BEHIND THE WHY

In 2016, we began a season long project to capture the faces of female fans across the UK. The depiction of a female fan at the time was hyper misogynistic – often framed around the “sexiest fan in the stadium”. The project led us to build up one of the largest archives of football fan images in the country, countless press articles including the BBC, Vice and Stylist – and kicked off a community and creative consultancy we could have never imagined.

In some ways since the original project, female participation and inclusion has had an overhaul – with female fan attendances up from 2016, and women more representively depicted in media. Even our panel of photographers who are attendeding a club each paint a picture of how far women working in football has come, with an incredibly talented roster of creatives joining forces with us to create this ever evolving body of work. But speaking with fans on the ground, problems still exist.

The rise of Reform is doing nothing to increase safety in the stands.
Sexist tropes and misogynistic assumptions can still be overheard.
Outdated and unrealistic beauty standards still prevail, but the sexiest fan content has mutated into a most stylish competition.

20×20 aims to re-highlight female fandom – when it’s now always welcome in it’s full truth – and  give an audience of women who’ve lacked real recognition, all shapes, sizes and ages – just that.