Roker Report partners with #HerGameToo to campaign for equality in football

Regular Roker Report readers will have noticed that our coverage of women’s football has increased markedly in the last few months as Sunderland AFC Ladies have started their new season in the FA Women’s Championship.

We are providing pre-match previews, live-tweeting Sunderland games, publishing post-match coverage, and breaking new ground by hosting an innovative new “Lasses Podcast Live” on Twitter Spaces.

Today we’re taking another step forward, formally announcing a partnership with the wonderful #HerGameToo campaign to fight the sexism and misogyny that sadly still surrounds our club and our national game.

Her Game Too was formed in May 2021 by 12 female football fans, who wanted to raise awareness of sexist abuse in football and to also encourage fellow female fans to share their experiences. The original campaign video was released on FA Cup Final Day on Saturday 15th May 2021, and it amassed one million views within the first 24 hours on Twitter.

Roker Report joins the campaign’s other official partners, including football clubs like Gateshead, Peterborough United, Huddersfield Town, and Exeter City, and organisations including Fair Game UK and the Diabetes Football Community.

The campaign’s aims are to:

• Create Awareness
• Educate
• Research
• Develop a strong sense of community
• Create regular content to champion women in football (players, staff AND fans).
• Create strong relationships with clubs
• Create strong relationships with club trusts and communities
• Have a presence at football grounds and sports bars to build a more welcoming environment for young girls and women
• Continue to campaign against sexism in football
• Continue to campaign against online abuse

If you have experienced sexism or misogynistic abuse at or around football matches, when playing the game, or on football-related social media, you can use their report form on their website.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Roker Report is committing itself to work towards these aims in everything we say, do, and write. We will continue to work with Sunderland AFC and fan groups including our friends at the Branch Liaison Council and the Red & White Army to further the interests of Sunderland AFC Ladies and female fans and players across the club and our region. We invite the club, fans groups, and other fan media organisations to join us in this important work.

Lucy Ford, Co-Founder of HerGameToo, spoke to Roker Report and told us about the origins of the campaign.

Her Game Too is a movement set up by 12 female football fans with the aim to raise awareness of the sexist abuse in football. Our aim to tackle the misogynistic culture surrounding football so we can create a better and more inclusive atmosphere for female fans for now and the next generation

Lucy also acknowledged the work that Roker Report has done so far in championing women’s football and the cause of equality within our football community:

We are delighted to be partnering with Roker Report, the number one fansite and podcast for Sunderland AFC. Roker Report are also big supporters of Sunderland AFC Ladies and they dedicate a weekly Twitter Space to the Ladies team with the aim to continue to raise the profile of the women’s game.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Sunderland fan and YouTuber, Alyssa Rowell, who is part of the Her Game Too campaign, also welcomed the new partnership with Roker Report.

Partnering with Her Game Too, is a massive opportunity to raise awareness to the reality of sexism in a footballing environment which may go under the radar of a lot of football fans. I’m really excited to see this partnership underway and the positive impact from it

Information about Her Game Too will now feature in all of Roker Report’s coverage of women’s football, joining the wonderful Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen as one of only two official partners of Sunderland AFC’s biggest fanzine and podcast.

But we know that there’s still a way to go until we here at Roker Report can live up fully to those aims and provide equal coverage to the Lasses and give equal voice to female Sunderland fans.

Photo by Chris Fryatt

So we would like to take this opportunity to invite new voices from a diverse range of backgrounds, regardless of gender, sexuality, age, race, nationality, or location - to get involved with Roker Report, especially but not exclusively fans of the women’s game who can contribute to our coverage of the Lady Black Cats as they challenge to get back to the WSL.

Do you think you have something unique to say and the passion to match it? Get in touch at rokerreport@yahoo.co.uk or DM us on Twitter.

#HerGameToo #HawayTheLasses