International Women's Day

'Everton means every single emotion I have experienced'

8 Mar 2023

Meet Chandana Roy, an Everton fan from India who believes football is a game for everyone

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This International Women's Day, we hear from inspiring female fans and women working in football to see how the Premier League and our clubs are working to promote gender equality in the game.

Chandana (Everton fan in India)

“Everton is a part of my life. It means every single emotion that I have ever experienced.”

Meet Chandana Roy, an Everton fan from India.

"If you’ve seen Everton play, you will know that their fans literally feel everything - happiness, sadness, frustration, pain, agony, joy, shock," she says. "Literally every emotion that there is. It was love at first sight when I saw them play."

As a female fan of Everton and the Premier League, Chandana feels very much at home and sees a bright future with more girls and women growing to love the game.

"Football is very equal," she says. "I think if you watch a game, you see that the stadiums are pretty filled with both men, women and different genders and it never divides between any of the genders. The football community, not just in India, but across the world, is very wholesome that way.

"I mean, genders never come into play and I think soon in India we are going to see a lot of women supporters and women players because, even at college, I used to be a goalkeeper and football was just as fun and important.

"The games, even for the girls’ game, were just as exciting. We used to have people from the entire college come and watch the game as well. So definitely, I think there is space, there is a lot of space and I think more and more girls will definitely fall in love with the sport when they watch it."

Also in this series

Part 1: 'There's progress, but still room for improvement'
Part 3: 'Those who bullied me now admit they were ignorant'
Part 4: 'Allyship helps change perceptions of women's roles'
Part 5: Premier League clubs celebrate International Women's Day

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