Safety concerns raised over male footballer in women’s league

A transgender football manager has come under fire for signing a six foot tall man to play for his women’s team, sparking concern for player safety.

Sutton United hired Lucy Clarke, a man who identifies as a woman, to manage their women’s team last year. In keeping with his pledge to create a team “solely of trans women”, Clarke signed goalkeeper Blair Hamilton in August.

But the signing provoked controversy and a fixture against Ebbsfleet United was postponed by the club, while the father of a female player who had recently played against Hamilton shared how his daughter was “massively intimidated” by the goalkeeper’s physical advantage.

Safety concerns

The father has urged others to speak up, saying: “As a dad, it’s obviously concerning to have a young daughter playing in this set-up. You need a level playing field — it’s just not right.”

When the Ebbsfleet fixture was postponed, Sutton continued to back their goalkeeper and manager, saying: “Following recent media reports regarding our women’s team and a recent player addition, the board would like to take this opportunity to express our full support of Lucy Clark in her decision to recruit based on ability, character and commitment to the team”.

The club added: “Sutton United Football Club is committed to promoting a culture of inclusivity, respect and fair play. We reject any form of discrimination, including that based on gender identity.”

It also suggested the game had been postponed to protect Hamilton and Clark, with the club saying: “We will not tolerate any behaviour that undermines our values or puts anyone’s health or safety in jeopardy.”

Women replaced

The Football Association’s protocols currently allow men who identify as women to participate in women’s games, despite criticism that this goes against the 2010 Equality Act, which allows restrictions in sports if they are needed to uphold fair or safe competition.

Olympic silver medallist and women’s activist Sharron Davies commented on the appointment after receiving a letter of concern about the Sutton team.

The letter stated: “Clark has signed Hamilton, a 6ft, 34-year-old trans goalkeeper, and the female goalkeeper has been let go. The club need to be held accountable for pushing women out of women’s football.”

Davies commented: “By replacing females with males in a women’s football – who are physically bigger, stronger, more explosive and with a different skeletal angle – you are discriminating on the basis of biological sex in a sport affected by biological sex”.