Norfolk football coach says work's needed to bring equality to football

England's World Cup kicks off on Saturday, with Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses hoping to repeat last year's success in the Euro's

Author: Tom ClabonPublished 17th Jul 2023

The Head Coach of a football club in Norfolk is telling us greater action is needed to ensure the women's game becomes equal to the men's

The appeal comes as England's World Cup kicks off on Saturday, with Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses hoping to repeat last year's success in the Euro's

"There needs to be more equality in the game"

Matthew Smith is head-coach of Caister Ladies Football Club

"My personal opinion is there needs to be more equality in the game. The women's game is growing at a rate, where it needs to be recognised at. There are lots of young girls who are professional or semi-professional, but need have a second or third job to be able to motivate themselves financially to be able to follow their dreams.

"I think there's a real difficulty to get major sponsorships for foundations and places we can go to, to play football. For example, the 3G pitches aren't cheap to create for teams. We are very lucky as the Parish Council have been very supportive of us and other local teams.

"We just need more general support- more people coming down on Sunday"

"Norfolk has become really vibrant with female footballers coming from under 16 year old teams to adult football. So there's a real push for it.

"We just need more general support- more people coming down on Sunday to watch women's football. It's not all about money- it's just about enjoying it and seeing that people are clapping you on. I think that's more supportive than any financial thing you could ask for.

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