Say it Sister...
Lucy and Karen, two 40-somethings, are always chatting about life, and all that it has to throw at them, and now want to share their raw, honest conversations with you. Their journey of self-discovery and healing is something many of us can relate to. We all possess a unique power within us, but life’s trials often knock us off course. They have the tools, the courage to speak up and simply say it as it is, so you might feel seen, and understood and gain practical tools and techniques for self-discovery and personal growth during the changes we experience.
Say it Sister...
Nicole Allison: One Woman's Quest to Revolutionise Football
Nicole Allison, owner of Worcester City Women FC, shares her journey from player to football club owner and her mission to create spaces where women's sport isn't an afterthought. She illustrates how standalone women's football clubs can create blueprints for others to follow while measuring success beyond just trophies and revenue.
• Growing up as "the only girl" playing football until opportunities disappeared at secondary school
• Pursuing a career in the business side of football despite no clear pathway or visible role models
• Creating Worcester City Women as an independent club dedicated solely to women's football
• Building a club culture that prioritizes community impact alongside competitive success
• Developing recreational programs for women with social anxiety and neurodiversity
• Maintaining gender balance across the board, coaching staff and volunteer base
• Advocating for investment in tier three and four clubs to build sustainable foundations
• Measuring success through community engagement and creating positive legacies
Don't stay away from sport just because you still believe it's not for girls. Own your space, own your power, and as always - say it sister.
Hello and welcome to the Say it Sister podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Lucy and I'm Karen, and we're thrilled to have you here. Our paths crossed years ago on a shared journey of self-discovery, and what we found was an unshakable bond and a mutual desire to help others heal and live their very best lives.
Speaker 1:For years, we've had open, honest and courageous conversations, discussions that challenged us, lifted us and sometimes even brought us to tears. We want to share those conversations with you. We believe that by letting you into our world, you might find the courage to use your voice and say what really needs to be said in your own life.
Speaker 2:Whether you're a woman seeking empowerment, a self-improvement enthusiast or someone who craves thought-provoking dialogue, join us, as we promise to bring you real, unfiltered conversations that encourage self-reflection and growth.
Speaker 1:So join us as we explore, question and grow together. It's time to say Say it, Sister.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Say it, sister, to our beautiful podcast, where we have all the conversations and we get rid of all the filters. We are here today to celebrate women who are breaking barriers, rewriting the rules and leading with wisdom and strength. So we're super thrilled to have a powerhouse from the world of sports with us, nicole Allison. Nicole has made waves as a consultant, a leader and now a football club owner. She is the owner of Worcester City Football FC and it's a space that's been historically dominated by men. But Nicole has huge ambitions and is really a huge inspiration for all of us, and I can't wait to hear more of your story. Hey, lucy, before we get into Nicole, can you just tell us a little bit about how you know each other?
Speaker 1:Well, we're both Worcester girls and not the political Worcestershire women, and let's just caveat that. But we are from the city of Worcester and I actually heard Nicole speak at an event at a local co-working space and I've just got to say I was totally in awe of you, nicole. You and I have lived very different lives. Our careers went in different directions, yet all of the experiences and the things that you were talking about, really, really.
Speaker 2:What was that, Karen? A bird just literally flew into the window. Well, there's clearly something that's happening this morning.
Speaker 1:It's okay to learn away. Well, there's some kind of energy. Clearly something is happening. This morning it was that kind of energy that Nicole gave to me. It, she, she almost made me feel like I could have wings and I could get out there and do sport again, um, after a long period where I wasn't playing sport. And so not only am I thrilled to have you here, nicole, because you're a Worcester woman, you're putting sport back on the agenda and you're also really raising the profile of our city, our county, so it's great to have you here?
Speaker 3:How are you? Thank you very much. That's very kindly, hi, karen. Talk to you guys about the work that we're doing in football, obviously, but also the great work that us as women are doing to, like you say, lift other women, and also the city of Worcester, in our case, lucy.
Speaker 1:Great. Well, before we dive in, I just wanted to share a little bit about my own experience with sport, and I think it's probably a story that resonates with a lot of our listeners as well. And I kind of feel a little bit sad for my younger self, especially when it comes to team sports, because I didn't really get to develop them. There was like the whole netball thing that we did in those horrible, horrible knicker pants in the changing rooms where we were all sprouting lumps and bumps and curves and it was really self-conscious time in our lives and I think that was the last time I actually played competitive team sports and I feel like I missed out on a whole sisterhood because we all went into solo activities and we didn't really gather as girls, as women, and I kind of lost that. And we didn't really gather as girls, as women, and I kind of lost that.
Speaker 1:And then I have this other memory of my mum grew up in a small town called Bromyard in rural Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and in the 1960s her and her sisters were part of Bromyard Town Women's Football Club and and I remember seeing this picture she must have been 18, 19 and I remember seeing this picture of her and just being in awe thinking wow, she was so cool, because obviously I just saw mum, you know, I didn't see this woman that she once had been, and I remember saying, well, why isn't there a sports club for girls now? And she couldn't honestly answer and, um, and my household was sports mad and my brother was an evertonian fan and the first match I went to see was, I think I was about eight or nine and it was, uh, everton and villa, and then I married a liverpool fan, so we did loads of the european tours and been to wembley and I was actually in nottingham during year 96 and the energy that sport brought, you know, the girls, the boys all together, it was the LADEC culture, so there was a lot of drinking going on, but then it just like made me realise that it's been this thread throughout, most especially British people. It's a part of our lives, it's even on the news. Every morning there's a sports piece. But I haven't actually participated and that made me really feel sad.
Speaker 1:Karen, what was your experience? Were you sporty? Were you involved?
Speaker 2:Same as you. To be honest, I feel like maybe our stories are consistent. I always think about what was going on underneath. And I developed young, so I was. You know, my period came at nine.
Speaker 2:So that sort of period of my time when I was like I probably would have been doing more competitive things, I was very body conscious and I didn't have much confidence and I just wanted to hide but as you know, when you start to develop you can't really hide Everybody's sort of looking at you. So I just remember that and I remember the changing rooms and having to get changed in front of boys and girls and thinking I just want to, you know, like just put a hole in the ground and let me jump in it. So for me, the idea of then being like the feeling of sport in your body is a wonderful feeling. The feeling of movement in your body is a wonderful feeling. I shut it all down and that makes me feel sad too. And now I look back and I've got a six year old and she's into all of the. She doesn't think about the competition thing like I used to. She's much more game for it and she wants to get involved and I'm really encouraging it, because I'm like I really want her to have a different experience to me.
Speaker 2:So clearly there is, there was something that stopped me. Some of it was my body, my confidence. I feel like being involved in group activities with other women is has to be like the focus for um, all of us really, but especially for the young girls coming forward. So thank you for you know, being a champion in this area, nicole, like it is so, so important. And tell us about you. How did you get the book? What made you take it on? And actually, you know, do it from a business side as well, because that's a huge, that's a huge cause that you've got there. I'd love to know more. We want the origin story.
Speaker 3:The origin story, yeah Well, I mean, similar to you both, my memory of PE at school is not a good one, and I was a really sporty person. So I think for those that didn't feel like sport was for them, it must have been even worse if I was someone that didn't didn't enjoy it or or had certain anxieties around it. But I grew up with a brother who was six years older than me, dad, both of them football mad. Mum wasn't so football mad, but she was very supportive of us just being outside and enjoying football. So I mean, I watched football, played football. Anything I could do in the garden to be active was something I would just always be in and around a ball or you know whatever sport it was. Going through to primary school, I could play with the boys. So I was part of the primary school team. I was the only girl in not just in our team but in any other primary school around Worcester, and even my teachers at primary school, who I sometimes still bump into now, and so do my parents, they'll always remember me being the only girl is that your daughter? The only girl that played football, and it became a bit of a thing really. But then when you hit sort of 11 12 and you go to secondary school, girls weren't allowed to play with the boys and there was no girls football, not just in the curriculum but even extracurricular. There were no teachers that would run girls football classes afterwards after school. So it was very much pushed down the traditional netball and hockey route, of which I did play hockey, but it was never. It never gave me the bug like football did.
Speaker 3:And it wasn't until I was 15, 16, when another opportunity came up to play football again, when a brilliant woman called Dawn Scott, who's had an incredible career in football women's football particularly mainly spent about 10-15 years working for the US women's national team. But she was actually studying at University of Worcester and at the time also working for the FA as the sort of nutritionalist for the England women's team. This is going back to sort of 2001-2002 and she was doing her coaching badges and needed a team to coach in order to get her hours and her experience, and there were no teams really around Worcester that she could go and do that, so she just created her own, which I thought was brilliant. Um, and I remember getting a message from the form tutor, um, one day at school that just said girls football starting up at University of Worcester for a county team. Anyone wanting to trial to go up on whatever it was Tuesday evening. And I remember going home and saying to my dad dad, there's some football sessions I can go to, please can we go? And of course he was very supportive and took me and from that moment on I got into football again. Thanks to Dawn for opening up doors and opportunities. She also had contacts at Wolves and Birmingham and she said to me Nicole, you've got to play at a higher level. So I got myself into Wolves.
Speaker 3:So from the age of 16, I played at Wolves until I was about 24. And again that really opened up my mind as to where women's football was and where it could be. So you know, at that time it was the second highest level in the country. It was pre-Women's Super League and all of those that we know of now. But I was playing against Arsenal, playing against Liverpool, playing against man City and other big teams as well at the time, learned a huge amount, obviously, around competitive sport and the sort of high performance culture at that time playing for Wolves. But even still, then I never thought I could be a professional footballer, and that wasn't because I was thinking about my own ability, it was just that I didn't know that that was a pathway that was even possible and at that stage it wasn't really. There were only one or two teams that were paying their players.
Speaker 3:So at that time of you know, being 16, 17, you're thinking about your future career, obviously thinking about university. Most of my teachers and career advice from school and college was when Nicole's really sporty, she's going to go and do a sports degree and become a PE teacher. But I just knew that that wasn't what I wanted to do. It just didn't suit what I wanted. Probably because of my bad experiences of PE at school, that wasn't something that really stuck with me.
Speaker 3:So actually I went to university and I studied European studies with German. I fancied a year abroad and when I did go and do my year abroad I actually played a bit of football over in Germany as well, and women's football in Germany at that time in 2005, six was really strong. So I learned a lot there about teams and how they were really progressing the women's game. When I came back and then, of course, finished my degree, I actually then started working as a sports assistant in a local high school.
Speaker 3:So, again, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, having come away with a 2.1 in European studies and German, I remember getting offered a job that would be translation from German to English and vice versa, but it actually just really made me think I just don't want to be doing this and I couldn't see myself sat at a desk, you know, all day, every day.
Speaker 3:I needed to be active. I needed to be doing something a bit more impactful, how I felt was more impactful, so started to do my coaching badges and working at a school with young people, and that particular school really wanted to develop girls football, so they put me in charge of developing girls football right from sort of 12 all the way through to their college actually so 18, which was great experience for me and really helped my then future decisions of going to America. I spent about nine months at a nine months at a sports or football franchise, coaching women and girls football, but also in their marketing department, and at that moment I realized I really want to work in the business side of football.
Speaker 1:Can I just check something? Isn't this might just be made up in my head, but isn't soccer over in the States much more of a female sport than a men's sport? Is that right?
Speaker 3:it is. Yeah, it's really, really been very popular over in the states for a long time and that's actually partly down to policy that was passed in 1971 called title nine, which allowed, uh, equal funding for colleges, universities, for female athletes, um, which really really helps. And if you think you compare that to the uk, where we're still not equal in terms of opportunities and access for women and girls to play sport, that tells you a lot as to how far behind we've been and why so. The us have been always super strong in in their soccer um leagues and also national team. So it was a great experience to go over there and see how they do things and it was the first time I'd probably experienced where women and girls were the majority when you were talking about soccer, and it gave me even more motivation to sell. I want to actually make an impact and I want to work in the business side of football.
Speaker 3:How I went about that? Again, no role models, not really a clue where to start, but I did some research, found a master's degree in football business down in London and so came back, applied for. That was successful, and I also wrote to every single sports company I could find in London to say, hey, give me a job, give me an opportunity. I'm about to start this master's, just need some experience. And I started working for a sports research agency on a six month contract that then actually later turned into a full time job and I could do my master's degree part time. And so you know, I often say I do a lot of teaching. Now I often say to students that proactivity and initiative and just confidence to go and write to people and ask can you give me a five minute chat, half an hour chat, a job, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2:You know, if I hadn't have done that um in my career, I wouldn't be here today so like, also, there's something about the feeling inside that comes on for you, that's very, very clear, like you can take a step. But if you're not feeling it on the inside and you're like, well, actually that's just not for me and I know that's not my direction that you have a very strong sense of intuition and what's right for you and that you follow it. And you have that, you follow it through with determination and you know so there's a fire that comes through you that then is activated. That then you know. Then you step into the action around it.
Speaker 2:And I'm a big fan of that because I feel like, if we listen on the inside, does that feel good, does it feel right? Is it um, does it do I feel alive in this moment? If we follow that, we're going to get taken. And even if there is no um path there, we walk the steps and we make the path. And it's that and there's so much power in that for women to be like, well, it might not be there yet, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go do it, go create something, make it happen. Otherwise we get stuck in those jobs that we don't want to be doing and you know you could have been sat by a desk, and how sad would that have been.
Speaker 3:That we don't want to be doing and you know you could have been sat by a desk and how sad would that have been. 100% one, yeah. Like no one's going to create that for you. Um, as women particularly, we have to create our own paths.
Speaker 3:That's definitely been something that that I've learned, and people often ask me how have you become the owner of a football club? Like, how did that come about? Well, I just made it happen. That's, that's the reality. And there's that phrase, isn't there that if you can see it, you can be it, which we talk about a lot in women's sports, and having those female role models of the lionesses and these professional players now is fantastic. But then I always sort of push that even further and say, well, if you can't see it, then you need to be it. So that's a big part of what I've dedicated the last four years of my life to taking over Worcester City women, creating it as a standalone, independent women's football club that is dedicated to women and girls football.
Speaker 3:So there's no other distraction, there's no other conversation, whereas at most football clubs, when it's part part of the wider parent club and you've got men's boys, women, girls, the reality is that it's always maybe fifth or sixth on the agenda of any meeting. When it then comes to facility conversations and things like that, the boys and men are often prioritised. So in our environment you just don't get any of that. So, but we've had to, like, create that obviously, um ourselves, and a big part of our objectives and our mission is to be that blueprint for others to feel the confidence to do the same um, because it, you know it's hard and it, and, like you said, there's not been any pathway for me to follow um, so you, I have to have follow that intuition and it, and it isn't easy at all.
Speaker 3:There are times when I certainly doubt what have I done? Have I made the right decision here on various different levels. But yeah, you can't ignore your intuition. I think you're right, karen. I've always had that close sort of alignment in my heart as to what do I really enjoy doing, and I think actually sport has given me a lot of that and a lot of that sort of heart and fire, determination, resilience. You know, from as young as I can remember, I was always, if you like, the odd one out, because I was always the only girl playing a sport that others looked at me and thought what's this person doing? But never had any questioning from my parents. It was just always go on, nick, go and go and do what you need to do and what you want to do. And so you kind of then build that as you're younger.
Speaker 1:We've talked about that. It's really powerful. Oh sorry, karen.
Speaker 1:I was going to say it sounds really powerful because it sounds like you had lots of backers along the way, people who truly believed in you, and we've spoken to quite a few female guests who have been trailblazers, and actually a couple of the guys as well. They've been the first in their field and I think the common theme is that women have to often work twice as hard when entering these spaces to be taken seriously. And I just wondered you're saying that you've got these backers, but when you were going into maybe more male areas, have you faced that where you've had to prove yourself almost?
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely, and just on the support piece, 100%. I've been very lucky to do that and I've, as I've gone through my life and my career, recognised that other people might not have that same support and have those same privileges that I do, which is again a huge part of my motivation to be able to create those opportunities and provide that support to others that wouldn't have been as lucky as I was. So, yeah, in terms of the sort of feeling of have I been taken seriously, there's definitely been moments, particularly when being in London and working in the commercial side of sport and football, particularly where I've walked into meetings and I'm the only woman in a meeting full of men who own CEOs of football clubs and they don't. They're not expecting you to be part of the meeting. Maybe they think you're there to get the coffee or the tea or to make the notes or whatever it may be. There's definitely been moments of that, um, I said recently to someone that that became easier as I got more experience and actually relish those moments now, um, and find them quite funny but also really enjoyable when I can sit at the table and be part of those conversations.
Speaker 3:I think at the time I was always someone who just worked really, really hard and was very focused on what I wanted to achieve. So you know, going through my master's working full time, playing football all at the same time was very busy but very focused in terms of what I wanted to achieve. I never really thought about other people and what they were going to do for me or even the barriers that were in front of me. I didn't see those as much as probably what I do now. Hindsight, you can see it.
Speaker 3:I think I probably started to realize towards my late 20s that I'd worked in the industry then for five, six years, done really well, was probably more qualified than most people at various organisations, but didn't see or feel like I was going to be supported in moving up and through that organisation, which is why I've probably worked in various roles for about three years and then moved on, because there's always been a ceiling and I think that ceiling, if I'm being honest, is probably because it's more likely that a male will go through into those next job, next jobs within that sort of football space, particularly if you're working at a league or a club where it is very traditionally male dominated agencies may be slightly different and certainly it is getting better, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 3:But it is very traditionally male dominated. Agencies may be slightly different and certainly it is getting better, there's no doubt about it. But it is a big reason as to why I decided to become a consultant, go self-employed and own my own football club, because it felt like then there wouldn't be any barriers in my way. Yes, it would be tough, but I'd be able to control those, those elements, whereas when you're working in an organization you feel that they're those glass ceilings.
Speaker 2:It feels a bit out of your control as to how do you break them down yeah, I had a similar experience to you in that, because I worked in football sponsorship for well in my early 20s. I did about three years, um, because I was a communicator, so I was in PR and I ended up working at this agency and working on, you know, like brands like Yorkie chocolate, who were sponsoring the premier league. Do you remember? I don't know if you remember all of that.
Speaker 3:I remember a lot of their answers, not for girls, not for girls exactly.
Speaker 2:Can you believe I worked on something like that? Um, you know it's crazy to me green Green flag he sponsored England there was. So there was all of these. You know it was kind of like highbrow. But what I noticed was the double standards.
Speaker 2:So I would go down to the training grounds and speak to the players and, you know, get photographs of them doing certain things outside of their contracts. Take a journalist and speak to some journalists. Again, it was all outside of their contract, so they didn't have to say yes. They could say yes or no. But the idea being was well, we'll send Karen because she's young and she's quite bubbly and they're more likely to say yes to her, as opposed to the director on the account, who was a middle-aged woman who they wouldn't do anything for. So I was kind of like I went along and I'd be saying I'm very creative, I've had this idea, or good for me, it's not good for my well-being. I also I'm ambitious and I want to do great things in the world and if this is not my place and I'll find somewhere that is my place. And I did do that.
Speaker 2:I mean, I was very lucky that I was then able to go work in a totally different sector because my skills were my skills, I was who I was, but that environment at that point in time was not right for me. So, you know, I found my way and, as I said, you know, you find your path and you walk, you walk the steps. It's so important, I think, to talk about the issues and also, you know, from a coaching standpoint as well. I think we have the language these days to be able to name things. I think if I'd have named things back then, I don't think anyone would have taken me very seriously. But what is your advice in terms of? It doesn't have to necessarily be in the football, it could be in any environment where that's happening for women. What?
Speaker 3:would you say to women in terms of you know, standing up and making their points, about being really self-confident and knowing, knowing yourself and what you feel are your skill sets and what you bring to the table? Um, I remember, before a particular meeting, being very nervous about going into this one and I I really spent quite a lot of time working out right what, what's my objective from this meeting and how do and how do I want to leave that meeting with other people feeling about me, and I was very then focused on the things I needed to get through in that meeting and what I wanted to say, and being quite purposeful with all of that. So a lot of it is being prepared. You know, I think you say in football whether you're a manager, if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Um, and I've definitely lived that throughout my life you've got to be prepared for whatever you're going into. And then I think it's also about sort of understanding your audience and understanding your what you're up against.
Speaker 3:Um, you know, like, like you've just explained there, kind of Karen you, it became really obvious to you quite quickly what you were up against and there's those times when you need to know. You just need to move on. You just need to to move sort of through. But then at the same time, it's knowing how you can, how you can handle those people, those moments, without it affecting your emotions, um and and sort of sticking and remaining true to yourself.
Speaker 3:So in that preparation and knowing what you're bringing to the table, it kind of all leads to that self-worth really. I think that's really really crucial. Self-reflection helps you realise what your worth is and what you're bringing to the table. I did a lot of that in my sort of yeah, mid to late 20s being in the industry and actually getting the times that I used to get really frustrated would need to just take those moments of thinking, well, actually look at who I am, what I'm bringing to the table, and be quite strong and not not forceful, but purposeful on on all of that. I think that's very important.
Speaker 1:I love that. So, um, one of the the reflections I've had when, when you were both talking about following or going down another path, there's a lot of um, I suppose in the fourth or maybe fifth wave of feminism that we're now starting to see, um, my era was, if you can't beat them, join them. You know that ladec culture, you know, push your way through and that didn't work. There's just countless times where, again, you just feel that glass ceiling or you're pushed out, or the the environments just weren't safe for women, so we'd go and create something new. You've done that. Um, nicole, you've gone and created your own club. Um, you, you own it, you lead it, and it is a space for women to put women's stuff on the agenda.
Speaker 1:And you know, the, the idea of we've got to smash the patriarchy is now shifting into something of like, well, actually, no, let's not try and smash it and fight it, actually, let's just create something new.
Speaker 1:And it really gives me such hope and inspiration to see that actually there are women and some men out there who are creating a whole new way to be these trailblazers, to be these role models, to open those doors for for the women. And then I look at what's actually happening with women's sport and I think for me that I had young girls around the 2012 Olympics and we went down and saw that and some of those events and it just sparked this whole. Well, eyes wide open for my daughter seeing Jess Ennis and, well, there were countless women athletes. But then now women's football is just huge and it's really lucrative. So for the blokes in the patriarchy and they want that system they're going to make a lot of money out of it. But how are you feeling, nicole, just seeing this explosion and this real interest and then the numbers viewing it and is it? Is it all that? It seems?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, I mean, it's certainly since 2022 and the Lionesses won the Euros. It's certainly been an amazing sort of wave that a lot of people are riding. That said, there's a lot of us as well that are constantly banging on the doors of national governing bodies, clubs, rights holders, brands, to say we still need more support to build the foundations. So, whilst it sort of sounds really great at the very top and you've got your Arsenals, chelsea's, man City's all playing in front of 40,000, 50,000 people at the Emirates and things like that, that's fantastic and take nothing away from those clubs and people that have worked so hard to make that happen there are still, then, clubs such as, you know, was city women at tier four so we're not even that far away from tier one that don't get any funding whatsoever, and it would be very hard to expect us to meet all of those standards and professionalisation that everybody wants us and clubs to do without then that financial support to build those foundations. In any business, you wouldn't start something new and expect to instantly be making money. You need that investment initially to be able to get that going. It's like a start-up environment. So there's absolutely some positives and it's been great to see at the you know lionesses this is an example the visibility, the viewership across tv, of course, then the actual attendance is now a new era of women's football in this country, being that the women's super league and the championship are under a new umbrella, the women's professional league's limited um. So they've moved away from the fa and and that's positive in that it's certainly going to be more sort of commercialized. There's more opportunities for that growth um, with the fa now hopefully being able to focus a lot more on tiers three and four and below to build and create a healthy football pyramid, which we, we desperately need um.
Speaker 3:But I I often do say to people exercise some caution. What we do not want to do is copy the men's men's football, the way that the men's football has gone the premier league. When we talk about that commercialization, you know we could argue, we can have a long argument as to whether or not fans now feel a bit disengaged, disenfranchised. You know the cost of going, the accessibility of going. We don't want to go down that route and I also personally, as a massive football fan, don't just want to see the same games over and over again and that's why you know I fly that flag for standalone independent clubs because actually I think it'd be great to see, you know I fly that flag for standalone independent clubs because actually I think it'd be great to see you know Worcester City women playing against the Tottenham Hotspur, worcester City women playing against an Arsenal man City. I think that would be fantastic and there there isn't any reason why we can't, should we support the foundations of the pyramid? So there's, I think, know it's.
Speaker 3:We're having several watershed moments and catalysts for various different things, and one of the big things that myself and other people within the industry talk about is is the opportunity to do things differently. In women's football. We often ask this you know, how do we measure success? So clearly in the men's game, success is predominantly measured on how many trophies you win, how much, how much money you're making um through the deloitte money league that comes out every year.
Speaker 3:Can we do something a bit different in women's football and look about actually how much impact we're making within the community? How much um are we doing for the climate? How much, you know, are we doing for future legacies and generations of women and girls? I would rather be measured on that as our success, as opposed to trophies and how much we're winning. And that's not to say that the football side isn't as important for us Of course it is. But I think you can do both and I think you should do both, both. So, yeah, I'm a big advocate for doing things differently and trying to get the whole of the football industry and ecosystem to to think differently and act differently yeah, that excites me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is because we've been talking a lot about the women's way and how the women's way is is not. You know, we, both myself and Lucy, are entrepreneurs. We've got our own businesses. Um, you know, we're mothers, we've got all these different facets and for us, it's always about the impact that we're making.
Speaker 2:It's not just about the money, it's about the change, those seeds of change that get planted, that then take on their own life force and then, you know, grow inside somebody and then they go out and make something totally incredible. That, for me, is the impact of the work. You can look at. The financial side is, you know, it's one element of it, but there's so much more and I feel like all the women that I work with in the corporate space, they get it, they're like you, they're like it's.
Speaker 2:It's not just about how many products we're selling. It's. It's just not that, not how many bums on seats, there's room. I what I'm hearing you say is there's almost like room for all, and I feel like women's football is that. Is that type of model really, where there's so many different elements that can be hit, that can actually inspire and drive change from a different place, because if we feel good watching something or playing something, then that energy is so powerful. It's not just about you know a level of business and I think that's what you're saying, isn't it? It's, it's got its own. I always say things have got their own energy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, totally, and I think from experience of working in the men's game there's less of that. It's for all sort of mantra it's it's more competitive. It's more about egos and I'm not saying that that's not there at all in the women's game but there is more sort of appetite for collaboration and working towards the greater goal and legacies and things like that, which is definitely more aligned to where I want to work and the stuff we've done in the community over the last 10 months or so in Worcester has been some of the most enjoyable times for me. So you know, we actually won our league last season, which was fantastic. We won the double, won the league, won the cup, we got promoted into this national league, um, but then you know, completely rivaling that for me is seeing 10 to 15 women who have never played football before, or they've struggled with social anxiety, or perhaps they're neurodiverse and they actually are now playing on a saturday morning with this group of women there. They feel comfortable to be themselves, get some good fitness in, go for a coffee or a smoothie afterwards and it just sets them up then. For you know what they say to me their week, their weekend just makes them happy and they didn't have that even sort of social connection before. And then we also play on a Friday evening, mixed football. So we have men and women playing sort of six, seven aside, no commitments, no leagues, just see who turns up and and have a really great game, and that's done so much as well for educating some men about actually how good women's football is and how great these females are.
Speaker 3:The respect element that comes in with all of that and you know, I have to say we we've got some incredible male allies at the club as well. As then it's part of our fan base as well, which is something that was again a huge objective for me. It wasn't about being only women doing everything for women, it was about engaging some of these male allies that I know really want to support and lift us. So you know, we've got almost a 50 50 split of of gender across our board, across our coaching teams and our pathway, um, and working, you know, with us as volunteers across across the whole group, which is something I'm extremely proud of and for me that's that's a success measure as well, which doesn't get measured across the board, you know, but if Worcester City women were in a league table, um, for sort of gender equality. Um then, I would want us to be at that top, um, and they would be, but unfortunately those tables don't exist, um, at the moment. But we'd like to be part of that, part of that force that changes things.
Speaker 2:Oh, I mean, this is just my language all over, right, and I exactly.
Speaker 1:I'm just like, oh, we're bouncing're bouncing here because this is what we do, and I was thinking, karen, because, well, nicole, we are just launching a new business together. Which is why women lead, is that, um, most development programs focus on, uh, developing women the way that we've always developed men, and we're like it just doesn't work. We need to create something different so that it's it, it develops all and in turn, it will also then help the, the blokes, because it's about, you know, whether it's emotional intelligence or listening, or cooperation, collaboration, all of those skills, and and we've we've been looking at you know how do we launch the business, and it's all men telling us what to do. We're like this doesn't feel like, you know, we have to do things our own way. So it just everything that Karen and I exist for is what you are speaking about.
Speaker 1:We're just using different for forums and, secretly, I just want us just to you know, not to be competitive but just be better, because when we can show that there's an alternative way. And I just one little story before we start to close down um, I had um stepchildren at one point and I used to take my stepson, who would probably about seven, along to the football and the way that some of the parents were talking and shouting and so-called coaching those boys was tantamount of bullying. And if we can show that actually we can coach in a completely different way to really empower, build that confidence, um, yeah, let's make that thrive, because everything that I saw in that boys team was unhealthy yeah, and absolutely that is across the board as well, and I still, unfortunately, see that on the sidelines.
Speaker 3:um, when we're playing, you know our, our games and again, how I'm incredibly proud of the group of people that I've built here at the club, because, you know, we are not like that, we're very different and we also call it out, but in the right way. But I think that doing it differently as you've just mentioned there is so important and it's a huge opportunity that we have across a number of different industries and you know, certainly in football, people look at you. Well, there isn't another way of doing it, but there is there, absolutely is. But you have to be very, like I said previously, purposeful on what you're trying to achieve and going about it in those right ways. So it's great that you guys are doing what you're doing now and also the new business sounds really interesting and any way that we can support with that as well, then absolutely we'd love to be a part of it, because I think it is not just about football or sport. It's other industries coming in to talk in that way as well.
Speaker 2:And moving the dial forward. Because I think the thing is, you can look out to the world and think, oh my gosh, what is happening? You know, look at the levels of violence and, um, it just there's, just, it just seems to be. The news is just really, really awful. And you look at it and you think, well, actually, this stuff is actually happening. It's, you know, and you go where do we go from here? And I think where we've got to is let's create, let's, let's look at the issues and let's create these new ways, these ways of doing it differently, like you said, and I feel like that's what you're doing, and you know, yours is via sport and ours is through coaching, and yet they're integrated in a way, because when I hear you talk and I, you know, know what we're doing, I'm like it's the same thing.
Speaker 2:So the more of us that are out there that are doing, you know, I would say, positive work, somebody said on one of our podcasts that goodness has no gender, and I totally, totally believe that when we're doing good work and we're, you know, moving the dial forward in a positive way, there isn't a gender there. However, I feel like women do have that ability to step back into emotional intelligence and know. So that inner knowing and the inner wisdom that speaks to us from inside, that goes. It's not that it's this Because we want to do it, and it's not about speed, because I don't think that's it, but we do have to have a level of right. This is this. Now let's take that step, let's take this step, let's take the next step, because otherwise things don't get done and we can get lost in, you know, apathy or um, we can freeze as well.
Speaker 2:So that's what I'm sensing as we're talking and anything we can do to help you as well, because everything that you're doing is is so vital and I I'm amazed that people are not knocking you, knocking your door down, saying how can we, you know, how can we give you some money to do some more great programs? Because that's you know, I think that's the call that I want to make to anyone that's listening, anyone who you know has a powerful seat, who has influence in business. You know who's listening to Nicole? Um, you know, please be um getting in touch to support her with this amazing work, because it's so needed. How can people find you, nicole? Like, where can we direct people?
Speaker 3:um. So, in terms of me personally, I'm certainly on on linkedin, very active on on linkedin. So if you just search nicole allison, um, you'll see any sort of football related picture.
Speaker 1:that'll be me, um, but also our website, the worcester city women website, which is wwwwcwfccouk I'll make sure we write that down, because that sounded like lots of w's, yeah so, but I I know that I found my new football club, um, and this is what sisterhood is all about. It's about supporting each other, raising each other. So, truly, thank you, nicole. You've been an inspiration and a role model and, to everybody listening, it's time to take up your space. Take up a sport, dance, whatever your thing is. Don't stay away just because you still believe it's not for girls, because it is own your space, own your power and, as always, say, it's sister. So thanks for listening and we can't wait to welcome you next time.
Speaker 2:Until Until then use your voice, journal, speak or sing out loud. However you do it, we hope you join us in Saying.
Speaker 1:It.
Speaker 2:Sister.