Female footballers should be fearless in fight against discrimination - Cambridge coach
Calls have been made for tougher measures to be put in place
A women's football coach in Cambridgeshire hopes more female footballers can be fearless when it comes to standing up to discrimination.
It comes after Cambridge United Women's goalkeeper Lauren Webb - who spoke to us as part of our investigation into discrimination in female football across the county - said tougher measures are a step in the right direction.
Those measures include up to at least a 10-game ban for anyone found guilty of discriminatory behaviour as part of new FA rules.
"For girls, it's programmes like ours with good visibility and awareness that it's okay to be who you want to be and if you want to play football, play football," Ethan Scott, head coach at Cambridge United Women, said.
"Who cares what other people think? I think good, honest role models is a good way of going about it."
'A space where people can be themselves'
The change in rules is a step up from the six to 12-match suspensions recommended to independent regulatory commissions for what the FA described as any "aggravated breaches by players, managers, or technical area occupants."
Scott - who's joined Cambridge from Norwich City this season - said he's not been made aware of any cases of discrimination against female footballers in his eight years in the women's game.
But he said his players in particular should not be afraid of being open.
"I said to the group in one of my first meetings is we're going to create a space here where people can be themselves first and foremost," Scott said.
"I think that shouldn't be exclusive to us; it should be in every environment within women's football and people should be themselves and shouldn't have fear of idiots online."
In the two years up to 2024, we found just one case of any form of discrimination against a female player had been reported to the Cambridgeshire FA (CFA).
Last season, the CFA said they were aware of 37 cases of discrimination.
"We will be working to provide education for our board members and staff and our clubs, ensuring that tackling discrimination is embedded from the top of Cambridgeshire FA and that the message is consistently reinforced throughout the football community," the CFA said.