Famous author buys share in Lewes FC

The campaigner was tempted to journey to the South Coast when she read about the club's 'See Us As We Are' campaign, which asks that women players and women's football not be treated as smaller versions of male players and the men's game. The club says, 'See Us As We Are' calls for an explicit recognition of the unique female characteristics of women's football, be that its players, fans, coaching, marketing or governance. Indeed the very meaning of women's football, and therefore its power, is not as a version of men's football'.

Commenting in her Substack that, 'I don't think its any secret that I'm not exactly a fan of football', Caroline nevertheless watched a women's game.... and was completely won over. The author wrote to her 52K followers that, '...it was actually really lovely! The crowd wasn't huge as it was a preseason friendly, but I can confirm there were far more women there than at the Fulham match I went to, and there were also more dogs, since the Dripping pan (home of Lewes FC) is dog-friendly!'

Criado Perez went on to say, 'As well as being the first club to equalise pay and resources between their male and female teams Lewes FC (or, as they call themselves, The Rooks) are also fully fan-owned (anyone can become an owner) and have a strong ethos of giving back to their community. One of their male team members set up what is now a thriving community garden (Player of the Match gets whatever is in season); they don’t take sponsorship from gambling companies; they have designated breastfeeding stations (no need to feed in the toilets at the Dripping Pan) they have a pretty amazing enormous statue of a couple of lesbian pirates overlooking their new fancy pitch — they won a grant from the Premier League Stadium Fund to install the pitch thanks to their pioneering work on pushing women’s football forward. And of course the new pitch benefited the men’s team too. It’s almost like, with equality everyone wins?'

So impressed was the activist with Lewes FC that she then encouraged her followers to become owners of the club for just £50 a year as she did, stressing 'the Rooks cannot rely on their men's team to fill in the funding gaps', and contrasting Lewes FC Women with Manchester United's women's team.

The club said, 'We are delighted and honoured that Caroline has joined the club's ownership because of an alignment of values. We are fed up with the marginalisation of women in football, and strive to deminstrate an alternative and fairer way of running a football club'.

Lewes FC Women's next home game is against Gwalia United on Sunday 15th September. Bring your canine friends!