This Fan Girl
1203. Amy Drucquer
Amy Drucquer, from Leicester, founded ‘This Fan Girl’, an online community that is transforming the perception of female football fans across the UK.
A lifelong Leicester fan, Amy noticed that coverage of their title-winning 2016/2017 season was lacking in female faces and it was then that Amy decided to found ‘This Fan Girl’ to portray the diverse faces, voices and stories and opinions of women who love football. Using her skills as a photographer, she travelled across the UK documenting the stories of real female football fans. Under Amy’s leadership, ‘This Fan Girl’, has become a vibrant online community, connecting female football fans across the UK, running monthly meet-ups where women can watch football matches together, sharing their passion for the sport. She also advises several premier league football clubs on the issues that are important to their female fans. For the Women’s World Cup 2019, Amy has teamed up with Adidas to host screenings at Peckham Springs, with all events already sold out.
Amy was presented with her award by the Minister for Sport and Civil Society, Mims Davies MP.
In a personal letter to Amy, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“Through ‘This Fan Girl’ you are challenging perceptions about the sport you love and giving female football fans a voice. By creating a community for women to share their passion for this sport, you are creating a more inclusive environment for women to enjoy the beautiful game. I hope you all enjoy this year’s Women’s World Cup.”
Amy said:
“I’m really honoured to be chosen to receive a Point of Light award, and am already in some incredible company of volunteers from this year. We hope that ‘This Fan Girl’ can continue to create opportunities for women in football, and continue working on equality in all areas within the sport.”