Pitch providers continue to profit off the community, says newly-formed grassroots football collective made up of teams from across London. The clubs have come together to form Equal Playing Field, a campaign fighting the unfair monopolisation of football pitches.
Equal Playing Field said in a statement: “The control these third-party companies exert over hundreds of school and community pitches across London has exacerbated a deeply unequal playing field. Grassroots football, which has long been a vital space for community-building and inclusion, is now at risk of exclusion, overpricing, and exploitation.”
“Teams that try to speak up about these injustices face intimidation, with some leagues and teams banned from using facilities and receiving hostile messages after raising concerns.”
The collective calling for equal access to football facilities urges key decision makers in the capital to reevaluate contracts with third-party companies to ensure fair and affordable access to public sports facilities. The new campaign hopes to see the prioritisation of grassroots women’s teams, trans-inclusive clubs, and marginalised football communities when allocating pitch space.
Research carried out by Equal Playing Field found that one pitch hire company has booking rights over a large number of spaces throughout London and has repeatedly cancelled long-standing bookings in favour of men’s leagues. The same company, Equal Playing Field says, increases the cost of pitch rentals to players by at least 30% an hour.
‘History has the potential to repeat itself’
Hannah Thornley, founder of inclusive football league Clubs United, says: “The Football Association banned women from playing football for fifty years – as well as blocking working-class players from accessing the sport. Here, history has the potential to repeat itself, if decision makers stand-by and let providers profit off grassroots football.”
One of the clubs driving the action is Enjoy FC, a football collective based in East London. The team champions inclusive football for women and non-cisgender players, hosting casual matches for all abilities.
Ellie Vigors, founder Enjoy FC, shared via a press release, “A number of clubs, including us, have come forward to present and relate to the same cut-throat emails and text messages from insensitive providers, kicking us off our pitches and telling us to ‘not play that card’ in response to being replaced with a men’s league. We’ve spoken with several schools who use these third-party booking platforms and they had no idea that their pitches are being hired out unfairly.“
“The unequal distribution of pitch space is stunting the growth of grassroots football for women and non-cisgender players, and perpetuating huge inequities in the sport. There should be regulations and quotas in place so that teams who are on the pitches reflect the community.”
The Halfway Line sat down for an exclusive interview with Vigors to hear more about the important movement.
Photo by Kay Law.
‘We’ve had enough’
Vigors talked The Halfway Line through what has happened to Enjoy FC, explaining how the club had their pitch reserved from April to November of this year, but at short notice had their booking cancelled.
Vigors said they were recently “Kicked off our long standing block-booked pitch, and replaced by a corporate men’s league.”
This is not a one-off incident; Sky News reported on a similar issue back in 2022. “This has happened to seven other clubs that have the evidence to also speak up,” she continued.
“Private third party companies have been monopolising and profiting heavily from public school pitches and mistreating us teams for a few years now, and we’ve had enough,” Vigors reiterated.
“This is not an isolated incident,” the Enjoy FC founder added, highlighting why Equal Playing Field has now been brought to life.
‘That just left us with nowhere to play’
Vigors highlighted “We have no choice but to book through them in the first place, as well, which is an issue that we’re also addressing here.”
Detailing the problems which have arisen, Vigors clarified that Enjoy FC received an email on the day of their usual slot, telling them they had been removed from the pitch due to a men’s team ‘needing’ to use it. “That just left us with nowhere to play,” she confirmed.
Vigors said that Enjoy FC were offered a smaller, alternative pitch by the third party organiser, but it was in a different part of London to where her club trains, as well as being available only late at night, which would inevitably bring about safety concerns for those attending.
Regarding the already-positive impact of the campaign, she said “We’ve essentially come together as a whole footballing community.”
Equal Playing Field wants answers. “Why has all of this space been able to be monopolised and taken up? Why don’t we have equal, good quality, peak access to football pitches where we want to play?“
“Why are they failing to help and listen to us?” Equal Playing Field asks of national governing bodies like the Football Association (FA), and the Football Foundation.
‘We’re always playing second fiddle to the men’s game’
The issues outlined by Vigors in this interview predominantly affect women’s, transgender, and non-binary teams. Enjoy FC, for example, prides itself on providing a safe space in the community for marginalised people.
Addressing the impact of the discrepancies when it comes to pitch access, Vigors told The Halfway Line “It’s not just us being able to play, it’s people’s social lives and their mental health as well that’s being affected here.”
As someone who plays football herself, Vigors also aired her justified frustrations surrounding the misogynistic attitudes which are often exerted in conversations about women’s sports. “We’re still playing catch up after 50 years of being banned from football,” the Enjoy FC founder noted.
Providing an overview of the anxieties and grievances these occurrences continually fuel, she stated “We’re always playing second fiddle to the men’s game, which is just, sadly, an expectation that we have.”
According to Vigors, some women’s clubs even train outside of football pitches so they can make use of the floodlights being used by men’s teams.
“We’re not asking for a lot. We just want to create some change, create some awareness.”
Clubs in the Equal Playing Field collective include: Enjoy FC, Clubs United, Peaches FC, Goal Diggers FC, Hells Bells FC, Slugs FC, and some clubs who do not want to be named due to a third party threatening further removal from pitch space.
The Halfway Line will be following this story closely and providing updates as they happen.
