The watershed moment for women’s football appeared to have already happened by 2011.
Participation was on the rise. Matches were on television. Movies such as Bend It Like Beckham had put female footballers on the big screen. The top tier in England was even being revamped as the ‘Women’s Super League’ – marking an exciting new chapter for the domestic game. It felt like Britain was readily embracing women’s football again.
But then, in January 2011, Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray were caught live on air scoffing at the very idea of a female comprehending the offside rule.
The leaked audio – in which Keys and Gray agreed the “game had gone mad” for including women as officials – was widely condemned, culminating in their departures. The pair protested that the comments had been taken out of context, but admitted it looked bad. If two of the most respected personnel in football punditry weren’t willing to take women’s opinions seriously, there was little hope for others.
Perhaps women’s football had a bit further to go after all.
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In the ten years since that infamous sexism row that rocked English football, more than a few things have changed. The number of female officials in English football has risen by 72%. Viewership is higher than ever before (with the latest women’s world cup enticing a global audience of 1 billion spectators in total according to FIFA). Women pundits occupy seats on mainstream analysis shows including Sky Sports – with female stars also enjoying better coverage from their own clubs and in the wider media.
More women have voices in football than they have in over a century. And part of the reason for that progress is down to the people fighting for change at grassroots level: Companies like the one based at Manchester’s old Granada Studios called Miss Kick.
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Grace Vella
Founded by a University of Manchester student who wanted to give the women’s game another nudge in the right direction, Miss Kick has evolved from just another sports logo into a badge of honour for all female footballers in Britain.
The company sells sports gear and accessories that are specially-designed for females – but is quickly morphing from a clothing store into a tight-knit women’s football community with thousands of members.
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Owner Grace Vella was balancing her psychology degree with her sports career when she set up Miss Kick in 2017; scribbling revision notes in the back of a car en route to business expos.
Between training and studying she barely had time to lace up her boots, never mind run a business. But Grace persevered – feeling like it was something she had to do.
Around this time, women’s football was spreading into more places and enjoying another resurgence. But it needed something to keep it connected – a place in which all female players and ambassadors could unite under a single umbrella and push the game into exciting new territory together.
That was the vision for Miss Kick.
Grace had grown up knowing her future lay in football – playing regularly with her brother and cousins as a kid before signing a dream deal at Liverpool aged just 13. She moved to Man City four years later and had a spell at Chorley, but despite her successes in football, Grace was left frustrated at the sight of boys being carried up the pyramid whilst she was forced to navigate all the hurdles herself.
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“I used to think – ‘If I was a boy I’d get all my allowances paid, my travel, my kit, and get football boot sponsorships,’” Grace tells us.
“Girls always have to pay for that stuff.”
“Growing up I was always given a boys’ kit to train in and felt like I had fewer opportunities just because I was a girl.
“I thought: ‘I want to change that. I want to change the way society sees womens’ sport.’”
In her third year at university, Grace got the brainwave for Miss Kick – the UK’s first all-female football brand – and immediately headed out to expos across the north to spread the word.
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The company has continued to grow ever since – with Grace’s old uni housemate Katie signing on in September and the latest recruit, Yasmin, recently joining as a Digital Executive.
Despite its relative youth, it’s clear Miss Kick has struck a chord.
“I’ve got quite a few professional players and friends in the game – and I knew there wasn’t really a brand out there for girls,” Grace tells us.
“So I thought: Why not give it a go?
“My dad organises one of the biggest girls’ football tournaments in the country, so I thought I’d turn up with my little tent and it went down really well!
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“Football has always been seen stereotypically, with boys put first with better treatment.
“I quickly realised that there were so many other girls in sport who felt the same way and have gone through the same experiences as me; whether that’s being bullied for liking football or picked last in the team.
“Our message – that anyone should be able to play football – has resonated with people.”
Women’s football is not so much a new trend as a rekindling of a long-dormant passion.
But the game quickly fell into disrepute in 1921 after the FA deemed football “quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged”. It took fifty years for the ban to be lifted. And another forty years passed before the official formation of the Women’s Super League. But throughout the century, women continued to play – even if it meant flying in the face of convention and ill-founded assumptions that females didn’t have the technical ability or knowhow.
Slowly but surely, women’s football has gained a new foothold. But there remains a strong element of stigma nonetheless – particularly when the men and women’s games crossover.
Jeff Stelling, another football figurehead at Sky Sports, has admitted it’s still tough for women to appear on his Gillette Soccer Saturday results show, calling the social media response ‘horrendous’ at times.
He told The Guardian: “There’s this blinkered idea – ‘It’s a woman, what can she know about football?’
“Twenty years ago I was also sceptical. But my view has changed and obviously we’ve had very good reporters like Michelle Owen, Bianca Westwood and Jacqui Oatley. They’re really experienced.
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“There’s no reason why women shouldn’t feature more.”
Another part of Miss Kick’s mission is about retaining this mindset and sense of momentum in the women’s game that’s empowering the people who play. A love for football isn’t something that girls have to hide anymore; and Grace believes the Miss Kick brand acts like a “hero cape” they can proudly carry through life.
“The growth of the womens’ game has been incredible,” Grace says.
“They’ve professionalised the WSL now. When I was growing up you couldn’t be a pro. You had to juggle it with something else. Now you can go and make a living from it – which I think is huge.
“We’re doing much better – but I still feel there is stigma. You do still see trolls picking on people.”
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“The leagues below the WSL need more finance and support – and there’s a big gap from the top league to the bottom.
“There is a bit of reluctance for investment because women’s football won’t develop a return straight away. But there’s no reason [the game] can’t be like it is in America where it’s really popular.
“In general, I think the womens’ game needs more opportunities to grow – and more needs to be done to challenge perceptions.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
It’s been a thrilling period for Miss Kick, but COVID has caused its fair share of complications – which is unsurprising for a sports brand that primarily deals with people face-to-face. Nonetheless, instead of standing still, Miss Kick is using the opportunity to evolve its offering and expand its membership base online in the meantime.
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“We’re not just a clothing brand – we’re a community,” Grace emphasises.
“We want to become a place that shares womens’ content and news; moving into digital space and creating a movement rather than just being a logo on a t-shirt.
“We want to inspire across generations and inspire as many women and girls as possible – including the young stars coming through.”
“We’re in talks about partnering with clubs, too.”
The future for female footballers looks brighter than ever now. But the game will still need to evade some lunging challenges in the years ahead.
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Grace thinks female football is ready for it. Miss Kick definitely is.
“Growing up being a girl in football you do develop tough skin,” says Grace.
“That’s spilled out into my business career. People underestimate you in both worlds.
“You almost shock them sometimes when it’s clear you know what you’re talking about.
“I almost use it to my advantage to prove people wrong – in sport and in business.”
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“It’s hard work, don’t get me wrong.”
“But running Miss Kick, I feel like the luckiest person in the world sometimes.”Learn more about Miss Kickonline.
Feature
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | May 2025
Oh, hey, didn’t see you there. Come looking for more top Manc tunage, have we? You’re in luck, because Greater Manchester just keeps pumping out top bands and artists all the time, hence why we do this.
If you’re new around these parts, first of all, welcome and secondly, the whole thing is very simple: every month, we round up some of the best talents coming out of 0161 and talk about why we like them. I know, groundbreaking stuff, right?
They don’t have to be born and bred in Manchester, but they do need to have made this their music home – the first the correct career decision they made, the second being working their way into our ears.
So, now all the housekeeping is done and dusted, let’s dive into some delightful new Manchester music, shall we?
Five Manc bands and artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. IST IST
This month we’re starting off with one of those Manchester bands that may not be new but still crop up for us at regular intervals to remind us of two things: first of all, that they’re brilliant and secondly, that they should have featured on our regular round-up of artists a long time ago.
We’re talking about IST IST, who returned with another live, multiple LP-spanning compilation (plus some extras) this past March, which we’ve had on plenty over the past month. It goes without saying that they sound brilliant live, and we feel bad for only just remembering how good and prolific they’ve been.
You always get plenty of New Order, but also White Lies and Editors; Future Islands, The National and lots of other baritone-driven bands that bring that element of melodrama to layer over the instruments themselves. ‘You’re Mine’ might be their biggest track, but ‘The Kiss’ and ‘Exist’ are also favourites.
2. Robbie Cavanagh
Now, we all know that country music is having a real moment right now and we, for one, couldn’t be happier about it, to be completely frank. Though arguably simplistic at times, it’s soulful, often impressively pared-back, and when something does impress you lyrically or technically, it sticks.
With that in mind, we recently realised that award-winning songwriter Robbie Cavanagh has been on somewhat of a comeback since 2023, and we hadn’t noticed until painfully recently. Returning after a six-year hiatus – bar some little ditties during lockdown – his latest project has some of his best work yet.
Fully tilting from folk into country and folk, the stunning vocalist belatedly blew us away with the bluesy single ‘Helpless’ and a gorgeous new collaboration with solo artist, Abby Gundersen (equally talented sister of Noah), but please still start with his 2016 Mahogany Session, where it arguably all began.
Named after Manchester city centre’s famously eclectic indie emporium, Afflecks Palace have never quite blown up in the way they way we thought they would when we first came across them years ago, but there’s still plenty of time and we’ll be damn it if they don’t deserve more regular listeners.
You’ll also be glad to know that, despite the name, they aren’t one of those trite, overly performative bands who wear a stereotypical Manc-ness on their sleeve that we sometimes come across; they’re just good and deserve a lot more recognition for their contribution to the neo-pysch genre.
As for where to start, we’ll admit we prefer their first album; ‘Forever Young’ is noodley and catchy, ‘Everything Is an Attempt to Be Human’ has those shoegazey guitars, but it just doesn’t get better than the incomparable ‘Pink Skies’, which still makes us feel some type of way – we just can’t quite describe.
We just love it. ‘Nu-Madchester’, or whatever you want to call it, its distinct sunniness never fails to tickle a part of our brains.
4. Findlay
Next up is Stockport singer-songwriter Findlay, who released more new music this past February, and has been making indie pop that ropes in plenty of other influences for more than a decade now.
That being said, she’s always experimenting with her sound, as her collabs with Blossoms, Miles Kane, Bill Ryder-Jones, Joris Delacroix have shown, and this latest iteration seems to have her tapping into everything from almost 50s and 60s female soul singers to slow electronic and more.
We love the smooth sexiness and sheer ambition of her latest single, ‘Stay Kinky’ and ‘Waste My Time’ always feels like a late-night chiller fit for music video set in a dingey bar, however, we still have a soft spot for her debut, ‘Your Sister’, with the riff that’s almost reminiscent of ‘Blockbuster’ by Sweet.
Last but not least, it’s the second time we’re featuring a returning artist and it comes in the form of young Alex Spencer, whose journey from busking around the streets of Greater Manchester to sold-out headlines shows and featuring on the likes EA Sports FC 25 (yes, FIFA) is a truly remarkable one.
The charming and still fresh-faced local lad from Droylsden is nothing short of proof that hard work and determination can pay off, and those ‘Bucket List’ dreams really are within reach. Obvious talent aside, this teenager has grafted his arse off and we couldn’t be more proudof how far he’s come already.
He last featured in this round-up back in April 2024 but even in the time between then, he’s released plenty and developed even further as musician, so much so that we’re not going to suggest which songs to try; instead, you can watch our most recent interview with him and relive his last year or so with us.
I’m Alex Spencer and This is my journey so far!
8 years of my music journey summed up in 1 minute 55😅 Thankyou to everyone who’s followed my journey so far, to anyone new or to anyone who doesn’t know my story, I made this video to show where it all started and how I got here❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hi3W7MHMxX
So, the next time you hear someone foolishly complaining that the Greater Manchester music scene ‘isn’t what it once was’, you can go right ahead of show them these bands and artists.
In fact, you could just point them in the direction of this very page and Audio North, in general, as we do this round-up every month and plenty more every week, meaning you’re headphones never dry up.
For instance, you can check out which Manchester bands and artists we were listening to back in April, both new, current and old, down below. We’ll see you again very soon.
It’s rare you get to see legends in real life, especially this up close and personal, but there’s still just one key word that keeps coming to mind when we think of seeing Bruce Springsteen in Manchester at the Co-op Live last night: surreal.
We still can’t quite believe that he was here in Manchester, in the flesh, for three separate nights, but we do intend to replay it in our heads over and over again until it fully sinks in.
Springsteen, ‘The Boss’, Brucey, whatever you want to call him, there really is something to be said for someone who’s been going this long and still exerts so much energy at 75.
That goes for his desperately loyal and dedicated crowds, too. The legions that marched down ‘Thunder Road’ and back down the CityLink walking route and the Ashton canal in supreme spirits after all was said and done gave as good as they got.
We can only assume Springsteen was as incredible on the first night at Co-op Live as he was on the last. (Credit: Audio North)
From singing back every chorus to the chants of “Bruuuuuuuce!” between every single song, it was more apparent than ever that being a Springsteen fan is quite literally a way of life for these people; they know every line, every call and response, every micro-dance move and regular on-stage ritual.
Each show is roughly three hours long, by the way – he does have an absolute treasure trove of discography to work through, in fairness.
Put simply, there’s no messing about, just non-stop rock and roll of the highest order. Well, there are some brief pauses, but for good reason…
As a passionate political and philanthropic person throughout a career which spans more than six decades, he took the time to talk about America and the turbulent times they are once again facing.
He spoke about the craven billionaire class, poverty, uniting through art and, just as he did on night one in Manchester, Springsteen railed against a particular tyrant who happens to have found himself in the seat of power yet again back over in the States. He made sure to do this every single night.
‘Born in the U.S.A.’ (which he did decide to play, along with a plethora of the other biggest hits) now feels more like a protest song than ever. The war may no longer be in Vietnam, but there is one raging back home, and he’s even more wary of it than before.
He thanked those in the pit and the stands for indulging him, as well as the “wonderful space” of the Co-op and its “beautiful sound” for hosting him, but we have a feeling the New Jersey poet could have said just about anything and he’d still have 23,500+ in the palm of his hands.
All that being said, it wasn’t like this was a pseudo-rally or anything like that, nor was anything of this being foisted upon the audience, but there was a real sense of a congregation gathering in the church of Bruce to take in his sermon.
His followers have often been referred to in this way, and despite only previously considering ourselves a very casual Springsteen enthusiast, having now been to a sell-out arena gig with one of the biggest Boss fans we know, we can understand why millions of people around the world idolise this absolute icon.
It goes without saying that a huge amount of applause must go to The E Street Band themselves, who are just as much a part of what makes Springsteen sets so special as he is.
From the ever-charismatic Steven Van Zandt (still hard not to see him as ‘Sil’ from The Sopranos) to Jake Clemons on sax – who has been part of the group since 2012 and shared a touching embrace with Bruce as tributes to his predecessor and uncle, Clarence, played behind them – these lot are a family.
Our only minor gripe is that we sorely missed hearing ‘Atlantic City’, but what the concert did confirm is that much like the effect the recent Bob Dylan biopic had on us, we’re now more committed than ever to working through the Springsteen back catalogue from start to finish and seeing how obsessed we get.
To end on one final thought and echo the words of the man himself: “peace, love and freedom.”