1. Introduction
Women’s football in England has been one of sport’s biggest successes in the 21st century. It has been structured, professionalized, received media attention, and seen participation numbers rocket at record paces as it has done so. There has been a career path open to women to aspire to careers in playing, coaching, supporting, and at elite administrative levels for the first time, even though jobs in the game as paid employment are still the envy of a few. The progress has made the pursuit of a career possible, something a professional can pursue in this country’s women’s game. This is a study concerned with football and career development against the backdrop of the women’s game in England, at both the various administrative levels needed to support elite-level performers and the motivations of those who aspire to begin or create a career by following pathways in the game, and to become more directly involved still in the most elite areas by supporting and aspiring to become part of current and future England international teams. It also has a specific generational start and end point.
Its subjects are players born in an important decade of the first flowering of women’s football, those who were 10 years old in the early part of that century when the first intention of top-level support, facility, and infrastructure began to emerge. Why important? Because this first batch of elite player pioneers in women’s football tipped the balance in the still ongoing battle against traditional negative association. Highly significant, of course, is recognizing the increasingly significant role as a support and technical service workforce in women’s game areas such as women’s academies, youth development, leadership, and commercial exploitation. This study focuses on players. In time terms, it is a ‘product of its period.’ The careers being embarked upon by the study’s subjects are within the living memory of those with active knowledge and expertise. Career start (adolescence to early adulthood) is often a period of the most enthusiastic peak support in sport of any description. Hannah H.ampton
2. Hannah Hampton: A Profile
3. Challenges Faced by Women in Football
3.1. Gender Disparities in Pay and Sponsorship