The Football Association's Women’s Super League and female soccer fans: fan engagement and the importance of supporter clubs

ABSTRACT

The global soccer market has seen a growth in the professionalization of women’s teams and as a result, spectatorship and fandom have augmented. Women’s soccer was historically perceived as a taboo; however, stakeholder support has generated visibility and enhanced commercialization opportunities. The Football Association in England instituted the Women’s Super League (hereafter WSL) during 2010, and the first season commenced in 2011 with eight teams. Subsequently, in 2021 there were 12 professional women’s teams in the top-tier of the league and 11 teams in the championship. A qualitative case study approach is utilized, via the use of semi-structured interviews to explore the demographics and motives of women who watch soccer at the elite level and their socialization into fan communities. The study concludes by acquiring an understanding of the consumption of female soccer fans within the WSL and focuses upon the relationship between supporter clubs and fan socialization.

Introduction

Sports fandom is recognized as a masculinized realm where fan identity, gender hierarchy and collectivism are often preserved and repeated.¹ Research pertaining to the experiences and consumption of female fans is scarce, in relation to their male counterparts.² Although sports fandom may historically be acknowledged as a masculine hegemony,³ Pope discusses how ‘sport is central to the lives and identities of many women’, when exploring a study of female soccer and rugby fans in the United Kingdom (UK).

Despite the increasing spectatorship attendance figures at Women’s Super League (hereafter WSL) matches, little is known of the motivations of women fans who attend WSL matches. Although a large number of men attend women’s soccer matches, the focal point of this research is to enhance our understanding of the experiences of female fans who attend WSL matches to extend our understanding of female fandom. As defined by Davis,⁴ ‘fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans, characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest’. Davis’s account of fandom, group identity and community are common themes within the female fan environment, when forming the relationship between fan and club where a shared interest is present.

Historically, soccer in the UK was preserved as a masculine concept.⁵ However, growth in women’s soccer dates back to the First World War in which women formed teams and attracted gate attendances of up to 53, 000.⁶ Women’s and girls’ soccer in the United Kingdom has been noted as a key part of history.⁷ Williams explains how in England there were ‘around 150 teams by 1921 playing regular, well-attended games, though without a league structure’. Women’s soccer to date, has witnessed a breadth of growth within participation and fandom.⁸ For the past 50 years, academics have contended with the complexities involved in soccer fandom and how it has developed and changed in line with wider societal changes. The corpus of works from the seminal research by Dunning⁹ on soccer fandom to the work of others including Wann, Funk, Ridenger, Moorman, Apostolopoulou and Gladden¹⁰ suggest that progress has been made within this sphere conferring upon the core anthropological thematic areas of sport sociology, marketing and fan psychology. Such research has aimed to acquaint and explore the experience of fans and to enhance the relational and commercialization opportunities for soccer clubs. However, the notion of fandom and the interplay of gender being historically absent from the hyper play of soccer and masculinity has contributed to the expansion of female fandom.¹¹

The Women’s Super League in England

The growth of the WSL and the impact of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup have contributed to the increased visibility and awareness of the game. The WSL is the premier soccer league for women in England and was launched in 2011 as a semi-professional league. The WSL initially had only eight teams, which was later expanded to nine teams in 2016–2017, 10 teams in 2017–2018, 11 teams in 2018–19 and then 12 teams for the 2019–20 season onwards.¹² In 2014, the WSL expanded into two divisions (currently known as WSL and The Football Association (hereafter The FA) Women’s Championship) which allowed the leagues to be connected through promotion and relegation, to the rest of English women’s soccer. By turning fully professional for the 2018–2019 season, WSL clubs were encouraged to induce a sustainable business as it was anticipated club investment would decline over a period of time,¹³ accentuating corporate finance and established networks were a necessity. All clubs operating within the WSL were required to reapply for their licence in 2018 and were obliged to offer their players a minimum of 16 hours a week playing contract, to support the professionalization of the game. Widely attributed to developing the professionalization of women’s soccer in England, the WSL presented its strategy on four key areas; ‘Financial and Business Management’, ‘Commercial and Marketing’, ‘Facilities’ and ‘Players and Support Staff’.¹⁴ The objective of having such a focus was to ensure financial viability of the league and the desire to attract crowds to watch the WSL, which kindled the transition of the league to switch to a summer league in 2011. The transition to a summer league saw the WSL run from March to October with the majority of the season not running in conjunction with the male professional game. Such an approach was deemed to limit the impact of the male professional game, with the suggestion that fans may only attend male professional game fixtures and the hope that media coverage would be garnered in the absence of male professional soccer taking place.¹⁵ However, in July 2018, the FA in England revealed that the WSL would return to the traditional soccer season in England from September to May.

Spectator attendances within the WSL have steadily increased with an average of just over 2000 fans attending matches in the 2019–2020 season. Such attendances have been promoted by the FA as displaying an increase in the popularity of women’s soccer in England, with some fixtures taking place in large stadiums and gaining 20,000 plus attendances. The record WSL attendance was Manchester City’s derby victory over rivals Manchester United in the 2019/20 season where a record crowd attendance of 31,213 was achieved.¹⁶ During the 2018–19 season, average crowds transgressed from 217 (Everton) to 2,040 (Chelsea). Guest and Luijten¹⁷ identify that big occasional events are required to keep fans returning to women’s sport. The WSL often utilizes local derby matches between close rivals to attract spectators, known as ‘show case’ fixtures often attracting large attendances.

Fan engagement

Numerous studies have investigated the social and psychological requirements of the fan.¹⁸ A spectator’s motivation to attend sport can be determined by numerous factors, albeit it is suggested that there is a prevalence of gender disparity¹⁹ between the interplay of motives males and females may express.²⁰ As highlighted by Dunn, the ‘malestream’ of soccer fandom often highlights masculine hegemony, inclusive of deviant behaviours such as hooliganism, alcohol and violence, whereas female fans infer the importance of identity and the forming of and enhancing supporters’ trust networks. Previous research has focused on the motives of spectators in women’s sport in relation to the American market,²¹ particularly in sports, such as baseball, soccer and basketball. However, there is a scarcity of research in reference to female fans of women’s sport in the United Kingdom. Notably, female fans are referred to as not as intrinsically involved with the team as of their male counterparts.²² It is suggested by Crawford²³ that fan loyalty may be induced by gender, implying fan loyalty was symbolic for male fans, whereas the social atmosphere and entertainment were key motives for female fans. Moreover, Coombs and Osborne²⁴ outline how admission into sport spectatorship may result in the enduring of ‘people’s imagination and conversations, through their social networks, friendships, mass media and in their identity’. This trajectory elucidates the distinctive features between a spectator who may have limited affiliation with the club, in comparison to a fan who becomes a member by self-immersion in the fan community to maintain team identification within the club.

Methodology

A single case study approach²⁵ was adopted in this research to investigate female fandom in the WSL. The single case study design was selected to allow a detailed investigation into a specific club and is in line with previous research investigating female fandom.²⁶ Semi-structured interviews with female fans and semi-structured interviews with key representatives from the club’s supporters’ organization were undertaken. The research purposefully targeted the perceptions and opinions of both female fans and those operating the supporters’ organization, in order to allow for authentic data to be gathered on the motivations of female fans engagement when attending WSL matches.

The sampling procedure was snowballing with both researchers utilizing local networks and personal connections in the North-West of England to develop contacts and establish communication that formed the basis for recruiting participants. The following inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied when selecting the club to be involved in the study:

- Soccer club must have a first team that has competed in the WSL for the past five seasons.

- Soccer club to have a bespoke WSL supporters club.

The above selection criteria allowed Manchester City Women Football Club (henceforth MCWFC) to be identified as a suitable club on which to focus the case study.²⁷

Participants

Following the identification of the club, a key informant introduced the lead author to various networking opportunities to meet fans, which allowed the researcher to discuss the research objectives further. Potential participants were invited to participate in the study via email, six fans and two representatives from MCWFC supporters’ club (henceforth MCWFCSC) were recruited to be interviewed.

Where participants were concerned, the following criteria were met:

Participants were;

- Female

- Over 18

- Identified as Manchester City fans

- Attended three WSL matches in person in the 2019/20 season

Or

- Held a named role in a MCWFC supporters organization

- Had been involved in a MCWFC supporters organization for the past 2 years

The above inclusion criteria would allow the participants to reflect on common experiences and allow these experiences to be drawn from a similar context.²⁸

Data collection

The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. Two semi-structured interview guides were developed (one for fans and one for representatives from MCWFC supporters’ organizations – see appendix one and two). These interview guides were used for all interviews of the relevant participants to ensure validity and reliability, though (clarification and elaboration) probes and prompts were used²⁹ to permit the participants to develop and expand on their responses. The start of the interview guide, aimed to build a rapport and encourage interaction between the participant and interviewer (e.g. ‘What soccer have you watched recently’). Open-ended questions were used to introduce topics (e.g. What feelings and emotions did you experience in the first game you attended in person?) and then more specific questions were asked to gain detailed examples of processes, procedures and interactions (e.g. ‘What was it about the fixtures that drew you back? What type of positive and negative emotions or feelings may you have felt when you’ve attended a women’s soccer match? What made you experience these feelings and emotions?’). The interviews lasted an average of 32 minutes and were recorded on a dictaphone.

Data analysis

The semi-structured interviews were analysed using a six-stage process of thematic analysis, to permit a rich yet multifaceted account of the data.³⁰ This process involved the capturing of immediate reflection on a post contact recording sheet and was followed by the interview narrative being transcribed verbatim. This resulted in the transcripts retaining a ‘true’ reflection of the verbal account given by the interviewee. Following the initial reflection of the interviews, the transcripts were coded by the lead author. The coding of the transcripts led to the identification of numerous potential themes and patterns, which were then grouped into latent themes that exposed underlying ideas, assumptions and conceptualizations. The latent themes were reviewed, and each was labelled in order to extract succinct, consistent and coherent examples from the evidence of the themes within the data. The data analysis identified four higher order categories and eight themes classified as lower order themes. These themes can be seen in figures one and two figure 2.

Results

Thematic analysis of the interviews with the female fans identified two higher order and four lower order themes. The higher order themes were ‘Its who we watch’ and ‘the people we go with make the game’. The first higher order theme assessed the motivating factors of watching specific players and supporting the sport of women’s soccer and the second higher order theme, identified the social role in motivating fans to attend women’s soccer matches. A diagram of the higher order and lower order themes can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Higher and lower order themes identified from fan perspective.

‘It’s who we watch’

Individual player

The first lower order theme recognized the role individual players had in motivating fans to attend matches. The fans in this study identified the role played by ‘star’ names in attracting them to watch matches. Fan one highlighted that MCWFC have numerous players of international standard within their squad, which attracted her to go and watch matches. Fan one supported the comment by saying, ‘being able to see the best players right on your doorstep is brill. We’ve been lucky, some of the best players in England and around the world have played for us and seeing them in the flesh week on week is pretty impressive’. Meanwhile, fan six outlined the concerns of whether she would attend if the quality of the players was low ‘I’m not sure I’d go if we didn’t have some decent players playing’. This shows that fan one and fan six enjoyed seeing specific players, potentially because of their ability level and watching in personwas a motivating factor in watching MCWFC play.

Furthermore, fan two went on to highlight players of preference, as the reason she attended ‘We’ve had Carli Lloyd, Lucy Bronze. We’ve got Steph Houghton and Jill Scott, seeing them play, that’s why you go, it’s the names’. The notion that fans are motivated to attend WSL fixtures because of the players they get to see is significant, as it suggests that fans may not be attracted to the club and affiliation to the club, instead specifically the players within a squad.

The fan identities within the WSL seem to explore similarities with previous studies,³¹ as although there may be a team preference due to geographical location, the transnationalism and elitism of players seem to be key motivations for their fandom attachment. This was highlighted by Fan three who said, ‘Yes I go to see [MCWFC] but it’s more about the players, I’m actually not that bothered about the club, I wouldn’t buy a shirt or anything’. This is particularly interesting within the WSL as it proposes fans want to see the best players regardless of the team they play for. Interestingly, it was not just seeing players from MCWFC that attracted the fans, the fans highlighted that they enjoyed attending matches to see some of the ‘best’ (international) players. Fan two highlighted that she would specifically choose to go and see matches where MCWFC were playing clubs who had international soccer players playing for them. Whereas Fan two articulates, ‘It’s not just those players who actually play for us, sometimes we’ll go see them because of who they are playing. So, Arsenal, Chelsea some of the big names who play for them’. The identification of attending specific MCWFC fixtures for the teams they were playing and being motivated to attend these matches because of the opposition was further discussed by Fan four, who states how she was attracted to go to more matches in the 2019–20 season because of the international players who had signed to WSL teams. ‘This year you see the players who are in the WSL and they are some of the best in the world’. This appears to be particularly pertinent given the arrival of multiple international players to the WSL, for the 2020–2021 season, which could see fans keen to attend matches to watch some of the ‘best’ players in the world play. Torchia³² explores a ‘postmodern’ stage where the globalization of players and sponsors are subject to advances, allowing the inclusiveness of international players to be a key dominator for fan attendance.

Significantly, fan five discussed how she believed that the motivation to attend matches to see specific players was a distinguishing factor between fans who attended women’s soccer and fans who attended men’s soccer. Fan five talks about how ‘It’s different to men’s [soccer], it’s not necessarily about the club. Men’s [soccer] you live that club. Here it’s more the players, it’s who we watch, the individual players not the team so much’. While this could be classed as somewhat of an anecdotal observation from fan five, it is interesting to note that none of the interviewees identified as fans of the men’s first team at Manchester City Football Club. This suggests that a correlation between attending MCWFC matches and being a fan of the associated male side, is not as important as other factors for the participants in this study to attend matches.

Show your support

The second lower order theme in this section, recognizes the responsibility the fans felt to support women’s soccer and as such this motivated them to attend matches in order to ‘show’ their support for the sport. This concept was highlighted by player five who discussed feeling a responsibility to attend matches and support the sport. Fan five’s view implied: ‘There’s times when you feel you’ve a bit of a responsibility, you know to go, because they need the fans. Not the club … but women’s football (soccer) needs people to watch and support, help it to develop like’. Meanwhile, fan one discusses how she similarly was motivated to attend women’s soccer matches, for the reason of feeling the need to show her support for the sport. Fan one said, ‘Maybe because I’m female I feel I should too, it’s like I should go and show my support for them’.

Participants recognized that they were motivated to attend MCWFC fixtures because of the responsibility they felt to aid the development of women’s soccer as a sport and this motivation developed from their personal experiences as women growing up, as explained in Guest and Luijten’s case study of the Portland Thorns, which is a team in the National Women’s Soccer League in America. The study confirmed one of the reasons for fandom was to support women’s opportunity in sports, however, the main reason identified within their study was vicarious achievement. Fan four stated: ‘When I was a kid, I would have loved to have had the chance to come and see this level of women’s [soccer], but you just couldn’t. It was so far from professional and now it’s about supporting it (women’s soccer), because we can and the level is decent’. Similar to this, fan six discussed the opportunities to attend women’s soccer matches when she was growing up were limited, so now she takes the chance to attend matches when she has the opportunity to do so. Fan six explains, ‘There’s not loads of chance to see women’s (soccer) live, not the top level, not live-in person. I want to see it, I play, I coach, I’m a fan just of the game’. These accounts of motivation to attend, led the participants in the study to attend a wide variety of women’s soccer matches including international matches. Fan two discussed her attendance at international competitions and matches that were local to her because she was a committed fan of women’s soccer and as such didn’t only want to see matches locally. Fan two explained ‘Me, I’ve been to Euro’s to World Cups as well as local fixtures. I want to see women’s [soccer] progress and develop as a game’. The participants recognized that the motivation to attend women’s soccer as a sport, has been a contributory factor to the development of a form of community within a collective identity. Notwithstanding, the previously referenced Guilianotti’s taxonomy of soccer that correlatesfan identification between ‘traditional consumer’, to a ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ fan, application of the taxonomy has key relevance and divergent distributions for female fans of the WSL.

As such, the participants in this study asserted their belief that as a woman interested in soccer, it was important to support women’s soccer whether that was attending MCWFC matches or showing your support at international tournaments. As highlighted by Fan two, who stated ‘It’s a bit of a community the women’s [soccer] community, not just club to club but you know overall. We are in it together, kind of developing the game if you know what I mean’ confirming her perception of the women’s soccer community and why it was important to her.

‘The people we go with make the game’

Inspiring others

The participants within the study were keen to discuss whether they were motivated by a desire to encourage and enthuse other women and girls to attend MCWFC matches. This motivation was particularly focused on inspiring a younger generation of girls to engage with women’s soccer. Fan three said, ‘We sometimes take family friends to the games, you know we’ve taken them and their daughters to see games. You want them to see [soccer] and see it’s not just a male game’. Similarly, fan five said, ‘I’ve taken my niece, it’s the only chance she gets to see live [soccer] really, she plays a bit too, but we could never afford to go and see a men’s game even at semi-pro level it would be too expensive. But she can see [soccer] and surely, it’s a bit more inspiring for her to see women play, surely’. The acknowledgement that the fans were motivated by the desire to inspire a younger generation to engage with women’s soccer suggests as well as a collective responsibility to support women’s soccer, a collective responsibility to introduce new fans, particularly girls to women’s soccer was felt by the participants in this study. Additionally, the low-cost of attending s was a key contributor to attendance at WSL fixturess, as within the men’s game the creation of the men’s Premier League in 1992 promoted economic unaffordability³³ for the working class and as a result diminished some traditional fan communities.

The motivation to attend matches to inspire others to go and see women’s soccer was of importance, as participants believed they experienced a lack of opportunity to engage and observe elite women’s soccer when they were young. Fan one recalled ‘Thinking now when I was a kid I wanted these role models, but they weren’t there. You hardly saw any women’s [soccer] on T.V and live, it was grassroots [soccer] at best. Now a nearly full stadium, good pitch, big crowd, the players, you want those young girls now to see this and think … yes that could be me’. Similar discussions are presented in the work of³⁴ where they discuss the lack of opportunities for women to play soccer, resulting in a lack of acceptance of women playing soccer and within role model positions. It appears that the role of inspiring the next generation in women’s soccer was a responsibility held by the players as well as fans. The fans were keen to explain how the MCWFC players engaged with younger fans. Fan three said ‘The players are really good with them young fans well it’s like they see that they have a responsibility, to you know be role models for these girls’. Similarly, fan four mentions how ‘When we are there, you can see the youngsters watching these players, looking up to them’. While examining the actions of players is beyond the scope of this investigation, it is interesting to note that the fans felt motivated to inspire the younger generation and this responsibility was perceived by the fans to be shared with players.

Social engagement

The final theme that was identified focused on the motivation of fans attending MCWFC fixtures, the importance of friends and how the atmosphere contributed to their positive social experiences. It was pointed out by Fan six how she had always gone to matches with her friends and discussed how social interaction was a key part in motivating her to attend matches: ‘I’ve always been with a couple of mates from uni (university), we just go watch some [soccer] and have a catch up’. Similarly, fan five recognized that she went to MCWFC matches with her friends and that it was this social interaction and engagement that made the experience a positive one. Fan five said, ‘I get to see my mates, I go with them. It’s the people you go with who make it’. Fan five continued, acknowledging how her role within women’s soccer had changed from a player to fan and how she used to play soccer with her friends; however, now they attend as fans continuing their friendship and their enjoyment of soccer. Fan five said, ‘Would I go on my own? Probably not, we are a group of friends, we used to play together now we go and watch’. The social interaction discussed by Fan five and six recognizes that women’s soccer is an established form of meeting and socializing place for a group of friends. A study of male non-league soccer fans expresses similar thoughts regarding the importance of social interaction and engagement,³⁵ and discusses how the atmosphere at Bradford Football Club encouraged opportunities for ‘sociality, solidarity and friendliness’ allowing personalized relationships to be formed amongst fans at the stadium.

It is important to recognize that social groups were developed; some fans already had pre-established social groups, whereas others were motivated to attend matches to be a part of the social community that was created at MCWFC matches. Fan one explained: ‘There is a group of us we’ve been all over the place to watch, we have a laugh. It’s nice to catch up and watch some [soccer]’. Meanwhile, fan four also recognized the positive social interaction that was experienced at matches suggesting, ‘You see the same faces, kind of sit in the same groups, you get to know people, have a chat, a catch up, it’s not just about the 90 minutes of the match.’ It appears the development of social groups at MCWFC matches engaged the fans and motivated them to continue attending fixturesin order to experience social interaction and engagement with like-minded individuals.

In regard to the thematic analysis of the representatives from MCWFCSC, two higher order themes and four lower order themes were acknowledged by those in senior positions. The first higher order theme considers the recruitment of fans and the second order theme explores the experience of fans.

Figure 2. Higher and lower order themes identified from the club representatives.

‘Recruitment of fans’

Membership

The first lower order theme considers the methods taken to attract and sustain members to the MCWFSC. Formed in 2015, it was explained that 50 members were required to originally initiate the MCWFSC and memberships have continuously grown since then. Representative one said, ‘we still have over 200 members and they are all paid members, apparently we are the only supporters club in the WSL who have a paid membership’. Although other clubs in the WSL have supporter clubs, the paid membership is a niche product for MCWFSC. Representative two outlines the requirements and content of the membership pack, ‘so the adult membership is £8 per year and the junior membership is £2 per year. All members receive a welcome card, metal badge, regular communications, priority access and invites to supporter club events’. A discussion pertaining to the advice they would provide to other WSL clubs, to engage and sustain fan membership and numerous recommendations was presented. Representative one said,

We want to see more fans coming to games, it is important you reach out to The Football Supporters Association (hereafter FSA), they’re pulling together a Women’s Network of supporters clubs in the WSL. The FSA³⁶ is the representative body for [soccer] supporters in England and Wales and aims to encourage and support the set-up of supporter groups, there is now a specific representative for the women’s game. They will support you with some great ideas to support your membership, we currently have meetings with other clubs such as Manchester United, Birmingham and Chelsea to share and learn from each other.

A different approach was suggested by Representative two, who said ‘regular communication with the fans is important via social media or other suitable ways and contact the male supporters equivalent team of the club, as they may be able to support you with player events or promoting big fixtures’.

When questioned about the demographics of the members of the supporter’s club, and how The FA have focused the marketing for the WSL audience, Representative one stated ‘The FA have obviously really pushed it as a family atmosphere, it is quality [soccer] and it is affordable to attend. We have fans who joined when they were like a day old and our eldest is probably in his 70s, so a range of ages and the gender of the fans seems quite even however there are probably a few more women’. Similar information was suggested by Representative two who expressed: ‘We have quite a lot of junior members and people who come as a family, it is an affordable and friendly environment which in turn kind of encourages almost a certain behaviour. The sing-songs and chants we sing are similar to the ones you have in the men’s team, but we’ll always take out the swear word’.

Social media

The second lower order theme identified the process undertaken to attract and sustain members to (MCWFSC) via social media. It was expressed that the quality work of the players on social media and within corporate marketing advertisements has positively impacted their memberships and engagement with the MWFSC. Representative one explained: ‘We have worked really hard on our social media, you know we have grown on Twitter… we smashed 5k during lockdown (Covid-19 pendemic) which was a big achievement for the supporter’s club. Our Facebook as well, you know we really try to push that I think we have probably got around 12–1300 people on the site which shows there is a lot of interest out there in the women’s game’. Representative two highlighted how ‘a lot of the City players are really active on Instagram and Twitter which helps the supporters club because they promote the matches, we are very blessed that we have got such a high percentage of the England squad playing for our club and if you’re interested in the Euro’s we have got a few Scottish and internationals in there as well’. Additionally, Representative two commented on how social media is a key channel for recruiting members and sharing up-to-date communications regarding fixtures and supporter club events.

‘The fan experience’

Events

The MCWSFC representatives highlighted the key events that commended the work of the women’s club and other events that the supporters club organizes to engage their fan community.³⁷ In 2018, the women’s club celebrated their 30th anniversary; this event saw many of the Manchester City women’s team attend from the originally founded 1988 team. With respect to other events, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was explained how most of their events were required to go online. Representative two provided information on how the club has been operating during the Covid-19 pandemic: ‘The club, organised and invited the fan community to an online session with Jill Scott and Gary Taylor the new manager during lockdown’. This allowed positive interaction with the fans. In addition to this, Representative one spoke about the alternative ways to engage fans due to the Covid-19 pandemic: ‘Normally we would do face to face supporter club meetings, so that obviously had to go to Zoom. There has been lots of engagement, we are trying to do quizzes, competitions, player of the season nominations and zoom meetings to keep in contact with the fans’. Stephen³⁸ emphasizes the importance of supporter groups employing creative strategies to sustain fandom and to generate club income during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Representative two also spoke about the 2019 Manchester derby and how it was a showcase WSL event: ‘people who have never really been that interested, got on board for the Women’s World Cup in 2019 and became more interested. Also, the women’s Derby between Manchester City and Manchester United, attracted over 31,000 fans and there was a lot of people there who never really took much interest in women’s [soccer] before’. It is necessary for fan groups to find creative ways to engage with their fans during the Covid-19 pandemic, in support of fan loyalty and to support the women’s soccer market.

Community

The representatives often pointed to the importance of creating a community and mentioned the people they have met through the supporter’s club. While a community is known to be a non-dimensional concept and can be challenging to define due to the differing features it may comprise, the supporters club aims to engage with their fan communities in different formats and operate a community atmosphere. Due to the research study being undertaken in September 2020, those who are based in the North-West were adhering to a Covid-19 tiered lockdown measure set by the UK government, which halted the women’s game. Representative one discussed how ‘Everyone has been very appreciative and we have had some great feedback from our members to say thank you, we have got quite a few members who live on their own, so it has been quite isolating for them and the supporters club has helped get them through’.

A discussion was held regarding the community environment at MCWFC fixtures. Representative two said, ‘I am a season ticket holder for the men’s and women’s teams, the women’s game has a different atmosphere and it’s got a more kind of friendly community feel to it, than men’s [soccer] you know. I am not knocking men’s [soccer], I just feel like you do meet and talk to more people in a way that you wouldn’t necessarily at a men’s game’. Correspondingly, Representative one discussed how ‘talking to other fans at games is great and adds to the atmosphere, there are many people who I am friends with now who I might have never come across if it wasn’t for the supporters club … It is a great way to make friendships’. The atmosphere and communication with other fans is a key motivation and an indicator that contributes to repeat attendance. As the supporters club allowed the opportunity for a virtual community to be formed during Covid-19, it is encouraging that this approach sustained the camaraderie between fans and interest of the women’s team.

Conclusion

Due to the breadth of literature pertaining to male fans attending sport, it was fundamental for this article to move away from the male discourse and to gain a female perspective of fandom in women’s soccer whilst considering their experience and motivations for attending matches. Throughout the article, we have referred to the norms of fandom and constructed the female experience of women’s soccer accordingly, in terms of identity, consumption, engagement and representation.

This study contributes to previous research which analyses female sport fans, although sparsethere are commonalities within the findings of this study. The female fans who supported the research study sincerely commented positively on the atmosphere women’s soccer provides and the community ethos that has been developed over the years since the implementation of the WSL. The findings provide insight into suitable recommendations for prospective professional women's sports clubs, and into how they can initially engage and maintain a fan community.

Over the last ten years, the FA have projected a strategy for the WSL which considers the growth of teams, expansion of leagues, innovative marketing approaches and the commercialization of the WSL. In reflection of these goals it seems the high quality of soccer in the WSL is a key contributor to spectator attendance, as many fans were complimentary of the number of national and international players within the MCWFC squad. Additionally, the FSA have consulted women’s supporters’ clubs and aim to support current and future WSL clubs to excel their fan base and grow the fan experience. Although this is a case study of one club in the WSL league, it is necessary for other supporter clubs to create and develop a fan base to contribute to the future growth of women’s soccer.

The inherent limitations of the case study methodology pose the problem of generalizability, until further research is presented across all WSL teams. However, the present case study allows further insight into the area of female fandom in sport, as MCWFC demonstrate the largest supporters club in the WSL, are pioneers in the field and their club practices are often highlighted as best practice.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and valuable feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Dolance’s review of Messner, Taking the Field.

2. Radmann and Hedenborg, “Women’s Football Supporter Culture in Sweden’; Pope, and Williams, ‘A Socio-Historical Account of Female Experiences of Football’s Golden Age in England’; and Pfister, Lenneis, and Mintert, ‘Female Fans of Men’s Football”.

3. Pope, “The Love of My Life”.

4. Davis, “Football Fandom and Authenticity”.

5. Hartmann-Tews and Pfister, Sport and Women.

6. Lopez, Women on The Ball.

7. Williams, “The Fastest Growing Sport?”

8. Williams, A Game for Rough Girls?; Williams, ‘“Protect Me From What I Want”’; and Dunn, Female Football Fans.

9. Dunning, Murphy, and Williams, The Roots of Football Hooliganism (RLE Sports Studies)

10. Wann, “Preliminary Validation of the Sport Fan Motivation Scale’; Funk, Ridenger, and Moorman, ‘Exploring Origins of Involvement’; Clark, Apostolopoulou, and Gladden, ‘Real Women Watch Football”; and Pope, The Feminization of Sports Fandom.

11. FA, Women and Girls Football Strategy 2008–2012.

12. FA, Be Part of Football’s Future; Dunn and Welford, Football and the FA Women’s Super League; and Kessel, ‘FA Invests £2 M In New Elite League for Women’.

13. FA, The FA WSL Club Development Plan.

14. Woodhouse, Fielding-Lloyd, and Sequerra, “Big Brother’s Little Sister”.

15. ‘How Much Have Big Stadiums Boosted WSL?’.

16. UK Spectator Sports Industry Report 2020 – Mintel Store.

17. Guest and Luijten, “Fan Culture and Motivation in the Context Of Successful Women’s Professional Team Sports”.

18. Kim, Andrew, and Greenwell, “An Analysis of Spectator Motives and Media Consumption Behaviour in an Individual Combat Sport’; Giulianotti, ‘Supporters, Followers, Fans, and Flaneurs’; Trail, and James, ‘The Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption’; and Dunn, ‘Elite Footballers as Role Models”.

19. Womenssportsfoundation.org.https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wsf-facts-march-2009.pdf.

20. Allison, “Women’s Soccer in The United States”.

21. Whannel, Media Sport Stars.

22. Hall and O’Mahony, “An Empirical Analysis of Gender Differences in Sports Attendance Motives”.

23. Crawford, Consuming Sport.

24. Coombs, and Osborne, “A Case Study of Aston Villa Football Club”.

25. See note 17 above.

26. ‘MCWFC Official Supporters Club Launched’.

27. Glackin, “Contemporary Urban Culture”.

28. Patton, Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods.

29. Braun, and Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology”.

30. Mintert and Pfister, “The FREE Project and the Feminization of Football”.

31. Turner, “Modern English Football Fandom and Hyperreal, ‘Safe’, ‘All-Seater’ Stadia”.

32. Torchia, “An Alternative Football Club in a Liquid Modernity”.

33. Pope and Kirk, “The Role of Physical Education and other Formative Experiences of Three Generations of Female Football Fans”.

34. Williams and Caulfield, ‘“Why Do I Want To Go and Watch That?”’

35. ‘About Us – Football Supporters’ Association’.

36. Dunn, “The Impact of The Supporters’ Trust Movement on Women’s Feelings and Practices of Their Football Fandom”.

37. Parnell, Bond, Widdop, and Cockayne, “Football Worlds”.

38. See note 27 above.

Appendix I

Semi-structured interview guide

Can you start off by letting us know what football have you watched recently?

How much football do you watch live, going to matches in both WSL and male football?

Which teams do you follow?

Why these teams?

And do you follow the same teams on TV?

How much WSL 1 do you watch on TV?

What is it that makes you watch?

Thinking about when you first start watching women’s football live, when did you first attend a WSL 1 game?

How did you find out about the game?

Why did you first go to the game? What was it that attracted you to going?

And what was that first experience of a WSL game like?

What feelings and emotions did you experience in that first game?

Did you experience any negative emotions or feelings?

Following that game did you want to go to further games? Why?

What feelings and emotions did you experience in those games? Did they change from the first game?

How soon after that first experience did you go back? Why?

What was it about the games that drew you back?

Have you ever experienced any negative emotions or feelings when you’ve attended a women’s football match?

What is it about women’s football that you like watching live?

Would you describe yourself as a fan of a particular WSL team?

Why that team? Why not a specific team?

What would make you attend WSL fixtures more?

What motivates you to keep attending WSL 1 fixtures?

As a female do you feel a responsibility to support the women’s game? Why?

Is there anything else you would like to add with regard to attending women’s football matches?

Appendix II

Additional questions below, in support of those above

Please can you explain your current role within the Manchester City Ladies FC supporters club?

How long have you been in that role for?

How have you seen the supporters club grow and/or develop?

What have been the main outcomes of the supporter’s club?

Have you seen a change in the types of members who support the club?

What are your aims and objectives of the supporter’s club?

How could more females be encouraged to attend WSL fixtures?

Can you explain the membership process adopted within the supporter’s club?

What are your thoughts on double headers, for the men’s and women’s team?

What type of atmosphere is created by the supporter’s club for people who want to be a member (live/distant)?