“Stick to Makeup Tutorials”: What It’s Really Like to Be a Woman Football Fan Online

A game for everyone - but not always an equal playing field

Social media has reshaped how football fans connect. Platforms like X (formerly Twitter) give supporters the chance to react to goals in real time, share tactical takes and celebrate or commiserate, with others around the world. But while these digital spaces can feel like a second home for some, for many women football fans, they’re anything but welcoming.

What women fans told us

We asked over 1,600 women who follow UK men’s football teams what it’s really like to talk about the game on X. What emerged was a powerful and often painful account of passion, resilience, abuse and adaptation. Many women love being part of the conversation, tweeting match analysis, building online communities and finding connection with like-minded fans. But alongside that enthusiasm came stories of exclusion, harassment and gendered gatekeeping.

From gatekeeping to abuse

The dismissals were casual at times, being quizzed to “prove” their football knowledge, told they only watched the sport because they were attracted to the players, or that their opinions didn’t count. Other responses were far more aggressive. Participants shared examples of being told to “stick to the kitchen,” threatened with rape or stalking and sexualised simply for tweeting about football. One woman recalled being told her “analysis is as useless as [her] ovaries”.

Adapting to survive in online spaces

Despite this, many still choose to stay. Some spoke of the vibrant connections they’d made online, others of finding solidarity in smaller, women-only WhatsApp groups. But staying often came at a cost. Many respondents described how they had learned to self-censor, pausing before posting a comment, switching to private accounts, changing their profile photos to appear gender-neutral or stepping away from certain conversations altogether.

Understanding masculinities through women’s eyes

This study is the first to apply Pope et al.’s (2022) Model of Men’s Performances of Masculinities to women’s experiences in football fandom. It allowed us to better understand the range of masculinities women encounter online - from progressive allies who actively support and defend women’s participation, to overt misogynists who openly abuse and belittle them. But the study also exposed a more subtle form of exclusion. Many respondents described receiving patronising praise - the kind of comments that sounded like compliments but were laced with surprise that a woman might have something smart to say about football. We suggest that this reflects a form of conditional misogyny - a public performance of support that still relies on outdated assumptions.

 A call to action

What this research makes clear is that online football fandom is still shaped by powerful gendered norms. Women fans are navigating a space where they are both hyper-visible and overlooked, celebrated and silenced. Social media has opened up access to the game, but it has also amplified the inequalities within it.

So, what now? Clubs, platforms and football’s governing bodies all have a role to play in making the online environment safer and more inclusive. But so do fans, especially men, who have the power to challenge everyday sexism and change the tone of the conversation. We also need more research that centres women’s experiences and holds space for the complex ways they engage with sport.

To read the full study and explore the findings in more detail, you can access the publication [here]. And, if you know someone working in football, digital media or sport equality work, send this their way. These women’s voices deserve to be heard.