All eyes have been on women’s football, and on the England team as the winners of the UEFA Women’s Euros in Switzerland. The players are often held up as role models but is the pressure to inspire greater on women compared to men? Professor Stacey Pope from our Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences has looked into this.
The Women’s Euro 2025 has shone a spotlight on women’s football in what has been labelled a ‘new age’ of greater gender equality in media visibility. A predominant narrative in women’s football is that professional women athletes are positive role models for girls. But does this pressure to be role models place unequal expectations on women players?
Former Wales captain and UEFA vice-president Laura McAllister stated that the squad was full of “fabulous role models”. Poland coach Nina Patalon commented that: “My team has presented something that can be a fertiliser for little girls to fall in love with football. They are role models.” In many marketing campaigns, role modelling is suggested a key element of what women’s sport has to offer in ways that men’s sport does not or cannot.
My research, conducted with colleagues Mississippi State University and Leeds Beckett University, examined fan perceptions of women professional players as role models and how gendered assumptions inform these. Gendered expectations placed on women players as role models could be seen as another example of gender inequality in a career pathway that – even for elite professional players – incorporates much hidden and unpaid labour.
We carried out 102 in-depth interviews with fans of the England and United States national teams.
Role modelling for love of the game
Many fans felt that women were naturally giving of their time and effort to fans. This role modelling took place not only when girls saw players competing in games, but also when they interacted with fans during public appearances, at football camps or on social media.
Women were seen as selfless, accessible, relatable, sacrificial, and passionate, qualities that align with definitions of femininity as caring and giving to others.
Some fans suggested that women played out of the love of their sport, rather than the expectation of financial reward, although they wished women athletes were paid more. Fans we spoke to said:
“I don’t think they are ever going to get too big for their boots. I don’t think they’re egos, like the men’s team. They don’t get paid as much, they are doing it because they love it, and I think they acknowledge how important it is.” (England fan)
Fans also praised women players for being accessible, or available to meet and talk to fans, often while giving autographs and posing for photos. In being accessible, players enabled emotional connections to fans, who felt that they knew and could get close to women footballers in ways that they could not with men players.
While players are not directly compensated for their use of time in fan engagement activities, some fans suggested they happily and willingly give it. One England fan said:
“All the players are really good in terms of spending time with the girls and are happy for autographs and photos and so that’s a really good part of the game…I think that’s a really good way of bringing young girls into the sport and giving them the opportunity to see those role models or their heroes close up.”
In valuing these close interactions with players, some fans expected this free emotional labour.
Such narratives shift responsibility for addressing gender inequalities away from owners, managers, media and corporations and instead placing this at the individual level. Players are then viewed as responsible for altering young women’s goals and aspirations to play football.
Role modelling as inequality
There were some fans who saw role modelling as a form of labour that was implemented because women are expected to be caring. These fans felt that there were greater expectations to be role models placed on women compared to men, and in already unequal resource environments.
The narrative of women’s role modelling for girls that is frequently reported in the media and marketing could be seen to overshadow players’ athletic talent and work. When the value of women’s football is presented as only or primarily about inspiring the next generation, women’s athleticism is devalued, presumed to be lacking and not a selling point for women’s football.
Women players face pressures not only to excel at their sport but also to work towards change for other women, with some suggesting this added expectation was unfair to women players.
Accessibility of players
Many fans of women’s football are motivated by a commitment to gender equality and fighting for change. Yet moves towards equality in resources and investment may change how accessible the players will be to fans in the future. It remains to be seen how fans will adapt to this, while the players enjoy greater compensation, sponsorship opportunities, training resources, (inter)national attention and career stability.
The future of women’s football could look more like men’s football, with women, like men, living increasingly remote and managed lives away from fans. This may not be what the fans or players truly desire.
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