March 2019: Women moving forward

March has once again come and gone, and with it International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. While the designation of a certain period of recognition for a minority or marginalised group remains a contentious topic of debate – both by those being recognised, as well as those who feel ‘left out’ – the fact of its existence is indeed a reminder that an extra moment’s conscious thought or action for a group – in this case women – whose history, accomplishments and struggles are embedded and intertwined in the history, accomplishments and struggles of all humankind, is still necessary.

While the fight for equality and inclusion continues on many levels, from equal pay to increased representation in decision-making positions, both women and men have striven for improvement and are seeing an increasing number of positive results from their actions. This past March, the news was full of progress that has been made in women’s football – record attendance numbers, improved sponsorship deals, increased representation and more.

The following are moments that we have collected from the past months to celebrate the progress that has been made, in the hope that this is just the beginning.

• Attendance at women’s La Liga match reaches record numbers
• Women’s Serie A match sees highest numbers yet
• Women’s World Cup 2019: FIFA shedding perception that women’s football costs
• US Women’s soccer’s fight for equal pay
• Clubs to sit on new FA board overseeing development of women’s football
• Nike on the ball with exclusive UEFA Women’s Football deal
• Barclays deal shows women’s game now big-bucks business
• Arsenal’s elite girls thrive after being put on an equal footing with the boys
• Arsenal drop ‘Ladies’ from women’s team name to ‘move the modern game forward’
• Adidas to pay equal bonuses to Women’s World Cup winners