Whilst it has always been known that there’s a large disparity between the opportunities for men and women respectively to play football recreationally, new research from The Fitness Group, has uncovered the extent to which women and girls are being denied the chance to play in London. At a time when interest in the sport is at its highest with the Euros having just kicked off, the following figures paint a grim picture of the female game in the capital.

Using data from the Local Football Facility Plans drawn up by the Football Foundation, a partnership between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Premier League, the FA, and Sport England, we can see exactly how many teams there are per borough for men and boys and then for women and girls respectively.

Across the entirety of London, the data identified 4888 male-focused teams as opposed to just 460 for females, with each and every borough lacking in providing equal footballing opportunities. The top 5 boroughs with the biggest gaps are as follows:

Bromley: 336 more male teams than female teams (364 vs 28)
Redbridge: 294 more male teams than female teams (299 vs 5)
Greenwich: 258 more male teams than female teams (271 vs 13)
Westminster: 247 more male teams than female teams (252 vs 5)
Enfield: 246 more male teams than female teams (257 vs 11)
Full findings for each London borough can be found in this interactive map.

So clearly more needs to be done to improve parity between sexes, and it should be noted that the Government is not unaware of this. In a report published last year, a lot of areas for improvement were identified as needing implementation within the grassroots game, with specific emphasis given to a “lack of facilities that is particularly acute for women and girls, with the current demand for facilities outstripping the hours of use that are available.” But what else can be done aside from providing more investment towards women’s amateur football?

According to Steven Dick, co-director at The Fitness Group, “the current state of the women’s amateur game needs more investment at grass roots to meet increasing demand for women’s football opportunities. We have seen massive progress in the professional levels and investment in the top teams across the country however at grassroots level we can see there is still a long way to go.

Just recently to prove the point we saw at Thornaby FC the whole women’s club setup from under 7’s upwards get canned due to financial concerns, leaving more than 100 women and girls without a club to play for. Whilst I sympathise with the club from the perspective that football clubs are really tough to keep viable from a business standpoint, this is not the answer and only serves to reinforce the feeling that the men’s game is the only one which matters”.