'We often played in too big men's football shirts'

Good For a Girl brings to the stages the issues women footballers tackle day to day

The experiences of women playing football and the challenges encountered when pursuing a career as a professional have been captured in a play.

Good for a Girl, which tackles the day-to-day inequalities faced such as the gender pay gap, has opened in Birmingham.

"Things have changed in recent years but it's still not good enough, we cover sexual assault and the power dynamics of male coaches," playwright Becky Deeks said.

It premiered at the Rep Theatre and will be touring venues across the Midlands including Malvern Theatre, Derby Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre and Attenborough Arts Centre.

The play lasts 90 minutes with extra time and is set in a women's changing room

Ms Deeks, who played women's football as a teenager, said: "We often played in men's kits and the shirts would come down to my knees, our changing rooms were often a 10-minute walk away from the pitch."

The play is 90 minutes long with extra time to reflect a football match, and is set in a female dressing room to show teamwork and friendships that are formed between the players.

Lucy Wild, the play's director, said: "What the play is about is having a great time with our audience and exploring these themes, but also trying to make a change in society and trying to highlight the things that we do want to address within football and equality for women in general."

The play will be touring around the Midlands

With the aim of inspiring young women and girls to consider the sport, the play has also been hosting workshops with grassroots women's football clubs.

Hannah Kumari, campaign manager for the Football Supporters Association said: "What a lot of women and girls want is to have the capacity to have a career which is on a par with male players.

"Working with children is really important as that's the time when beliefs are formed."