Trans-inclusive joy of grassroots women’s football is ‘undeniable’, Goal Diggers FC players tell FvH Podcast
To mark Trans Awareness Week, Goal Diggers FC player Billie Sky Walker and club chair Gaia Laidler are guests on a Football v Transphobia special episode of the FvH Podcast; they join FvT campaign lead Natalie Washington in looking at the situation for clubs and leagues outside of FA affiliation…
A chain reaction is helping to create new opportunities for trans women to participate in inclusive football, six months after the imposition of a ban in the FA-affiliated women’s game.
Grassroots clubs are drawing inspiration from each other and setting up tournaments and competitions in different parts of the country, with a focus on being welcoming to all.
Goal Diggers FC in east London are just one example of a club for women and non-binary people (WNB) that is thriving outside of the mainstream.
Two of its 200-plus members – striker Billie Sky Walker and club chair Gaia Laidler – have joined a special episode of the FvH Podcast to discuss the progress that is being made, in Trans Awareness Week 2025.
They are joined by Natalie Washington, lead of the Football v Transphobia campaign, who was forced to step away from the seventh-tier club where she had played for around a decade as a result of the English FA enacting its policy change in the summer.
GDFC has been at the forefront of campaigning efforts on trans inclusion, before and after the ban, and Gaia says the club will continue to showcase its ethos in practice.
“We are all cis women. We are all happy to play here. This is fine, and we are the masses,” she states on the podcast.
To counter suggestions that trans-inclusive football is unsafe and unfair, GDFC are using their strong social media presence and appearances in titles such as Glamour, CN Traveller, Dazed and Vogue to “flood joy” into the conversation.
“These infectious, joyous communities that are out there – it’s undeniable,” adds Gaia. “I don’t think you can watch or come down to our training sessions and not see how everyone is so happy here.”
For Billie, the community spirit within WNB football has provided valuable emotional support during an understandably tough 2025.
“The ban affected my relationship [with football] and I’m so grateful for Goal Diggers and another team called Bayern Munchies, who have been super lovely to me,” she explains.
GDFC and Bayern Munchies of London’s Goalposts League are among around 50 grassroots WNB teams which have publicly opposed the FA ban, as part of a wider collective of at least 125 groups from across the game.
Most of the WNB clubs and leagues are based in London, while other UK cities represented include Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Natalie says it is a testament to the hard work of volunteers nationwide that the grassroots WNB scene is not only growing but speaking out.
“The reason the women’s game has this reputation for being inclusive and a place where people can be themselves is because people have created those spaces and that’s what they want those spaces to be like,” she says.
“If the powers that be in football don’t want to go along with that, then people will go and create their own spaces that do tick those boxes, in terms of inclusivity.”
She adds: “That inspires me, seeing all these people wanting to say, ‘I’ll decide who’s going to be in my football space, not somebody else.’ That’s really powerful.”
‘Go and play football your way’
Goal Diggers FC have already assisted lots of people in getting their own WNB teams off the ground, in different parts of the country.
They continue to field enquiries and are now hoping that the chain-reaction effect can make it easier to start up unaffiliated football projects in more regional cities and towns.
“Know that it is possible,” says Gaia. “There will be people there who will help you. The grassroots is built on people volunteering their time – that’s what makes it very special.
“Make collectives, and try to each have a role that suits you. We’re always happy to give advice, have a phone call and explain the main starting-out bits that it’s always good to know.”
There is plenty of evidence already to show how people are finding ways to adapt to the new landscape.
Billie discusses how in recent weeks she has played matches in the GFSN (which is LGBTQ-inclusive and open to all) with Millwall Romans FC, and has had a good experience so far.
“It’s not my ideal,” she says, “and I’m not even sure that I want to do it forever, to be honest.
“But I do think it’s leading me somewhere, as I feel my way through the dark to some kind of safety.”
Her decision to play in these games is in addition to the grassroots WNB options which remain available to her, not instead of them.
In WNB football, there are ongoing challenges around the lack of pitch availability, securing insurance cover, and access to facilities. These issues affect everyone, not just trans players.
Even then, the obstacles are not insurmountable, insists Natalie, who is in regular contact with other trans women who are sharing their experiences and building a valuable knowledge base.
“It’s really important that people don’t feel they have to give up or stop doing the thing they love,” she says.
“Just go and play football in the way that you want to do, because kicking a ball about is what you enjoy.”
Listen to the conversation in full on the latest episode of the FvH Podcast.
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