We sat down with London City Lionesses boss Sarah Batters who said there’s no magic, just a mix of role models, flexibility, better hiring and supportive husbands!
At ClearRoute, we’re always looking for new ways to encourage more women into our industry, known for being hugely gender imbalanced. So imagine our delight when we discovered the Club Secretary of the local girls’ football team that we sponsor in Kent is a woman leader in the heavily male-dominated world of football. We asked Sarah Batters, MD of Women’s Super League club London City Lionesses, to share her tips. She kindly cleared space in her diary to talk to ClearRoute’s Global Brand Director Jude Jarvis about her journey to the top and what technology might learn from the recent success of women’s football.
Jude Jarvis: Among the initiatives ClearRoute runs to address gender imbalance in technology is to open our offices to the girls in the Chipstead under-14s team that you’re involved with. They’re at an age when they’re thinking about GCSEs and future careers, and we want to give them a feel for what a job in tech entails. How did you get involved in coaching a grassroots team?
Sarah Batters: I started coaching because my daughters wanted to play but I’ve recently had to stop because of my schedule. But I’m still involved as club secretary. I’m now involved in women’s football at both the elite and grassroots level, and this gives so much insight.
Even though we’re called London City Lionesses, we’re based in Watford, which is in Kent. Being a professional club in Kent in the Women’s Super League and having the link to the increasing number of grassroots clubs, is helping girls across the county access great role models and be inspired to play football with a view of playing it in the future. England champion Alessia Russo, who’s from Gillingham, couldn’t progress her career in Kent – she had to go to London. So it’s good that this is changing.
Knowledge is power and I love the fact that you open up your office. It's so important that girls use every opportunity to get to know different areas, have different interests and understand the different careers pathways they can choose. You sacrifice a lot for work so it’s about making sure you find something you love and want to do.
Jude Jarvis: Did you set out to be a leader in football?
Sarah Batters: While I’ve always loved football, I actually started my career in finance and then marketing for Procter and Gamble, a tech startup and the media. But after having children I began consulting and during that time I participated in a hackathon run by the club I support, Manchester City, and Google. It was about how best to use technology to engage international fans. We were locked into the Etihad and slept on bunk beds in the stadium. My idea won which made me think, I could combine my professional expertise in commercial marketing and tech and bring it to football. I made a plan that involved pro bono work here and there and during Covid when Southampton Football Club were advertising for a director of marketing and partnerships, I applied and got the job.
Jude Jarvis: What’s it like working in such a male dominated area?
Sarah Batters: What puts women off applying for senior roles is the perception that they don't know enough about football, that it’s a laddie culture which might not suit them. I’ve had to show that it's not, it's a professional culture where they can thrive. I’ve made sure that all our socials and everything we do are balanced between the genders.
When I started at Southampton, there were about 25 people but only one woman. When I left for Brighton & Hove Albion three years later, around half the staff were women. It's not difficult to attract women at a junior level but where you see the drop off is at senior levels. A lot of that is because it's not compatible with having children and this is probably no different from tech or any other sector.
Jude Jarvis: How challenging has it been juggling family life with such a high-profile role in an industry that’s probably not very understanding of domestic demands once you reach the top?
Sarah Batters: In football, it’s all about performance and it’s quite intense. I’m away from home a lot. I often get people asking, ‘how do you do it?’ but there's no secret answer other than I have a really supportive husband. I don't do the school bags. I don't do the washing. I don't do the cooking. My husband does all that because he has more flexibility with his work.
Generally I’d say it’s getting better for women working in the football industry but there are still lots of boys clubs that advantage people in the know. Like with roles – do roles get published? Not always.
Jude Jarvis: Are you able to work with male leaders to try and change that from the top?
Sarah Batters: Being MD of a professional women's football club is amazing because I get to set and influence the culture. In fact, I have to be careful to hire men to keep diversity of thought and ensure they don’t get outnumbered by women! We’re very flexible about people being able to leave at 3:00pm to get their kids or whatever. I think being a female leader makes you think about these things.
The Brighton & Hove CEO, Paul Barber, is involved with a group called Women in Football who do a lot of work to help improve the number of women on football boards. So there are people within football at the top doing great things, but there are an awful lot who aren’t. When you're in a football club, your main priority is performance on the pitch, so gender balance is secondary.
Jude: A report into the barriers facing women in tech cited lack of opportunities to advance, lack of recognition, inadequate pay, company culture and working conditions, and an absence of role models. Are there similar challenges for women in your industry and what lessons can we learn from the rise of women in football?
Sarah: The equal pay argument doesn't really stand in football because it's a different product, the men's game versus the women's game. But yes, the other barriers are the same.
I think role modelling is so important. The first thing the England Lionesses did after winning the Euros was use their platform to try and drive change and ensure girls can play football at school. Having those girls take the platform of their success and use it to help others has been great.
I also sit on the board of Kick It Out which is about anti-discrimination in sport. We're working closely with football’s governing bodies and major stakeholders to get commitment by those who run the game to make sure that diversity, gender and ethnicity are taken seriously.
We held an event spearheaded by the Football Association where we got a group of club leaders in a room to discuss DEI. Usually, everyone says ‘yes, we want to see more diversity,’ then go back to their day jobs where these things get forgotten. We made everyone leave the room with a firm commitment and they had to make that statement public so we could hold them to account. We had commitments like improving hiring processes, removing names and personal information in CV screening, or changing board structures to get more women in leadership positions.
Jude Jarvis: You’ve said there’s no secret other than that having a husband with the flexibility to do the home/work balancing act. Do you think more male leaders are now acknowledging this fundamental aspect that lies behind so much gender imbalance in the boardroom?
Sarah Batters: I certainly think there’s more awareness among younger generations. Influencing men at the ‘head of’ level is only going to be positive for the future. There's someone in my team who used to be my head of marketing and the number of things he’s doing now to promote, enable and support the women around him is impressive. One day he’ll be a CEO and by then hopefully it'll all be just normalised. My hopes are that the guys here will go onto work in other places and take that culture with them. But unfortunately, it’s going to continue to be a fight until the current pale, male boardroom stereotypes retire.
I find it useful to tell my personal story, which is there's no magic. It takes a supportive husband and family and that can look different for different people. My husband takes pride in the fact that he's supporting me because what I'm doing can be seen as quite important. It’s also setting a good role model of how different families function for our kids and beyond.
Jude Jarvis: How important is male allyship at different levels?
Sarah Batters: It’s really important. We have a very female environment, and you've got to be a certain person to embrace that which a lot of the guys do. There are no question marks around if someone needs to leave for childcare purposes.
I always try and get the men to join the Women in Football group as a way to show allyship and help make the change. I definitely think there's been a shift for the better but it’s not there yet. And if I ask my friends in law or finance, they're like, no, there's no shift.
What’s good about my sector is that football’s fan base is 50/50 so you've got to represent your fan base.
We sat down with London City Lionesses boss Sarah Batters who said there’s no magic, just a mix of role models, flexibility, better hiring and supportive husbands!
At ClearRoute, we’re always looking for new ways to encourage more women into our industry, known for being hugely gender imbalanced. So imagine our delight when we discovered the Club Secretary of the local girls’ football team that we sponsor in Kent is a woman leader in the heavily male-dominated world of football. We asked Sarah Batters, MD of Women’s Super League club London City Lionesses, to share her tips. She kindly cleared space in her diary to talk to ClearRoute’s Global Brand Director Jude Jarvis about her journey to the top and what technology might learn from the recent success of women’s football.
Jude Jarvis: Among the initiatives ClearRoute runs to address gender imbalance in technology is to open our offices to the girls in the Chipstead under-14s team that you’re involved with. They’re at an age when they’re thinking about GCSEs and future careers, and we want to give them a feel for what a job in tech entails. How did you get involved in coaching a grassroots team?
Sarah Batters: I started coaching because my daughters wanted to play but I’ve recently had to stop because of my schedule. But I’m still involved as club secretary. I’m now involved in women’s football at both the elite and grassroots level, and this gives so much insight.
Even though we’re called London City Lionesses, we’re based in Watford, which is in Kent. Being a professional club in Kent in the Women’s Super League and having the link to the increasing number of grassroots clubs, is helping girls across the county access great role models and be inspired to play football with a view of playing it in the future. England champion Alessia Russo, who’s from Gillingham, couldn’t progress her career in Kent – she had to go to London. So it’s good that this is changing.
Knowledge is power and I love the fact that you open up your office. It's so important that girls use every opportunity to get to know different areas, have different interests and understand the different careers pathways they can choose. You sacrifice a lot for work so it’s about making sure you find something you love and want to do.
Jude Jarvis: Did you set out to be a leader in football?
Sarah Batters: While I’ve always loved football, I actually started my career in finance and then marketing for Procter and Gamble, a tech startup and the media. But after having children I began consulting and during that time I participated in a hackathon run by the club I support, Manchester City, and Google. It was about how best to use technology to engage international fans. We were locked into the Etihad and slept on bunk beds in the stadium. My idea won which made me think, I could combine my professional expertise in commercial marketing and tech and bring it to football. I made a plan that involved pro bono work here and there and during Covid when Southampton Football Club were advertising for a director of marketing and partnerships, I applied and got the job.
Jude Jarvis: What’s it like working in such a male dominated area?
Sarah Batters: What puts women off applying for senior roles is the perception that they don't know enough about football, that it’s a laddie culture which might not suit them. I’ve had to show that it's not, it's a professional culture where they can thrive. I’ve made sure that all our socials and everything we do are balanced between the genders.
When I started at Southampton, there were about 25 people but only one woman. When I left for Brighton & Hove Albion three years later, around half the staff were women. It's not difficult to attract women at a junior level but where you see the drop off is at senior levels. A lot of that is because it's not compatible with having children and this is probably no different from tech or any other sector.
Jude Jarvis: How challenging has it been juggling family life with such a high-profile role in an industry that’s probably not very understanding of domestic demands once you reach the top?
Sarah Batters: In football, it’s all about performance and it’s quite intense. I’m away from home a lot. I often get people asking, ‘how do you do it?’ but there's no secret answer other than I have a really supportive husband. I don't do the school bags. I don't do the washing. I don't do the cooking. My husband does all that because he has more flexibility with his work.
Generally I’d say it’s getting better for women working in the football industry but there are still lots of boys clubs that advantage people in the know. Like with roles – do roles get published? Not always.
Jude Jarvis: Are you able to work with male leaders to try and change that from the top?
Sarah Batters: Being MD of a professional women's football club is amazing because I get to set and influence the culture. In fact, I have to be careful to hire men to keep diversity of thought and ensure they don’t get outnumbered by women! We’re very flexible about people being able to leave at 3:00pm to get their kids or whatever. I think being a female leader makes you think about these things.
The Brighton & Hove CEO, Paul Barber, is involved with a group called Women in Football who do a lot of work to help improve the number of women on football boards. So there are people within football at the top doing great things, but there are an awful lot who aren’t. When you're in a football club, your main priority is performance on the pitch, so gender balance is secondary.
Jude: A report into the barriers facing women in tech cited lack of opportunities to advance, lack of recognition, inadequate pay, company culture and working conditions, and an absence of role models. Are there similar challenges for women in your industry and what lessons can we learn from the rise of women in football?
Sarah: The equal pay argument doesn't really stand in football because it's a different product, the men's game versus the women's game. But yes, the other barriers are the same.
I think role modelling is so important. The first thing the England Lionesses did after winning the Euros was use their platform to try and drive change and ensure girls can play football at school. Having those girls take the platform of their success and use it to help others has been great.
I also sit on the board of Kick It Out which is about anti-discrimination in sport. We're working closely with football’s governing bodies and major stakeholders to get commitment by those who run the game to make sure that diversity, gender and ethnicity are taken seriously.
We held an event spearheaded by the Football Association where we got a group of club leaders in a room to discuss DEI. Usually, everyone says ‘yes, we want to see more diversity,’ then go back to their day jobs where these things get forgotten. We made everyone leave the room with a firm commitment and they had to make that statement public so we could hold them to account. We had commitments like improving hiring processes, removing names and personal information in CV screening, or changing board structures to get more women in leadership positions.
Jude Jarvis: You’ve said there’s no secret other than that having a husband with the flexibility to do the home/work balancing act. Do you think more male leaders are now acknowledging this fundamental aspect that lies behind so much gender imbalance in the boardroom?
Sarah Batters: I certainly think there’s more awareness among younger generations. Influencing men at the ‘head of’ level is only going to be positive for the future. There's someone in my team who used to be my head of marketing and the number of things he’s doing now to promote, enable and support the women around him is impressive. One day he’ll be a CEO and by then hopefully it'll all be just normalised. My hopes are that the guys here will go onto work in other places and take that culture with them. But unfortunately, it’s going to continue to be a fight until the current pale, male boardroom stereotypes retire.
I find it useful to tell my personal story, which is there's no magic. It takes a supportive husband and family and that can look different for different people. My husband takes pride in the fact that he's supporting me because what I'm doing can be seen as quite important. It’s also setting a good role model of how different families function for our kids and beyond.
Jude Jarvis: How important is male allyship at different levels?
Sarah Batters: It’s really important. We have a very female environment, and you've got to be a certain person to embrace that which a lot of the guys do. There are no question marks around if someone needs to leave for childcare purposes.
I always try and get the men to join the Women in Football group as a way to show allyship and help make the change. I definitely think there's been a shift for the better but it’s not there yet. And if I ask my friends in law or finance, they're like, no, there's no shift.
What’s good about my sector is that football’s fan base is 50/50 so you've got to represent your fan base.
