Welcome to the Club!

Welcome to the first edition of The Cherry on Top!

I have been overwhelmed with the response to this newsletter since launching it on Friday. I would just like to take the opportunity to thank you all again, and ask that if you enjoy this newsletter, to share it with anyone else you think may be interested. It is heartening to see so much interest in women’s sport content, and I hope this community can go from strength to strength.

Last week, while I wasn’t setting up this newsletter, I attended the launch of EA Sports FC 24. It is the first version of the football game since the acrimonious split between EA and FIFA, which means fresh branding and shiny new features. One of the big talking points around the launch was the full inclusion of women’s football in the game, something that has been a very long time coming.

There’s never been a period in my life where I haven’t been football mad, and as a child, I would try to consume content from both the men’s and women’s game in as many ways possible. This meant tuning into Match of the Day religiously, pouring over official guides before every major international tournament, and utilising our hefty desktop computer to stay up to date with the latest news.

It was difficult to access information on women’s football, but it was possible, if you tried hard enough. The most significant women’s football matches were put on TV, too. But there was a place where it was absolutely impossible to consume women’s football content – the FIFA football video game franchise.

I loved playing FIFA, but it really did pain me that there was no option to play as or take charge of a women’s team. Even in Career Mode, where you could make a virtual version of yourself and become the manager of your favourite team, there was no option to be a woman. The message from the game was clear – women are not part of football.

I have a vivid memory of being in Tesco with my mum and complaining about the lack of my favourite female players on FIFA. My mum suggested that I write to Prince William, President of England’s Football Association, to see if he could do anything about it. I have no idea what would have happened if I’d actually followed this advice, as I chose to ignore it and wait for the arrival of women’s football on FIFA instead.

It ended up being quite a lengthy wait, and my childhood dream only came true long after I stopped playing FIFA. In fairness, women’s football has been added gradually to the game in recent years, but it is only with the release of FC 24 that it is now included in every single feature.

Why is this of significance? I’m aware many readers might have never played FIFA, and have only stuck with this newsletter so far out of sheer politeness. But, with millions of people playing the game each month, it is actually one of the main ways in which football content is consumed across the world.

It’s possible to acquire an encyclopaedic knowledge of football through FIFA, now FC 24. Information about every league, every team and every player is available on the game, shaping modern football fandom in ways never seen before. As such, the prior exclusion of women’s football was essentially denying it access to a highly-engaged audience of millions.

Now, women’s teams and female players are set to be inescapable on FC 24. The encyclopaedic football knowledge of gamers will be expanded to include female players. They may even choose a favourite female star, and by extension, start supporting a women’s team.

This will hopefully set off a snowball effect, starting with a positive impact on viewership, match attendance, merchandise sales and participation in the grassroots game, leading to more sponsorship money from brands and increased investment from governing bodies.

In turn, this could speed up the professionalisation of the women’s game, and the world-class facilities and medical care that comes with it. Of course, this is a very optimistic take, but I do think that the inclusion of women’s football on FC 24 could have as big an impact on the women’s game as the Lionesses winning Euro 2022 did in England.

And as always, representation is incredibly important. I mentioned that when I was a child, the lack of women’s football on FIFA sent a clear message that I was not welcome in the sport. But now, at least in the virtual world, women’s football has been put on an equal playing field. There is no reason why this message from the virtual world can’t soon seep into the real world.

Winning Women

Celebrating the impressive achievements of female athletes across the world

• Congratulations to Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, who smashed the women’s marathon world record in Berlin over the weekend. She completed the race in an incredible 2:11:53, which I think most people would be happy with as a half marathon time. To make Assefa’s achievements even more astonishing, she only started competing over a marathon distance in April last year.

• Another amazing story in triathlon, with Britain’s Beth Potter becoming world champion just six years after taking up the sport. Prior to that, she was a full-time physics teacher who competed internationally out of term-time. Potter’s victory has secured her a place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

• Europe retained the Solheim Cup after drawing 14-14 with the US on Sunday. I was also confused about how a draw meant Europe got the bragging rights, but it’s because the trophy goes to the defending champions in the event of a deadlock.

Bits and Bobs

Women’s sport content that you may have missed

• Megan Rapinoe called time on her international career on Sunday, after the US defeated South Africa 2-0. The 38-year-old still has to finish the NWSL season with OL Reign, but it was lovely to see her get the recognition she deserved on the stage where she had the most impact. It’s hard to summarise Rapinoe’s extraordinary career into just a few words, so instead I’ll share this article by Sandra Herrera that I enjoyed.

• The Women’s Super League is back this weekend, which means I’ll be in my happy place on Sunday watching Arsenal play Liverpool at the Emirates. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems to be a quiet build up to this season? I did see this advert this morning, however.

• Elsewhere in football, players across the world made it clear they stood with their Spanish counterparts, while NWSL team Kansas City Current revealed plans for the first stadium in the world built specifically for a professional women’s sports team. I also loved the below photo of Australia’s Women’s World Cup hero Cortnee Vine visiting a school in Sydney.

• French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has confirmed that athletes from the host country are banned from wearing hijab at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Such an exclusionary and discriminatory policy is unfortunately nothing new in French sport (or society). I recommend Shireen Ahmed's insightful article for further reading on this topic.

• Britain’s Jess Hawkins recently became the first woman since 2018 to test a Formula 1 car. If you’re interested in F1, I recommend taking a look at More Than Equal, who are aiming to find and develop a female F1 world champion.

• I’m really loving Sporty AF, a six-part digital series fronted by AJ Odudu to celebrate the stories of Team GB’s female Olympians. There’s been two episodes so far – one on the rise of women’s sport, and the other on the menstrual cycle – and has featured stars such as Jazmin Sawyers and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix.

• Congratulations to the Women’s Sport Collective, which recently announced it will be supported by Sport England for the next three years. I highly recommend any woman working in sport join the group. Members get access to monthly online networking meetings and in-person events, webinars, monthly newsletters and lots more.

• The Women’s Sports Alliance and Surrey County Cricket Club have recently unveiled a new County Membership, which offers access to women’s fixtures at The Oval, regular women’s cricket round-ups, video content and a bespoke membership card.

That’s all for today’s newsletter. If you enjoyed it, please share with your networks and anyone else you think may be interested. Thank you!