Søren Bennike1, Claes Madsen1, Adam B. Evans2
1 Danish Football Association, Brøndby, Denmark; 2 Department of Nutrition,
Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
This article presents selected results from a follow up study of the diversity in Danish grassroots football. The first study was made in 2019. Results reflect quantitative measures of diversity amongst 10,945 respondents, including club members (players), club boards, coaches, educated licensed referees and the Danish Football Association’s political level. Results illustrate multiple measures of diversity, including age, gender, sexuality, ethnic origin, and attitudes and experiences of participation. Results demonstrate continuous inequality regarding girls/women’s and immigrants/descendants’ representation in the DFA football landscape when compared to the general population. At the same time, inequality (and the experience of inequality) has declined since the diversity study of 2019 in several respects. However, the results also demonstrate that those outside the ‘dominant’ group still experience discriminatory and derogatory language and simultaneously perceive their membership and participation in football to be more challenging than for many ethnically Danish, heterosexual men. Again, we call for research regarding the underlying causes of the trends presented.
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SØREN BENNIKE holds a position as Head of Research at the Danish Football Association. He leads on the area of applied football science in collaboration with several domestic and international academic institutions. He received his PhD in 2016 in Humanities and Social Sport Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
CLAES MADSEN holds a position as Insights Manager at the Danish Football Association. He is leading several insights projects, among others, regarding diversity in grassroots football. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and a master’s degree in marketing economics from Copenhagen Business School.
ADAM B. EVANS is an Associate Professor in Sociology of sport at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sport Science (NEXS). He is also visiting Professor at the University of Lincoln, UK, and the current Editor in Chief of the European Journal for Sport and Society. His research focuses on evaluating community-based sports programs and understanding the lived experiences of active lifestyles among several marginalized groups.
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