by What do Alex Scott, Anita Asante, Rachel Yankey, Lianne Sanderson, Mary Phillip, Jess Carter, Lauren James and I have in common? You may quickly find the answer is that we are all women of color. That’s right, but more importantly the common thread is our individual and team achievements playing for the best women’s football teams, namely Arsenal and Chelsea, with numerous domestic and international trophies and 428 (and counting) the common appearance of England between us.
Simply put, we are unquestionably among the best in the class and judging by the performances of James and Carter in recent years, there will still be several beautiful women in football among the best. There is certainly no doubt as to whether we were or are good enough.
We provide the background and successful context in which to view the well-documented problem of a distinct lack of diversity in the UK women’s game. If Arsenal, Chelsea and England had so many beautiful women who were among the best in class, why is there such a departure from what represents the “best” or “good enough”.
Related: ‘Not in a great place’: Emma Hayes is crying over Lauren James
If, like me, you’ve seen a photo of the Arsenal women’s team with no beautiful women in it and you’ve been very uncomfortable, I’d like to make a positive contribution to how we identify the causes and suggest a change to the approach to player recruitment. It is not a new problem. In recent years, there has been much commentary on the lack of diversity in the women’s game due to the professionalisation that has created a geographical disconnect with areas where diverse talent has historically been found.
The number of young girls from different backgrounds in academies has decreased. However, this does not mean that there is no diverse talent. It means that different talent is always being selected to create the best teams in the academies and first teams. So why isn’t diverse talent being chosen anymore?
This is an emotional topic that drives many players from different backgrounds to assess whether they are “good enough” to be selected. After all, no one wants to be singled out because of their race. I would say that given the diverse and successful class of women above, it is insulting to assume that players of different backgrounds are not good enough to be selected for the best women’s teams in this country. All players, regardless of race, must be selected as good enough until proven otherwise.
I will focus on the word chosen emphasize the conscious and unconscious choices made when recruiting and selecting players. At the highest level of women’s football only the best can be selected to fill teams of usually 25 players. This means that coaches, athletic directors and recruiting teams have a difficult task.
So how do coaches, athletic directors and recruiters decide who is the best? These choices are often subjective, shaped by conscious and unconscious bias and often taken from a narrow talent pool or a narrow view of what looks best.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall is at the club from 2021 and signed two versatile players in his first transfer window in Nikita Parris and Mana Iwabuchi. It didn’t work out for them for various reasons so the club ended up with a full team photo for this season. Eidevall admitted that it is a problem and that more must be done to correct it. Arsenal said: “It is a priority for the club to continue to drive greater diversity and inclusion and to create a sense of belonging for everyone associated with the club.”
Other clubs have fared better and Chelsea women’s coach Emma Hayes has recently signed Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada), Ashley Lawrence (Canada) and Mia Fishel (USA). All women of color. All players who should be considered “good enough” and best in class for their position. Chelsea has access to several options around the world and chose different women.
If we all thought that the best choices were people who look, sound and think like us, we would never have any diversity and you are limiting your potential for success. It is our responsibility to always consider what is different from us maybe they are the best.
I speak from personal experience. Between 2021-2022, as the first sports director of Angel City, I was given the huge task of recruiting a team based in Los Angeles. I had to start from scratch with the privilege of building a team of 25 players. This was 25 conscious choices of what I considered best and good enough for each position on the team.
Football recruitment is not always easy and often the players you want are not available to recruit. These decisions are often dependent on players’ desire to move, salary demands, relationships with agents, players’ life decisions etc, etc. However, if your starting point and thinking of three or five players per position is as wide as possible, the player. it is much more likely that you will have another profile that you choose.
It was important to use the available resources to conduct a global search. I started working with my team to make a list of the best players in the world and around the USA. I fished in as large a pool as possible rather than a small pool that I was familiar with.
Angel City didn’t get every player I tried to recruit, but it did result in a diverse team of 25 players from all backgrounds, races, sexual orientations and creeds. Those players showed to varying degrees that they were good enough to play for their country or for their successful teams. I was recruiting them to give them the opportunity to continue to prove their best at the highest level of professional football.
Angel City has players from black, mixed heritage, Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, American and European backgrounds, competing in one of the best women’s leagues in the world. It is imperative that the diversity of this team reflects the amazingly diverse fans in Los Angeles who see their team represented. We can all agree that when fans and community connect with their team in a way that makes fans feel seen and represented, magic is created. Angel City narrowly missed out on the playoffs in their first season and in second place this year they went one step further to achieve the circumstances. Success and diversity go hand in hand.
I am proud that diversity, inclusion and success are part of my legacy at Aston Villa Women and Angel City FC and will always be central to how I advise the recruitment of sporting directors across the clubs to come. Mercury 13 ownership, investment. group I am involved as an investor and consultant committed to a new re-imagined future for women’s football.
It behooves coaches and recruiters in the women’s game to move away from lazy player recruitment choices that reflect a narrow view of what is best and instead embrace a broader recruitment approach that will inevitably focus on different players as the best choices for the job. . Fans deserve a team that represents different preferences within the multicultural world of UK football as the best options. To be different and better cannot continue to be mutually exclusive.
After all, we are all guided by the fact that there are some of the best in the class at all different levels of football. The future of women’s football should continue to reflect that.
