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Goal Diggers FC

Goal Diggers FC is a non-profit club in London founded by Fleur Cousens. Its mission is to make football more available and accessible to all women and non-binary people, regardless of previous experience or ability.

Why was Goal Diggers FC created? 

I was tired of hearing that football was a man’s game. The main aim of Goal Diggers FC is to show that football doesn’t need to be gendered – football is a sport for everyone.

In order to make Goal Diggers FC as inclusive and accessible as possible, we kept membership prices low and teams are based on availability instead of ability, with matches being open to all members on a first sign-up basis.

We find that this fosters a uniquely encouraging environment free from the inter-player rivalry. It also means players have their own agency over how much football they get to play each week and at what ability level. 

Doing 'self-affirming' well

What challenges have you faced when launching this initiative, and how did you overcome them? 

When we created Goal Diggers FC, we decided to make it a non-ability-based club. From the start, it was open to all women and non-binary people who wanted to play football, regardless of how good they were. We were one of the first teams creating spaces for adult beginners. Central to Goal Diggers FC’s ethos is the idea of ‘availability not ability’. Whilst we can now see clubs like these around much more, this idea was ground-breaking at the time. 

Pitch space has also been a big challenge. Currently pitches – especially in London – are booked on a first come, first served basis: a system that prevents teams that are new to the sport from getting a look in. We recognised that change is urgently needed. We argue there should be quotas on pitch booking systems to ensure women’s teams and community groups are given the space to grow. Goal Diggers FC have been campaigning for years for a review to this outdated booking system. 

How important is the self-affirming aspect of Goal Diggers FC? 

It’s central to what we do. Goal Diggers FC’s inclusivity-first approach has meant we have always attracted an incredibly diverse LGBTQ+ community. The reason for this is that when you’re at Goal Diggers FC, you feel like you’ll always belong as long as you want to. This means it’s one of the safest places to be yourself.  

When we created Goal Diggers FC, we decided to make it a non-ability-based club. From the start, it was open to all women and non-binary people who wanted to play football, regardless of how good they were.

We do this by making football more available and accessible to all women and non-binary people, regardless of experience or ability. We strive to create an environment in which everyone is respected and treated equally, regardless of race, gender, class, sexuality, age, religion or disability. We believe we can achieve this if everyone involved in the club bears that in mind, so on and off the pitch we: 

  • Maintain a positive and respectful attitude with our teammates, opposition, referees, coaches and ourselves. Everyone feeling good matters more than winning! 
  • Use clear, inclusive and gender-neutral language.  
  • Keep in mind how much space we take up, individually and as a group, with our bodies and with our voices. Respect each other’s physical space and boundaries. 
  • Remember that others have different backgrounds, cultures and identities to us. 

What would you say to other people thinking of starting their own group or changing something in their local areas?  

The most important thing is to establish your ethos from the start and ensure that everyone that becomes a member buys into it. 

Once you’ve done that, you need to make sure that you continue to attract as many people as you can. This is something that has evolved continuously for us. We began relying on word-of-mouth promotion. This continues now – and our network is bigger than ever. We also have had good successes through local newspapers, social media and through our grants. 

And finally, don’t think you are finished. We’re continuously evolving and trying to improve the club. For us, it’s about making sure we keep pushing to create the spaces that no-one else is providing. A big focus for the short-term is to increase our provision of football specifically for our players over the age of 50 and make sure that the structure of the club is strong and sustainable. 

Find out more about Goal Diggers FC