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New research has found that just 35 out of the 523 directors across men’s league football are women- a meagre 7%.

Furthermore, since the appointment of Baroness Karren Brady in 1993, only a handful of women have followed in her footsteps. with only seven female CEO’s across the Premier League and the EFL.

The findings were presented by Durham University student Amée Gill at this week's Sporting Heritage Conference in Bradford.

She said: "These figures reveal the true extent of women’s underrepresentation in senior leadership positions in men’s professional football.

"With the introduction of 30% quotas for gender diversity on national sports governing boards by Sport England and Sport UK, this research comes at a crucial time of change in football governance."

Amée's PhD project is funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme (CDP), which offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with the National Football Museum and Women in Football.

She added: "Through interviews and archive work, I hope to find out about women’s experiences of working in leadership in men’s professional football; whether there have been any changes to those experiences over the past 25 years (or further back if possible) and what barriers and facilitators women have experienced to successful leadership in this male domain.

"Transcribes from these interviews will also be deposited in the National Football Museum.

"The hope is that this research will not only be of use to those interested in the history of women in football, but that it will be useful for those working to improve diversity in the game."

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