Today and across this weekend, the Premier League is celebrating women and girls who take part in Premier League activities, programmes and initiatives as well as women within the workforce.
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. IWD provides an opportunity to understand, learn and celebrate gender equality.
Inspire Inclusion
This year, the theme is #InspireInclusion, which emphasises the vital importance of inclusivity in advancing gender equality. It urges proactive steps to dismantle barriers, confront stereotypes, and build environments that respect all women. This initiative encourages everyone to acknowledge and appreciate the diverse viewpoints and contributions of women, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds.
To mark IWD, the Premier League has released a series of case studies dedicated to female leaders in football. These personal stories highlight the successes of women and young girls, ranging from Helen Gurman talking about her mission to inspire change as CEO of Burnley FC in the Community, to teenager Gloria discussing what being a role model means.
Supporting Communities
The Premier League remains focused on supporting communities, and continues its ongoing commitment to championing and empowering women and girls.
Investing in women’s and girls’ football
The Premier League is investing £21million into women’s and girls’ football between 2022-2025. Within this is £10.5m funding for the grassroots game that includes £5.25m for The FA’s network of Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs), and £3m for a new strategy for the FA Women’s National League.
There are now 73 ETCs which have increased the number of young female players in the England talent pathway from 1,722 to almost 5,000 in under two years.
The Premier League has also invested £182.5m into improving the stadiums and facilities of clubs in the EFL, National League and women’s football pyramid through the Premier League Stadium Fund (formerly Football Stadia Improvement Fund) since 2000. To date, more than 5,350 grants have been provided to 1,030 clubs across 114 leagues.
Premier League Primary Stars Active Allies
As well as shining a light on inspiring women and girls within the game, the Premier League wants to instil positive behaviours in children by growing self-belief in girls and inspiring allyship in boys - so football can be truly everyone's game.
The recent launch of the Premier League Primary Stars Active Allies resources with Nike, is an initiative that aims to empower girls to play football, with advice and support on creating an inclusive school environment, challenging bias within the school community, challenging gender stereotypes and supporting boys to be active allies.
Furthermore, Premier League Primary Stars is helping children to learn through the power of football in more than 19,000 primary schools across England and Wales. A total of 1.1m children engage through digital resources each year, with more than 68,000 teachers now registered for free downloadable lesson plans.
Premier League Changemakers
Premier League Changemakers supports young girls taking part in the Premier League Kicks and Premier League Inspires programmes in 43 club charity organisations across the Premier League and the English Football League. PL Changemakers provides opportunities for girls to develop their personal skills and positive attitudes for leadership.
Premier League Primary Stars Girls’ Kit Scheme
Launched in 2023, the Premier League Girls’ Kit Scheme aims to encourage more young girls across England and Wales to participate in football, and so far by providing 4,000 free kits, highlights Premier League’s continued commitment to increasing numbers even more.