Liverpool launch Beyond the Goalposts to boost diversity in women’s football with Aurélie Csillag

Liverpool Foundation launches Beyond the Goalposts initiative

Liverpool FC Foundation is launching Beyond the Goalposts, an initiative aimed at giving Black and marginalised girls and women pathways and opportunities in football on and off the pitch. Sessions begin on 1 October and the programme is being supported by Premier League funding.

Liverpool forward Aurélie Csillag, 23, is backing the project and says the drive for representation is personal.

"When I was young I never had a role model. I only watched men’s football, but when women’s football got bigger there were no really good black players. I also want to be a role model for the next generation," Csillag said.

"I heard about the programme and I reached out to the foundation," the Switzerland international added. "I wanted to support it because it is an important topic for me in football. I was really surprised, I was so happy that such a big club thinks about things like this. We can improve women’s football for black people. I was very excited Liverpool were doing this and I was proud I am a part of a club that is aware of this issue."

Safe, inclusive environment and community sessions

Beyond the Goalposts aims to "create a safe, inclusive and empowering environment" in Liverpool’s community. The club said sessions will include educational and mentoring support, with experts and players assisting on-pitch sessions.

The programme is concentrated on leadership, mentoring, health and wellbeing, community engagement and advocacy, with a focus on both on-pitch activity and careers off the pitch. Activities are planned at Anfield on match days and a football festival is also in the programme.

The club said the project is "the start that is needed in women’s sport, and the legacy of the project will extend beyond the delivery of sessions, creating sustainable change for participants, the foundation, the club, and the wider community. Through leadership development, peer support and meaningful engagement with the LFC Foundation, participants will build the confidence, skills and networks needed to influence positive change."

Research highlights barriers

Research provided by Liverpool found girls as young as five feel they do not belong in sport and only 30% of parents believe playing sport is important.

It also found that despite 60% of Black girls wanting to be an elite athlete, they are the least active group of girls in England, and one in two Black girls feel they need to play down their cultural identity.

Asked why Black and marginalised girls and women may be deterred from football, Csillag pointed to role models, access and confidence.

"The most important part is a lack of role models. Maybe also not being able to access it," she said. "They [also might be] struggling with their confidence. For example, I was so different when I started to play football and my body was so different. I played in a team where the whole team were white girls and our body structure was so different and I lost some confidence."

"I said: ‘Why am I so tall? Why are my thighs so big? Why is this different?’ I just started to compare myself with them and maybe a lot of other girls may have lost their confidence. They may not keep going because of a lack of support or awareness."

Csillag highlighted progress in the Switzerland national team: "If I had one [other black person on the team] they would know what I was talking about. That is why I am so happy that in the national team we have four black girls and five years ago it was only one or two. It is so nice to see that we are competing on such a high level to show girls and women it is possible and they have role models and people like this exist in this sport."

Visibility starts at the top

For Csillag, change must start in leadership.

"The most important thing is that you have black people in the staff, higher up, because I barely see this," she said. "Every time I see it I think: ‘Woah, I could one day maybe reach what she is reaching.’ When you have never seen it, how can a little girl think she can do it? It will go automatically that young girls will follow that dream or path. Visibility starts at the top."

"Everyone should feel that football is a place for them and programmes like Beyond the Goalposts help move us closer to that reality by creating opportunities, building confidence and showcasing the diversity that makes the game stronger."

The programme is currently focused on people in Liverpool, though the club says it would like to expand and is encouraging other sports organisations to adopt similar programmes. People can register interest for sessions, which start 1 October.