Against the Odds

I loved sports as I was growing up. Not football, though, because at my school in the Northwest of England, football was only for boys. Girls played netball in summer and hockey in winter, but there was no professional future in either, so we played just for the fun and the camaraderie, to enjoy the exertion and the sense of being strong and quick. We played through rain and snow, the pain of pulled muscles, the blisters and bruises.

Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to photographing the women’s team at a community sports club in Glasgow. I admired their power, skill and physicality, their laughter and friendships. I also admired the way they turned out for training on cold, dark evenings over long, wet winters. They struggled to put together a team for matches, then played in the mud before tiny crowds of mainly family and friends, sometimes suffering devastating defeats and disappointment.

Although elite women’s football is getting more attention and funding these days, the reality at the grassroots is still underfunding and underdevelopment. It is not yet a plausible profession for women, but still they play — against the odds.