What Emma Hayes chalkboard really says about the state of sexism in football

Sitting at the pub the other evening, my pal turned to me with the kind of conviction that only comes with a pint in hand. “This could be the year,” he said. “England is long overdue a throphy.”

“But didn’t England just win the Euros last year.” I said, confused.

He looked at me, anger in his eyes at my lack of footie knowledge. “Not won a cup since 1966.”

“The women’s team won the Euros last year,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. The kind of eye-roll that said: that doesn’t count.

And there it was. Not hostile. Not even intentional. Common practice recently. But it reminded me of a deeply embedded cultural habit of what we choose to see and celebrate, and what we don’t. And I began to wonder why.

That eye roll alone made me realise how sexist sports can still be.

Whilst I’ve never fully got into football, there is a reason that it takes over our country. It produces more passion, identity and tribalism than almost any other human institution.

It’s less about the actual sport and more about what it carries – it’s community, it’s pride and really at the heart of it, it is British culture.

Which is why, I believe, the way our culture represents women matters so much. Not because football should be above politics , above culture or above the messiness of human condition, but because it unfortunately is.

I've always believed that parts of popular culture, whether sport, entertainment or celebrity, act as mirrors that reflect the bigger cultural conversations we're often reluctant to have.

It’s always comes back to this – Why is there so much more celebration for the men’s squad then the Lionesses?

When they won the Euros in 2022, the first major international trophy any English team had won since 1966. The streets should have been utter choas and the parades should have lasted weeks. I’m not saying there wasn’t joy and celebration, but it was so contained and polite. The cultural weight given to that victory was a fraction of what we gave the men for a semi final exit in 2022.

I had to try and understand why, and where I landed felt critical and hard to understand, but I couldn’t quite find any other reason. To me, it seems like we have been taught over generations, that the men’s game IS the real game and that the women’s version of it, whilst still impressive, is not quite the same thing. A story so embedded that even our wins don’t feel the same.

The Lionesses didn’t just win a trophy. They beat Germany in their own backyard. They had 87,000 people at Wembley. Alessia Russo scored what many called the goal of the tournament. And still - still - there are people who’d tell you England haven’t won anything since 1966.

Let me tell you a thing or two about Emma Hayes.

Hayes OBE is one of the most decorated football managers alive. During her twelve years at Chelsea women, she won seven Women’s Super League titles – five of theme consecutively. There is no denying, she is a football genius.

So, with the world cup on at the moment, it made total sense that ITV brought her in as a pundit. But what did they give her?

Her male counterparts – Thierry Henry, Graeme Souness, Lee Dixon – were installed into this gleaming studio with HD screens , cinematic lighting , a full team and all the high tech equiptment you could need to inform and entertain.

Hayes, meanwhile, was handed a piece of chalk and a blackboard, with a set that looked exactly like a kitchen.

This caused a flurry of backlash. Many women took to their socials to say something. Along the lines of

@FootballMum_Saz who said “She’s literally won more trophies than half the men on that panel and they gave her a CHALKBOARD. I am fuming.”

It wasn’t all the same. A lot of football fans had some more savage things to say.

@Gaz_UTD: Not being funny but I didn’t tune in to watch a women’s coach tell me about men’s football. No offence. #justsaying

@TrueEnglishFan: Not sexist at all but why is she even there? Get Gary Neville back. Simple.

Well, True English Fan, I think you’ll find what you said , just plain sexist.

ITV have since tweaked the setup. And I’d like to believe it was an innocent, thoughtless mistake. But it’s more shifting evidence that there is still so much progress to be made surrounding women in football.

Whilst, I would argue that we still have a lot of work to do, we are seeing shifts happening in front of our eyes.

During this 2026 World Cup, the South Africa-Czechia match made history when it was officiated by Tori Penso, Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt - only the second all-female refereeing crew to work a men’s World Cup match. The first was just four years ago, in Qatar, when Stephanie Frappart of France became the first woman ever to referee a men’s World Cup game.

Think about that. A tournament that has existed since 1930 didn’t have a female referee until 2022. Not because the women weren’t good enough. Because football has always been considered a man’s sport.

During the South Africa match, Czech forward Patrik Schick literally waved Penso away mid-conversation. She followed him calmly, called him back, and finished her point. He reluctantly listened.

The internet found it hilarious. I’ve put a clip for you below to enjoy. More so, this is women, turning up in a space which hasn’t been for them, demanding authority.

It’s slow, but it’s progress.

I want to be fair here, because fairness matters.

Football is changing. Genuinely. Women’s Super League attendances are up. Investment is growing. The young girls at grassroots level who are being told you can do this are the seeds of a new generation of the game. Stephanie Frappart, Tori Penso, Emma Hayes - these are not footnotes. They are architects of a new history. The story is getting rewritten, for good.

And there are men in this sport who genuinely get it. The same footie fans who celebrate the Lionesses as much as the men’s squad. The fans who champion and back stars like Hayes.

But football also remains, on a whole, especially in the pub or comments section is still a place where old rules dies hard.

Where authority attached to a women still produces a different reaction attached to a man.

Where a women can win seven league titles and be handed a chalkboard.

This isn’t just about football. This is about culture across the board. The crowd noise is all the evidence that we need to prove that bias still exists. I am not oblivious to the fact that, facing this, will be challenging and debating for most, but this is how I see it, as someone who is not a fan of football.

But, we can change this.

Every time we celebrate the Lionesses with the same fire we give the men. Every time we listen to an expert without filtering her through her gender. Every time we watch a female referee make a call and trust it. Every time we refuse to roll our eyes when someone counts women’s trophies as real trophies

Football has 3.5 billion fans. It is the single most watched human spectacle on earth. When it changes, culture changes with it.

We’re not there yet. But we’re walking toward it.

The only question is how many eyes we’re going to roll along the way.