Anti-sexism campaigner targeted with stickers at Bristol Rovers

An anti-sexism campaign led by two Bristol Rovers fans was targeted with stickers put up against it at the Memorial Stadium during this month’s game against Bradford City.

The people or person behind the stickers even pasted some on pictures of one of Her Game Too founders, Caz May, in the clubhouse, Ms May revealed in programme notes before Friday’s game against Salford City.

The club has come out strongly in support of the anti-sexism campaign, and removed all the stickers following last week’s game. It has also said it will review CCTV in a bid to identify those who placed them around the ground.

HGT, which was co-founded by Gas fans Ms May and Lucy Ford, as well as fans from other Football League clubs, has been in existence for the last ten months. The campaign aims to raise awareness of sexist abuse within football.

As well as giving Ms May a platform in the match day programme, the club had cups sold at the ground with the campaign branding. This was in addition to campaign branding screened on electronic advertising boards every match day.

Ms May wrote: “I always had a fear that the negativity sometimes received would one day translate into a real-life scenario outside of social media but I didn’t expect it to come from fans of the football club I have loved and supported since I was a little girl.

“I found the idea of someone actively spending their time and money creating anti-HGT stickers to put up around the stadium and on pictures of me in the clubhouse both shocking and heartbreaking.

“Lucy and I spend a lot of our own time and money keeping this ever-growing campaign running, alongside working our full-time jobs.

“We are extremely passionate about making a positive change within football and it hurts us a great deal to see people, who we stand side-by-side with on the terraces, trying to drag us and the campaign down.

She added: “Whilst we appreciate that a campaign trying to make a change like this won’t be accepted by everybody, we would have preferred people behind creating the stickers to speak to us first and we would welcome an open and honest conversation about their concerns.

“With all of our passionate female supporters, our brilliant staff members and the continuing success of the Gas girls, it’s great to see the club taking sexism so seriously and we thank them for adding their huge support behind our cause.”

Her Game Too have partnered with a range of clubs both in the professional game including Premier League clubs like Brentford, Everton and Leeds United, as well as organisations like JD.

Bristol Rovers Commercial Director Tom Gorringe added, Bristol Rovers Commercial Director Tom Gorringe said last week: “Football is a game for everyone and we see the work of the #HerGameToo campaign as vitally important in making football stadiums across the country places where all sectors of society feel welcome and accepted.

“Rovers is well known as a family club so we are fully committed to the work that the campaign is hoping to achieve and will offer our full support to raise awareness and to tackle the issue of sexist abuse.”