The end of lockdown will be welcomed everywhere, but particularly by fans of women’s football in Newham.

The recent success of the English national women’s team has helped raise the profile of the women’s game but overcoming the legacy of entrenched gender bias remains a problem, says Jessie Brett one of the campaigners seeking to promote women’s football in the borough.

She said:

Football in the UK remains incredibly sexist. There are heaps of matches for men, but not for women. I’ve had to travel outside the borough to get match time.

Jessie is one of the people behind Upton Sparks, a new women’s football project launched in December.

She said:

I started off without ever having kicked a football in my life, but I fell in love with it.

By day Jessie works at the Central Park Café in East Ham as well as studying for a qualification in ante-natal care and breastfeeding counselling, supported by the National Childbirth Trust. Now she has teamed up with the West Ham Walking Women’s Football team to launch a team that will compete in the Super 5s five-a-side football league in Hackney.

This partnership builds upon growing support for the women’s game in the borough. Jessie started off with Upton Park Ladies, which with Forest Gate Crusaders, is one of the grassroots teams playing in the lowest division on the Greater London Women’s Football Association.

There’s also powerful support for the women’s game from the grassroots work of Clapton Community FC and in the big league from West Ham United.

Joining Jessie in her effort to encourage more women into the game through Upton Sparks is Katherine Mutsvangwa, who promotes West Ham’s Women’s Walking Football which meets weekly at Flanders Field with the support of the Bonny Downs Association.

She says walking football is an ideal sport for beginners and women who are nervous about getting involved.

Although walking football is normally only taken up by the over 50s, Katherine, who is Quality and Safety Lead in Infection Prevention and Safety Nurse with the Newham Clinical Commissioning Group, says they’ve relaxed the rules so that anyone over 18 can join.

She said:

It’s an opportunity for mothers and daughters to play together, it’s also important in helping people to stay healthy and to confront other problems like depression.

The importance of health is highlighted in the link up that walking footballers and Upton Sparks have forged with West Ham United. They will be getting funding support from West Ham through the 150Club scheme, a health initiative providing funding for fitness support for people on community prescription.

The Newham Community Prescription Scheme, first piloted in a number of Newham GP practices seven years ago, is now a Borough-wide action to help reduce the risk of long-term health complications associated with diabetes, such as heart disease or kidney disease. The scheme provides support for fitness actions, like walking football, to help people develop a healthier lifestyle.

Jessie believes support for women’s football, particularly through five-a-side, will also help. She said:

It’s a great opportunity. This is 5-a-side for the community – it’s fun and casual and can still be competitive.

Already planned is a joint team from Upton Sparks and Upton Park Ladies to play a football v homophobia fund-raising game against the Pride of Irons, a team from the official West Ham United LGBT supporters group. The game is planned for February, but is likely to be postponed due to Covid restrictions.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the FA’s infamous ban on women’s football – a prohibition that was only lifted 50 years ago and most girls remained barred from playing football at school for decades. Now women’s football fans in Newham are preparing to kick off a new phase in the revival of the beautiful game for women in the Borough.

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