Watford leading the way in a women’s football revolution

Adekite Fatuga-Dada joined the Hornets at the age of 11 and has spent more than half her life helping them rise through the women’s ranks

Adekite Fatuga-Dada has spent 13 years at Watford (The FA via Getty Images)

Have you heard the big news coming out of Watford? No, not the Premier League promotion thing - the bit about the female-led revolution.

For Adekite Fatuga-Dada, the Golden Girls’ longest-serving player, the transformation is more than half a lifetime in the making.

The 24-year-old joined the club at the age of 11, and last week learned her squad had been promoted to the second-tier Championship under the FA’s Upward Club Movement Scheme, introduced in April.

It’s a credit, she believes, to the inclusive dynamic she feels running throughout her whole club.

She said: “We train at the same training ground, and we have access to the first-team gym, so we use those facilities as well.

“If it is good enough for our men's team, who are now back in the Premier League, then it is definitely good enough for us.

“At Watford at the moment it just feels very much like one club. I know a lot of teams say [that] but I've always felt that we actually feel it and we actually do put that into action.

“The support that the [men’s] players give us off the pitch as well is amazing. A lot of them sent us messages saying congratulations and stuff like that.

“It's been actually quite crazy when I do sit down and think about it.

“When I look at the things like Vicarage Road and how it used to be when I was younger and what it looks like now, it's outstanding how far we've come.”

If the footballer’s sentiments sound familiar, it’s not déjà vu.

They’re almost identical to those expressed by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who frequently cites the familial, equality-driven atmosphere at Blues’ HQ as a key factor behind the Champions League finalists’ blistering success in the Women’s Super League and continental competition.

And soon, the Golden Girls will share something else in common with the back-to-back WSL champions.

Clubs in the Championship are set to benefit from 25% of the investment revenue generated from the FA’s landmark broadcast deal coming into effect next season, with the WSL awarded the other three quarters.

The “multimillion-pound” agreement, announced in March, will see upwards of 66 Women’s Super League matches broadcast between Sky and the BBC.

It’s an added incentive for Watford’s women, whose season in tier three was Covid-curtailed in March, to try to stay up.

“Last season, the league that we were in was seen as non-elite, which is why we couldn't continue,” said Fatuga-Dada.

Fatuga-Dada has been at Watford since she was 11 (The FA via Getty Images)

“Now to be amongst that elite, it’s what we deserve really for the hard work that we've put in, all the stuff that the club does, and everything that happens behind the scenes.

“It's definitely going to give us a bit of a confidence boost, but we have to properly get to work now and make sure that we stay in that division.”

But it’s not just Watford’s players who are singing the praises of the Vicarage Road brass.

On International Women’s Day, Fatuga-Dada appeared on Hive Live, a virtual event focused on women’s football and equality hosted by her club.

The forward, alongside former Hornet Tommy Mooney, were in attendance on behalf of the players.

Kate Lewers, 30, was one of three women representing supporters. At one point, she was asked how she felt as a female football fan attending away games.

“I suddenly realised that I’d never actually been to an away game myself and nor would I,” said the cabin crew worker, who conveyed the same on the call.

“I don’t feel safe on the streets. In the stands, I feel safe. I’m surrounded by this amazing Watford community.

“But unless I’m travelling with somebody that I know, who chances are [is] going to be male, I just wouldn’t go, because there’s something about being a woman and going to an unfamiliar area.”

Soon after, she recalled, “we had the horrible, horrible death of Sarah Everard. And because I’d been on Hive Live discussing just this, I [tweeted] about how this related to me and the world of football.”

Watford Supporter Liaison Dave Messenger contacted Lewers and asked how the club could help. On Tuesday, one answer was unveiled: a new supporters’ group called WOW [Women of Watford FC].

Group leader Lewers, who was overwhelmed by the response, is in touch with her favourite club several times a week to exchange ideas and make plans.

They’ve designed her logo and put her in touch with key contacts including supporters’ group The 1881, who will help her create a flag which will hang proudly inside Vicarage Road next season.

Lewers is hoping to organise pre-match events, an all-female coach to away games, and introduce a ‘walking buddies scheme’, where fans can team up to walk together to matches.

WOW gained over 500 followers in its first 24 hours.

“I’m incredibly passionate about this and it seems like a lot of people are as well,” said Lewers. “I had some doubts, I was worried about [receiving] negativity. [But] there’s been barely any, and it just shows me how great the want is for this group.”

Viva la revolution.