The lack of diversity in the English women’s game is not a new criticism.
The subject resurfaced last week with the publication of Arsenal’s 2023-24 squad photo on social media which showed a 27-player group — none of them from non-white backgrounds. The picture prompted a flurry of responses.
“Considering this is a ‘London’ club, the lack of diversity is sad to see,” said one supporter.
Others queried the stark disparity in diversity between the men’s and women’s playing staff at Arsenal.
Arsenal’s men pose for their 2023-24 team photo last month (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Just how is it that Arsenal, with such a rich tradition of diversity among their support staff and team, have a women’s squad consisting of 27 white players? And is this reflective of the women’s game in England more broadly?
The Athletic previously explored this area in some depth, with pieces focused on the lack of non-white role models in the England squad during their triumphant European Championship campaign last year, and the root causes for the lack of exposure for non-white players at that level, back in 2021.
In these pieces, it was found that non-white representation in the English women’s national team was at its height during the first decade of this century.
The highest percentage of non-white players in the squad for a major tournament was 28.6 per cent at the 2007 World Cup, when Hope Powell was the manager. That number had more than halved by Euro 2022 at 13 per cent (three out of 23 players) and dropped again to 8.6 per cent (two out of the 23) at this summer’s World Cup.
Powell, left, with current England women’s manager Sarina Wiegman in 2022 (Naomi Baker – The FA via Getty Images)
During the 2021-22 season, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the trade union for English professional players, estimated that around 10 per cent of players in the top-flight Women’s Super League (WSL) were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Its latest estimates suggest the figure has since increased by around five per cent.
“We have a brutally visual lack of role models for these young girls that are coming up,” says Fern Whelan, a former England defender and now the PFA’s first women’s football Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) executive. “If you look at the league, you will see a lot of white players. If you’re a young Black girl, you might think, ‘Where do I fit in that world? Is it for me?’.”
To help tackle the problem, Whelan and the PFA launched the #SeeItAchieveIt campaign, creating a network for WSL players with BAME backgrounds. Players in the network will receive peer-to-peer mentoring, attend meetings at the PFA’s offices and be given bespoke support from the union’s women’s football and EDI teams.
When it comes to Arsenal, their 2023-24 squad picture stands out because it appears at odds with the club’s core identity and values. For instance, new artwork at the Emirates Stadium features five former female Arsenal players (Alex Scott, Anita Asante, Rachel Yankey, Mary Phillip and Lianne Sanderson) of Black or mixed heritage.
The Arsenal Women mural at the Emirates celebrates the club’s history of diversity (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
In a statement to The Athletic , Arsenal said: “We acknowledge our current women’s first-team squad does not reflect the diversity that exists across the club and the communities we represent.
“Increasing participation among young women and girls from diverse backgrounds is a key priority for us at academy level, with specific measures in place to improve pathways and accessibility. Across all our teams, including our men’s and women’s academies, we’re proud of our players from diverse backgrounds who have contributed to our history, success and culture. It’s a priority for the club to continue to drive greater diversity and inclusion and create a sense of belonging for everyone connected to the club.”
This is not a one-club problem — far from it. Everton losing their former captain Gabby George to Manchester United on the final day of this summer’s transfer window last month left them without a non-white player in their squad.
It is something many clubs have told The Athletic they are trying to address but there is an acknowledgement change will take time.
Everton before their WSL game against Brighton this month (Emma Simpson – Everton FC via Getty Images)
From an Arsenal perspective, there are a few ways they are looking to address the issue.
Their internal focus is more on what happens within the club’s academy, as opposed to recruitment.
When it comes to signing players for the women’s first team, the emphasis is on bringing in the best possible talent. Similarly, when managers/head coaches are appointed, they often make signings from regions where they know the pool of players. The current squad has three Swedes, who were all signed by head coach and countryman Jonas Eidevall. Similarly, Everton have five players from Denmark, recruited by their Danish head coach Brian Sorensen.
This has previously happened at Arsenal on the men’s side, with Arsene Wenger’s use of the market in his French homeland, but that talent pool was more ethnically diverse (with players such as Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Luis Boa Morte).
In time, women’s recruitment will presumably bring in a more diverse selection of players — performances in the recent World Cup demonstrated there are some outstanding talents in Africa, South America and the Caribbean.
Arsenal Women have just a three-person recruitment team, who are not as well-resourced as the equivalent on the men’s side of the club, but they have still managed to bring in players from across the globe — Canada internationals Cloe Lacasse and Sabrina D’Angelo, Brazil international Gio Queiroz and Australia internationals Kyra Cooney-Cross, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord.
In some regions of the world (such as Africa, South America and the Caribbean), the women’s game is still developing and there is not yet the football infrastructure to make significant investment into scouting sustainably.
On the academy front, one measure already in place is financial support for all players in their system, to cover costs of travel to and from training bases as well as loan clubs. All players benefiting from this live in various London boroughs. It is important to note that the girls’ academy is in Hertfordshire, north of the capital, compared to the boys’ Hale End site in Walthamstow, east London — a more ethnically diverse area.
There has also been collaboration with the PFA Aims initiative for an event next week focused on girls of south Asian origin. A similar programme was run for boys of south Asian origin last season and although a figure was not given, Arsenal run a yearly demographic survey which shows their BAME representation at academy level is higher than the national average.
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When contacted by The Athletic to discuss the issue of diversity among playing staff, four of the 12 WSL clubs had not responded at the time of publication. Those who did stressed that they are mindful and conscious of ethnic minorities being well represented — not just in their playing squad, but within all departments.
“The good part of it now is that the game isn’t blind to it,” says Whelan. “It’s not something that’s getting pushed under the carpet. It’s something that stakeholders are working hard to try and address and solve.”
The emphasis from the FA and WSL is on increasing access points to the game, across all communities. The professionalisation of the women’s game saw a trend towards improving facilities, without enough consideration to how accessible those facilities would ultimately be.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has said UK women’s football is “quite middle-class” (Chris Lee – Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
“Women’s football is quite middle-class,” said Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes earlier this year. “In terms of the locations, and the pedigree of players, that are coming are often coming from suburban, urban belts around the training grounds. They’re not the Alex Scotts, the Rachel Yankeys — (they’re) not coming to our facilities in the same way.”
There are now 73 emerging talent centres (ETC), which have been introduced across the country. The number of girls accessing the ETC route has increased by 93 per cent, with 3,321 of them now on the domestic talent pathway. That number is expected to have doubled by the end of the current season. “Having 70 ETCs spread across the country gives us a lot more access and inclusivity,” says Kay Cossington, the FA’s women’s technical director.
The ambition is for 95 per cent of players to be able to access an ETC within one hour of where they live by 2024. The Athletic has learned some WSL clubs are also considering moving their training facilities to areas which have previously struggled for access, such as the inner cities.
The FA has also launched a referral programme for gifted young players called Discover My Talent. So far, 4,485 girls have been identified, with a third of them coming from areas previously deprived of access to elite facilities.
The question, then, is how long it may take for these changes to bear fruit — at Arsenal and elsewhere. Whelan does not think it will be too much of a wait.
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“It’s really promising to see how much talent there is in some of the under-21 and under-16 squads that are coming through from Black, mixed heritage and minority ethnic groups,” she says. “Potentially, in the next five years or so, we could hopefully get a really good influx of players coming through.
“It might not look like it at the moment, but there are real strides being made. There is reason to be optimistic.”
(Top photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
