Last month, a football fan took the Overground to attend a match at her favorite football club in north London, where she’s had a season ticket for three years. After a joyous 3-1 win over Brentford in the company of middle-aged men she had grown to appreciate over time, her day took a distressing turn just 30 minutes after the final whistle, when she found herself in tears at a Transport for London (TfL) office, surrounded by police officers at Seven Sisters station.
There’s always a sense of unease when taking the packed Overground after a game, regardless of the result. Trains arrive every 15 minutes, and the crowd often gets squeezed into the small station. For someone who is only five foot three and surrounded by men, who have spent the past 90 minutes immersed in a football mentality, it can be daunting. Although she had always felt okay in the past, this time was different.
An away fan elbowed her in the face while boarding the train, which she initially thought was just a result of the crush. But once the train departed, she realized she was being assaulted. The same man continued to push against her, not in a crowded manner but deliberately pressing his pelvis into her. Adding to the horror, the man’s two teenage sons laughed about their father’s behavior, and when she protested, the situation escalated with the boys filming her and making cruel, misogynistic comments. Someone on the train even yelled at her to “enjoy it.”
Upon arriving at Seven Sisters, she reported the man to a young TfL staff member, who responded with indifference, seemingly unsure of how to handle the situation. Shaken, she waited for the crowd to clear before approaching five police officers, who took immediate action, holding a train in an attempt to catch the perpetrator. However, he and his sons had already boarded an earlier train.
The police officers were kind and empathetic, taking her statement while she was visibly distraught. Her boyfriend eventually picked her up, but the trauma of the incident lingered. Over the weekend, her anger grew, not just toward the man who assaulted her, but toward the systemic inequality that women face at football matches. Despite being a lifelong fan, she found herself questioning why she had to endure this kind of treatment every time she attended a game.
Her thoughts turned to the wider issue of accountability. Why were away fans allowed on the same platform? Why did the male TfL attendant shrug off her report? These questions highlighted the larger problem of maintaining a football culture that often tolerates or even applauds predatory behavior towards women.
She questioned whose responsibility it was to address these issues—whether it fell on the football clubs, TfL, or the British Transport Police (BTP). She suggested that clubs could work harder to tackle misogynistic behavior, transport authorities could improve safety measures for women, such as introducing more trains or exploring women-only carriages like in Japan and Brazil, and the police could invest more in campaigns against sexual violence and post-match disorder.
A 2019 study showed that only 14% of men thought sexism was an issue at football games, yet a recent study from Kick It Out found that 52% of female fans had experienced sexist behavior on matchdays. Coupled with a 36% rise in matchday disorder since the pandemic, harassment and assault seem like a growing problem. As long as women are seen as secondary in the male-dominated space of football, this issue will remain unaddressed. With clubs, transport authorities, and the police failing to form a unified approach to tackling misogyny and disorder, it feels like the responsibility is being passed around.
When asked about the incident, TfL expressed shock and regret, stating they were supporting the police investigation and reviewing how their staff handled the situation. The BTP acknowledged a rise in reports of sexual harassment and reassured that their officers patrol 24/7. They encouraged people to report incidents, even without mobile signal, by speaking to staff or texting the police at the next station.
Despite these assurances, she remains frustrated and resentful at the need to be constantly on guard when attending matches. The thought of traveling to her next game now fills her with dread. She called on football clubs, transport authorities, and the police to take misogyny and sexual harassment seriously and invest in campaigns and policies that ensure the safety of women at football matches. She also urged women attending future matches to travel together for safety, although she lamented that they shouldn’t have to resorted to such measures.
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