ABSTRACT
In this chapter I offer a particular analysis of women’s active involvement in football. I make use of, and rely on, findings from my PhD research, which involved postal questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Eight hundred and seventy questionnaires were sent out between October 1997 and March 1998. The sample was selected via the regional league system in place at the time, which consisted of ten regional leagues in England and Wales. Four hundred and seventy-three questionnaires were returned. This preliminary research was followed by 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with women football players aged between 21 and 42. The analysis of this research material reflects an engagement with feminist poststructuralism (a theoretical position that is explained briefly below). The discussions that follow are influenced by my location within the social relations network and from a feminist perspective it is important that this position is made transparent. In this vein I provide a brief autobiography. This is followed by a brief overview of the history and contemporary form of women’s participation in football.
