ perceptions on the economic future of women’s football in Europe. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. pp. 1-19. ISSN 1940-6940

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Abstract

In a globalisation era of women’s football, where there is increased media attention and rising participation rates, gaining the perceptions of those involved in women’s football of how best practices are being implemented to secure the development of the game, can be useful for understanding future commercial viability. Using an interpretivist, qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with 26 players, 17 coaches, 13 managers and five administrators/referees from six European countries and evaluated thematically. Themes included: ‘club financing’, ‘equality in football’, ‘club development’, ‘the footballer’s career’ and ‘implementing good practice’. Participants felt it was mainly the country’s football federation that was responsible for funding, resources, youth development, pay equality and player support, but that these were challenged by historically and socio-culturally rooted perceptions of gender equality.