Vivianne Miedema has never been one to sit on the fence and she is not about to start now.
The Manchester City midfielder is talking about the growing amount of abuse directed at players in the women’s game and calling for action to avoid the hostile atmospheres that are often seen in men’s football.
Last weekend, Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds was subjected to sexual harassment from a supporter during their FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Last month, Miedema’s City team-mate Khadija “Bunny” Shaw received racist and misogynistic abuse on social media, which led to the striker missing the club’s subsequent game. Chelsea’s Millie Bright has also recently spoken about abuse directed towards her after a match this season.
“We always say and we’re always proud as a women’s game that we’re very inclusive but somehow that is starting to slip away a bit,” Miedema says. “If we don’t act really strongly as a front right now, then it might be too late.
“As a player and as an advocate for women’s football I’ve always been one of the ones shouting that we need to weave our own path and we need to be really careful in how we want to grow and develop. The easiest thing is to change completely into men’s football.
“If we are so proud of the environment we’ve created, we need to be really, really careful in the next steps we’re making.”
Abuse on social media is common for female players but being confronted during games has not been the norm.
“It’s hard because you can’t put every single fan in this same bracket,” Miedema says.
“A lot of times we’ve still got a lot of lovely football fans in the stadium. But the ones that are not need to be picked out and that’s not just our responsibility, it’s also the clubs, the police. Hopefully it’s something that’s really going to be looked at.”
Miedema has spoken about her own mental health journey and the importance of other players feeling empowered to do the same. The admiration she has for Shaw, who celebrated with a black power salute after scoring in her first game back, is clear.
“I think Bunny prioritising her mental health after what happened is probably the strongest thing anyone could have done in that situation. Me and the team respect her for that massively. What we can do is be there for Bunny, keep making ourselves heard and voice that things do need to be better.”
Building relationships
Miedema and Shaw are starting to build a better on-pitch relationship, with injuries to both players having disrupted their partnership this season.
“We can shout at each other [in training], which is great to be honest,” Miedema laughs. “There’s a bit of a competition going on, who’s the better finisher, it’s funny! I think we’ve got complete opposite strengths, which is probably why we can work together really well on the pitch.
“In the last couple of games you can see it starting to click. If you look at the quality we have on the pitch, especially going forward, it’s unreal. The moment that starts clicking then I’m pretty convinced we can still beat anyone.”
It is not just Miedema and Shaw who have spent time out injured this season. City have been without Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood for much of the season, which has contributed to them slipping to fourth in the Women’s Super League.
“Welcome to women’s football! It’s one of the reasons all of us players keep asking for a better schedule and more breaks.”
Despite their injuries, City, who sacked Gareth Taylor on Monday, could pick up the first trophy of the season when they face Chelsea in the League Cup final on Saturday.
“Sometimes it is a bit of, ‘What if everyone was fit?’ because we all still remember the game we played against Barcelona [City won 2-0] with a fully fit team, where would we have been then?
“But it’s part of football and hopefully there will be measures being put in at some point to protect all of us but, for now, we just need to keep each other lifted and be positive.”
‘Tribalism is welcome but certain lines must not be crossed’
By Kathryn Batte
It was not so long ago that the idea of introducing away ends into women’s football was seen as controversial. Having designated areas for opposing sets of supporters has been one of the best things to happen to the women’s game and has undoubtedly improved the atmosphere in the bigger matches. It is important that we encourage rivalry and tribalism but that of course must not cross into something different.
The sexual harassment comments Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds was subjected to are shocking, as was the abhorrent abuse directed towards Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw on social media. These are not isolated incidents and it is concerning that more and more players are sharing that they have been targeted, whether it be online or at matches.
I have always been wary of describing women’s football as “family friendly” as it can be interpreted as patronising. This is an elite game with passionate fans who care deeply about their clubs. But those two worlds can co-exist. Women’s football can be a welcoming and less intimidating atmosphere than men’s football can often be perceived, but it can still have fiery rivalries and interactions between different sets of supporters.
Perhaps the answer is more protection for players. Often there is less security at matches because clubs do not expect problems. Remember when Sam Kerr took matters into her own hands by bodychecking a man who had invaded the pitch during a Chelsea Champions League game? It took several minutes for a steward to appear.
It appears Arsenal dealt with the spectator who abused Hinds swiftly and removed him from the stadium. The next step needs to be looking at measures to prevent incidents like this from happening in the first place.
