Women's football & diversity: 'We don't want anyone feeling it's not their game'

"We don't ever privation anybody to consciousness similar it's not their game, due to the fact that of the mode they look oregon the colour of their skin. We would beryllium devastated if we felt similar we were contributing to that."

It was a tourney that made past - breaking attendance records and showing however overmuch women's shot has grown successful the past 5 years.

But successful 1 precise disposable area, it besides sparked a much hard speech connected the evident deficiency of progression - the taste diverseness of the squad...

In the past fewer years, the fig of black, Asian and number taste players successful an England squad for a large tourney has decreased from six successful 2007 to 2 mixed-heritage players astatine the 2019 World Cup.

There were 3 mixed-heritage players- Jess Carter, Nikita Parris and Demi Stokes - successful the Euro 22 squad, but nary were portion of the mostly unchanged starting 11.

"Within the squad, this an important contented and we're each alert of it," Williamson, told BBC Sport astir the deficiency of diversity. "There's thing that we tin bash close present to alteration it.

Williamson says the players person "asked those questions" of what the "higher powers" are doing to code the deficiency of practice and marque women's shot much inclusive.

"The visibility, the accessibility, each of those things from the bottommost request to beryllium amended truthful that we don't suffer the diverseness of the game."

At the Women's World Cup successful 2019, Stokes and Parris were the lone non-white players successful England's 23-player squad. In the men's World Cup squad the twelvemonth before, determination were 12 players from the 23 - celebrated arsenic "representing modern, multicultural England".

Compared with the men's game, the excavation of black, Asian and number taste players to take from successful women's shot is simply a batch smaller.

It is estimated that the proportionality of players successful the Women's Super League is little - between 10-15% - compared with astir 33% successful the Premier League.

In 2021, Baroness Sue Campbell, the Football Association's manager of women's football, told BBC Sport the contented is linked to accessibility.

"It's not inclusive enough. And it's not divers enough, and we cognize it," she said astatine the time.

Nearly 2 years on, Baroness Campbell told BBC Sport the FA is making "good headway" with its caller Discover My Talent programme, acceptable up successful concern with the EFL Trust.

"That's radical going into those inner-city areas that possibly accepted shot clubs person not reached," she said.

Arsenal and England's Lotte Wubben-Moy has utilized her societal media platforms to talk retired astir the deficiency of diverseness successful women's shot before.

"I'm from London, I spot a batch of deprivation," she told BBC Sport. "I spot a batch of young children who don't person opportunities. And portion I consciousness similar I person work to speech astir it, I deliberation everyone does."

"If [young girls] privation to prosecute shot they should person entree to academies and centres of excellence to instrumentality that adjacent step."

"I'm not going to beryllium present and accidental I consciousness immoderate hardship. I'm white, I person specified a monolithic privilege and I admit that, which is portion of the crushed wherefore I consciousness similar I person specified a work besides to propulsion for much alteration to let young, black, Asian, immoderate kid to beryllium capable to spot idiosyncratic similar them playing football. You've got to spot it to judge it," said Wubben-Moy.

'England's Euro winners did not animate me'

England observe winning the Women's Euros astatine Wembley

Sapphire McIntosh grew up playing successful Leeds United's younker teams. She says watching the England squad astatine the Euros reminded her of playing astatine Leeds erstwhile she was younger.

"I was the lone achromatic miss successful the under-16s improvement squad. I wasn't made to consciousness comfortable.

"[The Euros] conscionable reminded maine of playing footy there. Even astatine university, that's beauteous overmuch however it ever looked, similar the England women's team," she told BBC Sport.

McIntosh says during her archetypal twelvemonth astatine Leeds, nary of the different players talked to her, but she continued playing retired of sheer emotion for the game, contempt it taking "bravery".

Growing up, she was a immense Rachel Yankey fan, but says present determination are less players to animate girls of colour, making the athletics little relatable for them.

"I don't truly cognize if I look astatine the England women's squad and spell 'oh, this is me, this is inspiring'. That's not truly wherever I get my inspiration.

"France had a divers radical of women and a batch of achromatic women there. And that made maine lukewarm to them a spot more," she said.

McIntosh, who present lives successful London, says she besides struggled to get to grooming and matches - with accessibility different obstruction to amended diversity.

Kay Cossington, the FA's caput of women's subordinate improvement and talent, told She Kicks mag successful 2020 that "inclusivity was compromised arsenic we attempted to crook much professional", adding "we had 52 centres of excellence; that was excessively galore for the extent of endowment astatine the time".

With 52 centres reduced to 30 - and with galore of the centres that remained based successful agrarian areas - a batch of the black, Asian and number taste players players from large cities were travelling 2 oregon 3 hours to get to training.

Goalkeeper Aman Dosanj signed for Arsenal's academy erstwhile she was 16 years old. In 1999, she became the archetypal British South-Asian subordinate to correspond England astatine immoderate level, playing an U16s tournament.

She says she experienced racism passim her career, from microaggressions to being called radical slurs portion she was playing.

"You request to retrieve that careless of whether you're connected a shot pitch, oregon distant wherever you are, our contention enters a country earlier we do."

"I tin spot wherefore truthful galore parents are frightened to enactment their kids into that benignant of hostile environment."

And those environments aren't conscionable a happening of the past. In 2017, the FA apologised to England players Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence for racially discriminatory remarks made by sacked England women's brag Mark Sampson. It was a high-profile lawsuit that made headlines for much than a year.

In 2021, erstwhile Lioness Anita Asante, who was playing successful Sampson's England squad astatine the time, told BBC Sport: "For young girls from akin backgrounds watching that, they would person astir apt been disheartened to person seen the antagonistic interaction it had connected those individuals and besides the actions astatine the clip of the squad.

"That cognition oregon deficiency of enactment for the idiosyncratic experiencing a signifier of favoritism oregon racism to the federation publicly, is not going to person a affirmative representation oregon interaction to young people."

Baroness Campbell says she is present assured the FA has "tackled the taste issues" wrong coaching.

"We're truly focused connected making definite that civilization is welcoming and respectful of antithetic radical from antithetic backgrounds. We've done a batch of manager acquisition and manager improvement internally.

"As overmuch arsenic we tin negociate it, we're getting it close and we're precise vigilant if it's not right," she told BBC Sport.

'Every household is antithetic - the flaws are successful the system'

England's Chloe Kelly scores the extremity to assistance England bushed Germany and triumph Euro 2022

Dosanj, who wrote her assemblage dissertation connected the deficiency of British South Asian footballers, says it's important radical don't solely absorption connected taste barriers erstwhile talking astir the deficiency of representation.

"We're not a monolith. Every household is going to beryllium wholly different."

"So galore radical look astatine the occupation of under-representation of thing and they're ever trying to look astatine faults successful the group. 'Asians are excessively small, they're excessively frail. They lone attraction astir education, the religion…'

"We request to halt looking astatine what's incorrect successful a radical commencement looking astatine what's incorrect with the system. There are immense flaws successful the system. What are we doing to amended ourselves astir anti-racism due to the fact that anti-racism is simply a practice," she said.

The FA has "emerging endowment centres," said Baroness Campbell, "which means we've present got astir 3 times the scope we utilized to person with determination endowment centres.

"You can't look astatine the apical and say, 'OK, these are the issues'. It's excessively late, you request to commencement astatine the bottom."