Football Beyond Borders Film Aims to Help Girls ‘Break the Grass Ceiling’ in Football

With less than a week to go until the start of the Women’s Football World Cup, Football Beyond Borders – an education and social inclusion charity – is premiering a new campaign film which will present a new version of football that puts teenage girls at the centre of the experience. 

The film has been produced and directed by LOOSE - director at Stink films and creative director for Fred Again - and features young girls from a range of backgrounds and with different interests coming together to play football.

Designed to force the audience to reconsider the assumptions and associations they have with football and how these can cause barriers for teenage girls, the film is being released alongside new research from the charity which reveals that girls’ interest in football is not translating from screen to squad. 46% of teen girls say they are watching more football than ever before, yet 53% say they rarely or never play football at all.

When asked what is stopping teen girls from playing the results are wide-ranging - from being told they can’t play football while wearing their hijab, schools removing girls football when certain PE teachers leave or boys’ tendency to dominate the football pitches in schools. Football Beyond Borders’ programmes use football to keep young people engaged in school - 95% of young people at-risk of exclusion the charity supports finish school and their participants are 11x more likely to pass English and Match GCSEs than national comparison groups. 

LOOSE said: “ It was such a privilege to work alongside the girls on the FBB programmes to make this film. The girls helped steer the storyline from the minute I received the brief. I hope this led to something that feels authentic to their words and experience. During the first workshop, we asked the girls what excuses they had against playing a game of football. They had none… no excuses! This hit me hard and is SUCH a different outlook to my own experience as a teenage girl. This led us to create something that isn’t a sob story or about stereotypes, but is living proof that a new era of girls sport is fun, doesn’t dictate your entire personality and ultimately, proves that it’s ok to be a girl that does both. The outlook of the girls is such a merit to the power of FBB and the impact that they’re having on women’s sport already.”

Head of brand at Football Beyond Borders Ceylon Andi Hickman said: “The battle for inclusivity is still not done and frankly, girls deserve better. The upcoming World Cup provides a critical platform for the women’s game which is why we’re shining a light on why it’s still so challenging for every girl to play. We know firsthand that football can be crucial in helping young girls stay in school and build their confidence which is why we need people to support initiatives that dismantle the barriers and exclude girls from the sport they want to play. The government can’t stop at a one-off burst of funding until 2025, because what happens after those two years are up? They’ve made the right first step but more needs to be done to support the next generation.” 

This latest phase of the campaign builds on Football Beyond Borders’ work to ensure the legacy of the Lionesses’ Euros win is not lost. The charity is running a free immersive experience outside London Kings Cross train station which will shine a light on the huge numbers of barriers young girls face and enable the public to experience them for themselves. The installation will be live for two days on 13th and 14th July and is designed to build understanding of the barriers and to galvanise more support of the issue. 

The charity has a number of recommendations for UK policymakers to achieve this, beyond the funding already announced for schools, including:

- Youth voices must be present in policy-making and advisory boards. Youth representation needs to be at all tiers of decision making in the UK government.

- Provisions such as Football Beyond Borders need more adequate funding to ensure long-term engagement between staff and the young people they work with. Trusted adults lead to embedded relationships which prolong access to the game. 

- Create a programme that will engage and educate parents on the benefits football brings to girls. This will give families the confidence and information they need to support girls' aspirations to play. 

In an urgent effort to help save the Lioness’ crucial legacy and drive participation and engagement in women’s football, Football Beyond Borders has launched a GoFundMe drive to raise enough money to ensure a generation of teenage girls aren’t left behind.

Football Beyond Borders uses football to support young people to stay in school. Girls are at higher risk of informal exclusion from school than boys, and minoritized girls twice as likely to be excluded as white girls. Football Beyond Borders’ programme uses football to keep young people engaged - 95% of those the charity supports finish school and are 11x more likely to pass English and Match GCSEs.