Talk football, get abuse: The reality for women like Abigail Rudkin

Merseyside artist and Liverpool fan Abigail Rudkin is often told “women shouldn’t talk about football”, especially after her recent appearance on Sky’s Monday Night Football.

Ms Rudkin recently discussed new Liverpool signing Jérémy Jacquet and said she was happy with the transfer, but was hoping to get former Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guéhi.

Within minutes, people on social media reacted to her opinions with a flurry of sexist and abusive comments.

Ms Rudkin said she looks back at what she said and could not believe it caused such a reaction online.

She told Merseysportlive: “I don’t see why that [what she said] is outrageous. I don’t think there was anything wrong with that.

“I think it was an excuse in a lot of ways for people to just abuse me for being a woman.”

Ms Rudkin added that she was tempted to go private because of the abuse she received online.

She said: “People weren’t talking about football half the time. People were deciding to attack me personally.

“There was a lot of ‘get back into the kitchen’ shouts and stuff like that.”

Ms Rudkin has often appeared on Sky Sports to discuss football, and people often tell her that she has only appeared there because she’s a woman.

She said: “People say I’ve only been picked because I’m a box tick. They want to tick off the fact that they’ve put a woman on.

“That does affect you. It makes me start to doubt myself a little bit.”

When asked if the abuse she receives puts her off appearing on Sky and other media, she said: “Yes. 100%.

“I have turned down stuff before because I’ve been really worried… I would’ve said yes if I wasn’t afraid of what the reaction was going to be.”

No room for error as a woman

Making a mistake in the world of football media can be much more costly for a woman compared to a man.

Ms Rudkin shared her experience of once appearing on The Overlap, and in the middle of asking Jamie Carragher a question, she coughed.

Again, the abuse came flying in: “She can’t even get her words out. Why do they ask these women on these shows?”

These were the type of comments Ms Rudkin received, all because of a cough.

She added that when she appears on these shows, she won’t take part in quizzes because of the potential abuse she will receive for getting a question wrong.

She said that if she were up against a man, and they got five out of ten correct, and she got nine right, the one question she got wrong would be the talking point.

That one wrong answer will be jumped on and clipped up, and her other nine correct answers will be ignored.

When she wins a football debate online, she says that a lot of people can’t believe a woman could beat a man.

A cough and nine correct answers are hardly “errors”, but unfortunately, this tends to be the case for a lot of women in sport.

Former footballer Eni Aluko once said that 19 goals in 40 games worked out as a goal a game on live TV.

An easy mistake to make, considering the pressures of being on live TV. Nonetheless, she received a lot of abuse for this. Would a man have received the same reaction for making the same mistake?

Loughborough University study

One person who has been critical of Eni Aluko and other women in sport is former footballer Joey Barton.

Earlier this year, Loughborough University conducted a study of three event time-frames on X, where Barton targeted two female football players and a female pundit with abusive language, and the public response.

The study shows how this behaviour towards women reflects a wider culture within football, and how social media platforms can amplify this.

Fanalysis experience

Despite being blocked on X and other social media channels, some men will find other ways to send their abusive comments.

Ms Rudkin is part of Fanalysis, an app that allows football fans to rate and analyse players and managers.

Ms Rudkin blocked one X user because he kept calling her a “stupid woman”.

However, they downloaded Fanalysis and started posting sexist comments on the app whenever Ms Rudkin appeared on Sky Sports.

When she informed Fanalysis, they were quick to remove all his posts about her.

The effect on young girls

The sexist abuse is affecting the future generation.

Ms Rudkin noted that a lot of young girls message her with concerns about trying to break into football media.

She said: “They message me and say they want to do this but are terrified of the type of comments they’ll receive.”

Ms Rudkin started to build a platform in football around six years ago. She believes the online abuse is worse now.

She referenced the culture seen in Louis Theroux’s “Inside the Manosphere” as a big reason why things have got a lot worse.

Experiences at the game

Ms Rudkin added that she was often asked at the game which players she found attractive.

She said: “I’m not bothered about what the players look like. I’m bothered about whether Liverpool are going to win this game.

“Why are they asking me if I’m attracted to the players? It’s because I’m a woman.”

What needs to change?

To change this, Ms Rudkin believes football clubs should collaborate with “Her Game Too” more often.

Her Game Too is an award-winning campaign that tackles sexism and promotes gender equality in the world of sports.

She said: “Her Game Too is doing some amazing work. Roopa Vyas, the Liverpool representative, is an amazing woman. She’s doing everything to break those stigmas and get women more involved.

“The football clubs I’ve seen collaborate with Her Game Too seem to create more warmth with the posts I’ve seen from them.

“I’ve seen Her Game Too on the football shirts in the lower league. But the 20 Premier League sides should collaborate with them a bit more.”

(Photo by Abigail Rudkin, permission to use given)