We have partnered with inclusive walking group Dykes Who Hike to create a special walk across north London celebrating the 38-year journey of Arsenal Women.
A 60-strong group of walkers were led by club legend and quadruple winner Anita Asante on a journey from the team’s grassroots origins in Shoreditch Park to our main home today, Emirates Stadium.
The group – who were joined by members of the Arsenal Women Supporters’ Club and the world’s longest-serving LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, GayGooners – explored the team’s connection to community and culture along the route, stopping at the four special locations in this story:
- Shoreditch Park: where the newly formed Arsenal Women’s team occasionally played and trained from 1987 to 1989, due to a link between Arsenal in the Community’s volleyball programmes and Britannia Leisure Centre.
- Outrage plaque, Highbury Fields: the site of the first gay rights demonstration in Britain on November 27, 1970, which is near both Highbury and Emirates Stadium where we continue to champion and lift the voices of its LGBTQ+ supporters.
- Highbury Stadium, site of the former JVC Centre: The original Arsenal in the Community Hub and the birthplace of Arsenal Women. Arsenal Women originally started as a girls-only football session run by Arsenal in the Community, creating a safe and inclusive space where girls in north London could play football.
- Emirates Stadium: Our main home and the beating heart of our family, where we hold the current WSL attendance record – broken four times since 2022 – as an emblem of progress in the women’s game.
Reflecting on the journey, Asante underlined the importance of inclusion. “It meant so much to be part of the hike today,” she said after the walk. “We went on a journey to be proud of – charting the grassroots of our women’s team to Emirates Stadium, our home today.
“It’s been incredible to see the progress in the women’s game and to have Arsenal pioneering the way. Today was an opportunity to reflect on our journey, the strong bond between our community and club and the pride we take in championing inclusion so that everyone feels welcome in our game.
“Inclusion is a force for progress – in sport and society. That’s the principle on which Arsenal Women was founded, and why we want all our supporters, no matter what their background or belief system, to feel like they belong here.”
Arsenal Women has its roots in the club’s community department – Arsenal in the Community – which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and today connects with 5,000 people locally every week. In the 1980s, Arsenal in the Community ran work-skills programmes including dedicated girls-only football sessions at the old JVC Centre, part of Highbury before our move to Emirates Stadium in 2006.
Freddie Hudson, Head of Arsenal in the Community, also joined the walk and spoke at Highbury about the challenges faced by young girls trying to play football in the 1980s and 1990s, and the importance of safe spaces to play.
“When I started here in the late 1980s, we pushed for young girls to have the same access to play football as boys. For us, that was never about seeking football outcomes – it was about inclusion for girls at a time when many rejected the idea girls should be playing football.
“The community pitch at the old JVC Centre in Highbury was a welcoming space – where trust was built, role models were created and opportunities were given. What we saw was empowerment in the young girls – support for each other and a sense of belonging that was really special to us.
“Out of those programmes came Rachel Yankey, Ellen Maggs and many other courageous players who smashed down brick walls in football. We’re proud to call them Arsenal legends who have paved the way for generations of young girls.”
The sense of belonging is something shared by Arsenal Women supporters today. Speaking at the Outrage plaque in Highbury Fields, Selena Chambers, Co-Chair of GayGooners said: “I was involved with GayGooners during our tenth anniversary when we represented at Pride together with Arsenal.
"The love that our club showed us and the effort dedicated to making that event special for us was why I’m proud to be part of this family – it’s so inclusive. We walk into the stadium, see the GayGooners banner and we know we have a space here – we belong here.”
Dykes Who Hike was created by friends Lucy Cooper and Yas Message nearly a year ago as a safe space for LGBTQ+ women, trans and non-binary people to come together, socialise and make new friends in a welcoming and inclusive environment, with the group continuing to grow throughout the UK.
They said: "We started Dykes Who Hike as a place to meet other LGBTQ+ women, trans and non-binary people, and it's now a space for everyone to make connections that exist beyond just the hikes. One of the ways this manifested was with us organising trips to watch Arsenal Women play, as there is such a deep connection between the team and the LGBTQ+ community.
“This special hike in collaboration with the club was the perfect opportunity to reflect on, and be proud of, this journey – not just that of Arsenal Women but our hiking and our LGBTQ+ community.”
The hike followed the launch of the first-ever Arsenal Women lifestyle range, which pays tribute to the dedication and inclusivity of the community and celebrates the players, legends and supporters who have shaped the journey and pioneered growth in the women’s game.
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