Poignant ‘Let The Dolls Play’ poem provides trans visibility in women’s football
Football v Transphobia campaign’s annual Week of Action concludes with spoken word video project collaboration; poet Sarah McCreadie’s powerful verse was created for Football Pride event and is now visualised for Trans Day of Visibility 2026…
Acclaimed poet Sarah McCreadie hopes her new poem ‘Let The Dolls Play’ will help to change the narrative on trans women in women’s football.
Sarah, who plays in the grassroots game for South London Laces, is an award-winning poet and spoken word artist who created the verse for Football v Homophobia’s annual Football Pride event in Leicester last August.
‘Let The Dolls Play’ has now been released as a short video on Instagram and other social media platforms to mark Trans Day of Visibility and the conclusion of the Week of Action for the Football v Transphobia campaign.
Accompanied by images of players who were among those impacted by the English FA’s policy change made nearly a year ago, McCreadie’s moving poem invites listeners to contemplate a future in which they are included in their teams and leagues once again.
Among the photographs are shots of Goal Diggers FC, taken by Declan Kelly for the Glamour UK feature article ‘The FA has banned transgender women from playing women’s football. This grassroots club is fighting back’ which ran in November 2025, written by Nakul Pande.
GDFC has also teamed up with the FvT campaign on a new limited edition run of ‘LET THE DOLLS PLAY’ T-shirts and tote bags, which are available to buy from the FvH Shop.
Sarah’s work embraces queer culture, and as a proud lesbian, she has been vocal about the need for greater inclusion in football for all LGBTQ people.
We caught up with her to learn more about her ‘Let The Dolls Play’ poem…
Hi Sarah, congratulations on this important new work. Why did you want to write this particular poem, and what helped to inspire the powerful verses?
Thank you. I wanted to write this poem because I wanted to make a change. I believe poetry has the power to do that – to show the reality, the real lives behind these decisions that are made, and the people who are affected by them.
It’s something really important and personal to me. These are my friends, my opponents, when I play football for South London Laces [the club issued a statement in May 2025 opposing the FA ban – Ed.].
It’s something that I’m so passionate about, and when I’m passionate about something, I’m moved to write a poem about it.
I hope that the poem can make people feel seen, welcome and loved. And perhaps it might change someone’s mind.
How does it feel to see the finished reel with the images of the players, and the reactions on Instagram?
It’s so moving to see the words with the pictures, the real lives in these beautiful portraits. It’s giving even more life to the language.
I think the video is so powerful, and it really captures the joy, the found family, the feeling that you get when you’re part of a football team that so many people have just been robbed of.
The reactions are powerful to read, and I feel it’s an honour to be part of this campaign.
What do you hope people take away from this poem?
I hope that people see themselves in this poem and that they feel seen, cared for, loved and know that they aren’t alone.
Football might have seemed like it left them behind on paper, but it hasn’t on the pitch. And I hope people see that if football isn’t for everyone, then it is for no one.
Thank you to Sarah, to all the players featured in the video, to the photographers, and to everyone who helped to bring ‘Let The Dolls Play’ to life.
Further reading…
10 reasons why Football v Transphobia deserves your support
More than 100 clubs and groups publicly oppose bans on trans women playing women’s football
Visit www.footballvhomophobia.com for more information about the Football v Transphobia campaign, and the work of FvH.
Check out our archive of related content, including episodes of the FvH Podcast.
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