This week on She Shoots, She Tours! - The Deep Dive, Cath Hurley explores how stadium design shapes women’s football — for players, fans, and the future of the game. This isn’t just about capacity or aesthetics; it’s about belonging, accessibility, and creating spaces where everyone feels valued.

Cath digs into the history of stadiums in women’s football, showing how decades of underfunding forced teams into venues designed for men — from cramped changing rooms to steep stairs, confusing layouts, and inadequate facilities. Using examples from Everton, Chelsea, Leicester, and Brighton, she examines how retrofitted spaces can both help and hinder growth, and why purpose-built stadiums, like Brighton’s planned ground, represent more than infrastructure — they signal respect, ambition, and a commitment to fans and players.

The episode also highlights the WSL’s new best practice guide for stadium environments, emphasizing accessibility, family-friendly spaces, player facilities, and safety as foundations for sustainable growth. Through candid discussion, Cath asks tough questions about scale, atmosphere, and how stadiums can either amplify or erode fan engagement.

For anyone curious about what makes a matchday feel like home, why atmosphere matters as much as attendance, and how design communicates value, this deep dive is essential listening.

This week on She Shoots, She Tours! – The Deep Dive, Cath Hurley explores the WSL’s journey to independence — what it means, how it works, and why it matters for the future of women’s football in England. From the legacy of the FA’s 50-year ban on women’s football to the strategic unification of WSL and WSL2, this episode digs into the league’s control over broadcast, sponsorship, and global identity.

Cath examines how independence allows the WSL to negotiate its own deals, attract international talent, and define success on its own terms — without relying on federation structures. Featuring comparisons with leagues across Europe and reflections on lessons from the Premier League, this deep dive unpacks the opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities that come with a league now fully accountable for its own destiny.

Thoughtful, informative, and forward-looking, this episode asks: with control now in its own hands, how will the WSL shape the future of women’s football?

Let’s deep dive.

This week on She Shoots, She Tours! – The Deep Dive, Cath Hurley explores how content creation has become the engine of women’s football fandom — and why super fans, not just clubs or players, are shaping the story of the game. From TikTok explainers to YouTube matchday diaries, this episode looks at how creators translate emotion, context, and culture into content that drives engagement, builds community, and brings new audiences into the sport.

Digging into partnerships, skill-sharing, and the Google Pixel Academy, Cath unpacks how clubs and leagues can support creators without compromising authenticity, examining the risks of misaligned partnerships, over-reliance on single voices, and creator burnout. Featuring examples across the pyramid, she highlights how fan-led storytelling amplifies inclusivity, celebrates values, and makes women’s football feel human, accessible, and exciting in ways traditional media rarely does.

Looking ahead, the episode reflects on empowering fans to step in front of the camera, creating pathways for future content creators, and why the next generation of storytellers is just as critical to the growth of the game as the next generation of players. Thoughtful, insightful, and deliberately unresolved, this is a sort of manifesto for how women’s football can grow through people, not just performance.

Let’s deep dive.