Bristol Rovers look for 'First Time Fans' ahead of Her Game Too Showcase next week
The club have launched their 'First Time Female Fans' initiative to encourage more women to come and support their local club
Last updated 9th Jun 2024
To mark International Women's Day (today, March 8), Bristol Rovers FC has launched an initiative to get 10 'First Time Fans' on board by offering them a free ticket to next week's match against Portsmouth.
The draw for first time female fans has been made possible thanks to the club's collaboration with Her Game Too, with 2023 marking their second year of working in partnership.
The club, together with Her Game Too, want to ensure that 10 women will experience their first football matchday next week (March 18) by offering new potential fans the chance to come along to the game over at The Mem.
HGT founder Caz May said: “We would like to invite 10 new potential female fans to the Portsmouth game, as our guests.
“We have found that one of the main barriers that stop women from attending is they don’t have anyone to go with. Offering them a free ticket and being part of a community of other new supporters will give them the chance to experience a football matchday in a safe environment with us. The hope is that they love it so much that they want to come back again.
“Rovers’ female Season Ticket holder percentage isn’t as high as either the club or ourselves would like it to be and we want to work together to encourage more women to attend to make Bristol Rovers a more diverse and inclusive fanbase.
"We are in regular communication with the club to ensure our equality standards are met. Collaborating on this dedicated fixture as part of our partnership is a great way for us to influence positive change at Bristol Rovers."
Next week's game will see a female-led band - Blue Soul - playing in the FanZone, as well as a female 'powerhouse' playlist of music being played before the game, and a number of competitions, including collaborating with local schools to design their female kit.
The winner of that competition will be handed a prize at the match, and will see their design light up on the big screen during half-time.
From the club, Head of Sales David Bright added: “It will be hard to top last year’s double-header fixtures against Forest Green Rovers’ men’s and women’s teams, but we think this offer will be a huge success.
"The dialogue between HGT and the club doesn’t stop once the activations each season are over. We have end-of-season discussions and learning sessions, we bounce around ideas for the coming season, and we like to be a sounding board for any ideas that the group wants to share. We are looking forward to seeing this idea hopefully grow our fanbase.”
The club’s head of HR, Louise Smith, said: “Bristol is such a diverse, exciting city, and we can’t wait to see the children’s artwork. Football is such a massive part of adult life in Bristol and older children are now seeing it added to their curriculum, so the work that the team from HGT is doing to spread this message at grassroots level, and to those children in junior schools, is so important for the future of fans of the club and personal development in children.”
To apply for their ‘First Time Fan’ tickets - all you need to do is send your request to their email info@hergametoo.co.uk.