Sports Journalism programme leader releases book on women’s football

University of East London’s Carrie Dunn spent a year following some of the most famous female footballers in the country and has written a book about the experience.

Millions watched the 2015 women’s World Cup as the England Lionesses won bronze in Canada, showing plenty of fighting spirit and skill to capture the imagination of those back home.

Attendances in the FA Women’s Super League have increased as interest in the sport has grown and Dunn’s book ‘The Roar of the Lionesses: women’s football in England’ looks at what the future might now hold.

The 256-page paperback, publishing by Pitch Publishing Ltd, asks questions such as: Can the smaller, lower-profile teams ever compete with the big money and big names of the Women’s Super League?

How are grassroots clubs going to rise to the top when elite divisions of women’s football depend on the award of licences?

Can the women win a World Cup before the men do and if they do, what reward and recognition will they get?

And as it tells the tale of an increasingly popular, yet still under-represented sport, ‘The Roar of the Lionesses’ looks at what it’s really like to play in the WSL and for England, what goes on behind the scenes and how part-timers and amateurs balance football with real life.

Dunn also explores how female players cope with serious injury, what it takes to run a club from grassroots to the top flight and the financial challenges facing clubs throughout the pyramid.

Some of the sport’s trailblazing stars are asked about their views on the current state of the game, while Dunn also looks at the problems the governing bodies have yet to tackle.

BBC sports presenter and journalist Jacqui Oatley called it: “A fantastic and unique insight into the world of women’s football in England.”

*Carrie Dunn is a freelance sports journalist and author and has covered the last two Women’s World Cups for The Times and for Eurosport.com.

A regular radio pundit for matches, Dunn is also Programme Leader in Sports Journalism at UEL.