The new group for all Scottish women’s football fans (no matter your gender!)

Hibernian Women's Fans

The SFU has been working to support the football authorities and help promote the women's game by bringing together women's clubs' fans from across Scotland.  To that end, we’ve held a number of meetings with representatives of women’s fans’ groups and have also recorded a unique and inspiring, joint interview with both Celtic and Rangers’ supporters’ groups leaders.

What we’ve found is that while the demographics of women’s football supporters are slightly different from the men’s game, there are actually relatively few organised groups of fans at each women’s club.  We know that the numbers attending women’s games are relatively small compared to men’s football, but our experience is that these fans are equally, arguably more, passionate about their sport than their male equivalents.  The desire to grow the women’s game is obvious in every conversation, but is tempered by the lack of a visible structure on which to base future growth. 

In addition, there are undoubtedly issues that affect the women’s game more than the men’s.  In particular, while on the surface everything is rosy, there seems to be only passing interest from some clubs in their women’s teams and it can be a real fight simply to get (by way of example) the men’s side of the club to share their own women’s team’s social media posts.  In addition, attempts to create/buy merchandise relating to the women’s game (with which to encourage girls and boys to follow women’s football) fail.  On one occasion, someone who asked at their club shop for anything to do with the women’s football team was directed to ‘go over there and you’ll find the pink hats.’

The SFU has always championed the women’s game.  As our website shows, we have a large team, augmented by Vivien McLaren as our Ambassador for women’s football. She is one of the most important people in the development of the women’s game in Scotland and, like the key people in Scottish women's football, is wholeheartedly behind our campaign to get more women’s game fans into a coherent group.

If you would like to get involved, firstly please become a member of the SFU. It is free and will take less than 30 seconds. Click here to join. Secondly, if you’d like help in forming a women’s fans’ group for your team, please email us at: ops@thesfu.co.uk with your contact details and the club that you support. . Speak to your fellow fans, not just from your club but from whoever you’re playing against that day and tell them that the future will be brighter if we stand together.

Neve McHattie, Women’s Football Lead, the SFU