Lola Ogunbote outlined her unconventional route into football after a career in merchant banking. A chance meeting with former Arsenal and England footballer Rachel Yankey led to her quitting her job and embarking on a globe trotting career in football.
Edward Gallagher’s career has also involved a lot of travel, and when Scottish women’s football was paused by the Covid pandemic, he moved to England.
Su Cumming recollected that at the age of nine, she asked her school head teacher if there could be a girl’s football team. The answer was no, but in the 1980s she was a pioneer for the women’s game, developing leagues in the north-east of England.
Ogunbote agreed to work at Burnley FC on the condition she reported directly into the owner of the football club to ensure she can make the women’s section of the club as professional as possible across all departments.
Gallagher’s role at Brighton is focussed on recruitment.
Cumming’s role is similar to Ogunbote’s: “Like Lola I’ve done, and do, everything”. But she emphasised the focus needed to be on the players. “You’ve got to be able to recruit the right staff.” The transition to full-time status has been a challenge.
Ogunbote agreed that the players are crucial, but said the cycle of player turnover is so high, she has concentrated on producing an infrastructure that allows the players to thrive. This included getting a shirt-front sponsor on the football kit and recently, for the first time, a club team photo with men and women in the same picture.
Gallagher ensures that his players can focus on football, so someone arriving from overseas is looked after. Similarly to Ogunbote, he stressed the need for a whole club ethos across the men’s and women’s teams. This exhibited itself recently when the men’s first team manager attended the women’s match at the weekend.
Cumming noted the power of being a one-club city in Newcastle, and the connection the club has with fans across both men’s and women’s teams.
Ogunbote outlined Burnley’s innovative approach to engaging fans including livestreaming games over TikTok. They particularly wanted to access young women. They are in the process of making sure that all their games next season are played at Turf Moor.
Brighton is also a one-club town, and Gallagher stressed how valuable that is. Attracting players is becoming increasingly competitive, so much so that: “The best thing you can do in terms of recruitment is retain.”
There is a risk of developing young players in an academy, if they then leave for another club. If players transfer at a young age then a compensation payment is due, but Cumming highlighted a recent example where Newcastle had to pay a fee of just £300 to the club the player left.
Cumming feels that the women’s game is still in a development phase. What will it look like in the future? ”Is it women’s football or football played by women? We don’t know yet.”
