Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 34
Methodology
In framing the issues tackled in this
paper, Farrer & Co has drawn heavily
on the expertise of its lawyers, and
their experience of working with
the national governing bodies of
sports, major commercial clubs and
organisations, high-profile sports
men and women, and international
federations, spanning a multitude
of sports including football, athletics,
rugby, tennis, golf, rowing, swimming
and the British Olympic Association,
to whom the firm has been a
longstanding adviser.
The paper is underpinned by
comprehensive data research covering
Sport England-recognised governing
bodies and commercial clubs. This has
been supplemented by in-depth
interviews with leading figures in sport,
publicly available material (see sources),
and by a roundtable discussion
convened to discuss the broad themes
identified alongside the findings of our
own data research.
The data we used was correct as
of autumn 2019. We collected data
on the number of men and women on
each board of the 131 organisations we
researched, and the number of women
in senior positions in these boards. The
senior roles included Chair, Vice Chair,
President, Chief Executive Officer or
Chief Financial Officer. We counted 57
organisations that are recognised by
Sport England as national governing
bodies, and our analysis of professional
clubs included clubs in The English
Premier League, The English Football
League Championship, RFU
Championship and County
Championship. Where organisations
are run by both an executive board and
a management committee, we looked
at the female representation for the
organisation’s senior management and
executive as a whole in order to present
an accurate picture of who is in charge.
Although every best effort has been
made to ensure the accuracy of the
data we are reliant public records and
there is some room for error. This is
unlikely to change the overall picture
which emerges from our findings.
Our analysis used data on the boards of
the following clubs and governing bodies:
AFC Bournemouth; Angling Trust; Arsenal; Aston
Villa; Badminton England; Barnsley Baseball Softball
UK; Bath Rugby; Birmingham City; Blackburn
Rovers; Boccia England; Boccia UK; Bowls
Development Alliance; Brentford; Brighton & Hove
Albion; Bristol Bears; Bristol City; British Canoeing;
British Curling; British Cycling; British Equestrian
Federation (BEF); British Fencing; British
Gymnastics; British Judo; British Mountaineering
Council (BMC); British Orienteering; British Para
Table Tennis (BPTT); British Rowing; British
Shooting; British Taekwondo Council; British
Triathlon (British Triathlon Federation); British Water
Ski & Wakeboard (BWSW); British Weight Lifting;
British Wrestling; Burnley FC; Cardiff City FC;
Charlton Athletic; Chelsea; Crystal Palace; Derby
County; Derbyshire County Cricket; Durham County
Cricket; EMD (Exercise, Move, Dance) UK; England
and Wales Cricket Board (ECB); England Athletics;
England Basketball; England Boxing; England Golf;
England Handball; England Hockey; England
Lacrosse; England Netball; England Squash; Essex
County Cricket; Everton; Exeter Rugby Chiefs;
Fulham; GB Archery – The Grand National Archery
Society T/A Archery GB; GB Badminton; GB
Basketball; GB Boxing; GB Hockey; GB Snowsport;
GB Taekwondo; Glamorgan County Cricket;
Gloucester Rugby; Gloucestershire County Cricket;
Goalball UK; Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball
Association (GWBA); Great Britain Wheelchair
Rugby (GBWR); Hampshire County Cricket;
Harlequins; Huddersfield Town; Hull City; Kent
County Cricket; Lancashire County Cricket; Lawn
Tennis Association (LTA); Leeds United; Leicester
City; Leicester Tigers; Leicestershire County
Cricket; Liverpool; London Irish; Luton Town;
Manchester City; Manchester United;
Middlesbrough; Middlesex County Cricket; Millwall;
Newcastle United; Northampton Saints; Northants
County Cricket; Norwich City; Nottingham Forest;
Nottinghamshire County Cricket; Pentathlon GB;
Preston North End; Queens Park Rangers; Reading;
Rounders England; Royal Yachting Association
(RYA); Rugby Football League; Rugby Football
Union; Sale Sharks; Saracens; Sheffield United;
Sheffield Wednesday; Snowsport England;
Somerset County Cricket; Southampton; Stoke City;
Surrey County Cricket; Sussex County Cricket;
Swansea City; Swim England; Table Tennis England;
Taekwondo Organisation Ltd; The Football
Association (FA); The Rugby Football Union (RFU);
Tottenham Hotspur; UKA – UK Athletics Ltd;
Volleyball England; Warwickshire County Cricket;
Wasps; Watford; West Bromwich Albion; West Ham
United; Wigan Athletic; Wolverhampton Wanderers;
Worcester Warriors; Worcestershire County Cricket;
Yorkshire County Cricket.
Acknowledgements
Farrer & Co would like to thank the
following people for their contributions
and insights throughout our “Women
in Sport” series, which has included
a roundtable discussion, previous short
paper and this latest report:
Chris Grant, Independent Board
Member, Sport England; Clare Cooper,
Rugby Growth Manager, Rugby Football
Union; Jacqueline Winstanley, Founder
and CEO, Universal Inclusion; James
Johnson, Senior Vice President, External
Affairs, City Football Group; Jane
Purdon, Chief Executive Officer, Women
in Football; Janice Shardlow, Director,
34
Governance United; Josie Jones,
Diversity & Inclusion Lead, Women in
Sport; Kate Nicholson, Head of Insight
and Innovation, Women In Sport; Lucy
Pearson, Head of FA Education, The
Football Association; Michelle Bowie
Krige, Non-Executive Director, Lewes
Football Club; Monique Choudhuri,
Non-Executive Director, Brentford
Football Club; Nicky Ponsford, Head of
Women’s Performance, Rugby Football
Union; Stuart Fuller, Chairman, Lewes
Football Club; and Sue Campbell,
Baroness Campbell of Loughborough,
Director of Women’s Football,
The Football Association.
Women in Sport – Levelling the playing field
