Exploring online sexism and misogyny in women’s professional English football

The increased professionalization of women’s football means that women players are now competing in front of sold-out capacity crowds with millions of viewers watching. This enhanced popularity has increased online traffic relating to women’s football. Some of these discussions are abusive, and potentially harmful. Nonetheless, while a growing body of research has investigated online harms in football, most of the attention has centred on men’s football. This article importantly focuses on women’s football. We examine qualitative findings with 30 current and former professional women’s players to understand how online sexism, misogyny and wider harms, are experienced and dealt with. Our findings demonstrate that players are vulnerable to online harms and often try to dismiss it as an occupational hazard. We suggest that stakeholders should devote more time and resources to better protect players against such harms. The article concludes by offering some recommendations for reform and suggestions for future research.