In 2015, women's football writer, Carrie Dunn was in Canada for the Women’s World Cup. England secured a third-place finish and predictions about the growth of top-flight women’s football were flying around.
Carrie decided to do more research after she flew home to England to see if these predictions would come true.
But she wasn’t just looking into the Women’s Super League - the top women’s league in England - her books The Roar of the Lionesses and The Pride of the Lionesses followed teams at all levels of the football pyramid.
Women’s Super League (WSL) teams have already seen an increase in publicity; however, teams like Barnsley and Leyton Orient receive the bare minimum.
"I wanted to tell the story of teams like Leyton Orient. Teams easily overlooked," Carrie told Women on the Bench. Teams from multiple levels of English women’s football were chosen, "some by luck and circumstance".
She had a friend working with Barnsley Women and it just so happened they were going through managerial changes and had an interesting season. Some teams for Pride were first introduced in her previous book. "I wanted to return to clubs from Roar because there was still more of their story to come."
The books are very quote-heavy as Carrie "didn’t want to take anything away from the players" and saw it as important to keep the players’ voices telling their stories. This is the best way to get to know them and understand them, she believes.
In the year after the 2015 Women’s World Cup, The Roar of the Lionesses questioned:
Can the smaller, lower-profile teams ever compete with the big bucks and big names of the Women's Super League?
How are grassroots clubs going to rise to the top when elite divisions of women's football depend on the award of licences?
Can the women win a World Cup before the men do?
And if they do, what reward and recognition will they get?
Three years later, Carrie investigated these questions once again for The Pride of the Lionesses, this time in the year prior to a World Cup competition.
Talking about Championship teams - such as Crystal Palace - as well as third-tier Barnsley and fourth-tier Leyton Orient, she looked at how the women’s football scene was changing at all levels in the run up to the next world cup.
Notably, the books also get inside the club dynamic of Goal Diggers, a non-ability based team in London. "I think the stuff that Goal Diggers do is fascinating. Also, the way they’ve grown in popularity is brilliant," Carrie explained, "because the FA strategy is to grow the game."
Whilst non-ability, non-competitive clubs are not common, she expressed her high opinion of the format. "I think the Goal Diggers model is a good example of something of that level." Perhaps we will see more teams emerge for those with a lower experience level, outside of London. Inside of London, space is an issue for many teams and "you get around 100 people turning up for Goal Diggers training".
With not everyone able to enter football at a competitive level, teams like Goal Diggers are important in Carrie’s eyes. Hackney Laces - who don’t get a mention in the book but Carrie brought up in an interview - are another team functioning to get new players into the game.
Carrie would have loved teams like this to have existed in her teen years. For an avid football fan with questionable ball control, Goal Diggers and Hackney Laces would have been great groups for a 17-year-old Carrie Dunn.
"I would imagine that the push would be to make Championship teams professional," she said when asked how she saw the game progressing between now and the next world cup.
Yeovil Town Women are a team heavily discussed in Pride. Carrie followed their unfortunate fall from grace after turning into a full-time, professional club a season prior. The club played in the top flight of women’s football for two years. However, in 2017, the Football Association announced plans to convert the WSL into a fully professional league. With no financial support from their men’s team, Yeovil struggled to fund the players’ wages. Ultimately, the team dropped two divisions last season.
It is often hard to maintain a professional status on the low budget many teams are operating with. "I would like to see women’s football financially sustainable in its own right," Carrie said.
In terms of the books’ namesake, the Lionesses, Carrie doesn’t think they’ve improved much since 2015 and "they’re not in a position to win yet".
A quote used by a football fan in Pride sums up her thoughts:
"It’s those who are great who tend to win the big prizes. Right now, England are banging their head on the ceiling of good. They are a good team, maybe a very good one, but not a great one, and they’ll likely fail to win a major tournament until they can develop from good to great."
Where will England Women be by the next Olympics, Euros and World Cup? Ask her again once we’re out of lockdown and play has resumed.
Will Roar and Pride have a follow-on book? Well, that depends on the changing face of women’s football in the near future.
In the meantime, message Carrie on Twitter (@carriesparkle) to talk about her books.
