Kilvington, Daniel
ORCID: 0000-0003-3361-0860, Liston, Katie
ORCID: 0000-0003-3898-0166, Fletcher, Thomas
ORCID: 0000-0002-4618-5480, Black, Jack
ORCID: 0000-0002-1595-5083, Lynn, Theo
ORCID: 0000-0001-9284-7580, Sinclair, Gary
ORCID: 0000-0002-2181-7736, Kearns, Colm
ORCID: 0000-0001-6819-8488 and Doidge, Mark
ORCID: 0000-0002-6858-3914
(2026)
Exploring online sexism and misogyny in women’s professional English football.
Soccer and Society, 27
(2-3).
pp. 705-719.
ISSN 1743-9590
Abstract
The increased professionalization of women’s football means that women players are now competing in front of sold-out capacity crowds with millions of viewers watching. This enhanced popularity has increased online traffic relating to women’s football. Some of these discussions are abusive, and potentially harmful. Nonetheless, while a growing body of research has investigated online harms in football, most of the attention has centred on men’s football. This article importantly focuses on women’s football. We examine qualitative findings with 30 current and former professional women’s players to understand how online sexism, misogyny and wider harms, are experienced and dealt with. Our findings demonstrate that players are vulnerable to online harms and often try to dismiss it as an occupational hazard. We suggest that stakeholders should devote more time and resources to better protect players against such harms. The article concludes by offering some recommendations for reform and suggestions for future research.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article (Published) |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Subjects: | Medical Sciences > Sports sciences Social Sciences > Gender |
| DCU Faculties and Centres: | DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School |
| Publisher: | Routledge |
| Official URL: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660... |
| Copyright Information: | Authors |
| ID Code: | 32807 |
| Deposited On: | 30 Jun 2026 13:51 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 30 Jun 2026 13:51 |
Documents
Full text available as:
Preview |
PDF
- Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 750kB |
Metrics
Altmetric Badge
Dimensions Badge
Downloads
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Archive Staff Only: edit this record