Calacus Monthly Hit & Miss – Karen Carney & Jordan Henderson
Every month we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the last few weeks.
HIT - KAREN CARNEY
Eyebrows may have been raised when Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries appointed former England international Karen Carney as Chair of the Future of Women's Football Review for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in September 2022.
Since retiring from playing in 2019, Carney had quickly established herself as a prominent voice in both the men’s and women’s game through her excellent punditry work for the likes of Sky Sports and ITV.
At the same time, while she had impressed with her knowledge and passion for the game on television, Carney had never previously entered the political realm.
Although she had been awarded an MBE for services to football in the New Year’s Honours List of 2017, Carney was, and still is, a very different figurehead to Tracey Crouch, the Member of Parliament who was the vanguard of the fan-led review into English football which was published in November 2021 after the European Super League debacle, for example.
In September, Carney was invited to participate at the UEFA Football Board in Geneva to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the women’s game across the whole of Europe.
So, how had the former Lioness so successfully transitioned from commentator to campaigner?
The answer is simple: clear, consistent and honest communication.
Though she lacked hands-on political experience before taking on this role, Carney was certainly no stranger to public scrutiny.
She had taken the decision to deactivate her Twitter account in December 2020 after the official Leeds United FC account instigated a ‘pile-on’ of sexist abuse in response to Carney’s wholly reasonable assessment that the Covid-19 pandemic had actually helped Leeds to regroup and secure promotion from the Championship the previous season, while she was working on Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Premier League
In addition, less than three weeks before her leadership of the review was announced, Carney inadvertently found herself embroiled in another sexism storm as she was sitting alongside Liverpool legend Graeme Souness when he described football as a “man’s game” live on Sky Sports in the post-match analysis of a fixture between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
These personal experiences left Carney in no doubt of the gravity of the challenge that she faced. In fact, from the very beginning, she publicly admitted that she had questioned whether she was the right person to be at the forefront of the review.
But, in taking on the challenge, her commitment to making it a success was immediately evident for all to see.
Her insistence that the review would “leave no stone unturned” set a clear precedent for the task at hand.
“I want the women’s game to be the best,” Carney stated in February. “I don’t want to put a label on where it could be. A lot of people have told me: ‘Don’t settle. Don’t settle, keep pushing.’”
Her passion and ambition was undeniable, and she combined this with the views of a panel of experts, including former Lionesses head coach Hope Powell and former men’s international Ian Wright, to assist her in the research at both the elite and grassroots level of the English game.
This bottom-up approach broadened the reach of the review. At a time when the women’s national team were making headline after headline, there remained significant issues in terms of facilities and accessibility further down the pyramid.
Carney herself highlighted this issue at the time of the publication of the report in July. She wrote an article in The Guardian newspaper suggesting that the women’s game was akin to “Instagram vs reality” when you scratch beneath the top level.
A clear example of this disparity came earlier in the year when Lewes FC faced Manchester United in their first-ever FA Cup Quarter-Final. The Women’s Championship club wrote an open letter to Carney ahead of the tie, calling for her to recommend the equalisation of the FA Cup prize fund between men and women.
The letter read: “Our progress in this season’s FA Cup has earned us £45,000 in prize money, incomparable to the £450,000 our male counterparts would have earned… Therefore, we ask that your recommendations address the gender inequality in English football’s greatest prize.”
Carney’s ‘Raising the Bar’ review was published a week before the start of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which highlighted the potential of the women’s game to be a “billion-pound industry.”
A key suggestion was also that the men’s FA Cup prize money should be redirected to the women’s teams, showing that Carney was not just talking a good game, but listening to the opinions of stakeholders and implementing them into her recommendations.
Carney told Sky Sports: “Players in the [second-tier] Championship are still on £5,000 and working three or four jobs – so when you play quality opposition the level of competitiveness isn’t there.
“The minimum standards, the facilities are not good enough,” she continued. “Female players are being treated as second-class citizens. That’s not my opinion, that what was told for me throughout this whole review.
“So there’s still some real big foundations that we need to fix. The Lionesses in the top part of the pyramid is thriving but the pipeline, the academy deficit, it’s 88 million [£] for boys, 3.25 [£ million] for girls.”
Carney’s messaging throughout the past 12 months has been grounded and relatable whilst remaining ambitious about the positive impact that her findings could have on the development of women’s football, culminating in a comprehensive and poignant 128-page report that has been greeted with widespread praise.
Senior organisations like the Football Association and the Football Supporters’ Association immediately welcomed the findings of the review.
Maheta Molango, CEO of the Professional Footballers’ Association, described the review as “a brave, ambitious and detailed plan for the future of the women’s game.”
The Guardian columnist and women’s football author Suzanne Wrack noted the “sharp and thorough” nature of the review and insisted that it must not be ignored.
The clarity of the ten strategic recommendations makes it difficult to believe that Carney’s efforts can be ignored by senior sports executives and politicians alike.
Her invitation to speak with UEFA is hopefully proof that this is just the first step towards improving the women’s game both at home and abroad.
At the Football Board in Geneva, Carney said: “Everything is moving really fast but we have to build the sport on a solid foundation. Today has been getting people together to understand that there are so many countries and everyone is at different parts in their evolution of women’s football, so to understand and hear everyone’s side is really important because we all want the same thing.”
Again, her message remains the same. Great strides forward have been taken, but the authorities are not in a position to pat themselves on the back or rest on their laurels.
“Everyone’s got a responsibility,” Carney stressed after the review was published. “Government do, clubs do, sponsors. Everyone has a responsibility to help with the investment of the women’s game.”
The timing of the review’s findings is apt. English women’s football finds itself at a decisive juncture with the current broadcast agreement between the Women’s Super League (WSL) and the BBC and Sky expiring at the end of the 2023/24 season.
A new deal will need to be struck, and with financial investment being so fundamental to enacting the changes that Carney has recommended, to continue the growth of the women’s game it is essential that the WSL latches onto the tide of positivity and popularity created by the success of the Lionesses in recent times.
Despite all of her success thus far, Carney certainly isn’t preparing to slow down her efforts now.
MISS – JORDAN HENDERSON
It’s a sad fact of professional football that not a single Premier League player has come out as gay or a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Not since former Nottingham Forest striker Justin Fashanu came out in 1990, before tragically taking his life at the age of just 37, has a top-flight professional player in England felt comfortable enough to do the same.
And with the current state of the game, is that at all surprising?
It’s almost two years since Josh Cavallo came out in Australia, facing abuse for his sexuality on a sadly regular basis.
Meanwhile, FIFA, despite its claims of promoting the world’s game, chose to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison.
A report from Human Rights Watch documented cases of Qatari security forces arbitrarily arresting LGBTQ+ people and subjecting them to “ill-treatment in detention.”
The Premier League has promoted sexual diversity with its annual Rainbow Laces campaign in collaboration with Stonewall to highlight the importance of inclusivity and understanding in society.
In Jordan Henderson, an England international and former captain of Liverpool, the LGBTQ+ community thought they had a high profile ally, who was regularly vocal about his support for Rainbow Laces.
“This campaign is important if there are still supporters out there who don’t feel they can be themselves or, even worse, have to hide who they are for fear of getting abuse or being discriminated against.
“I’m a parent, a husband, a son and a brother and the idea that anyone I love and care about wouldn’t feel safe or comfortable coming to watch me play if they were part of the LGBT community makes me wonder what world we live in,” he said in an interview with The Athletic from 2019.
“As long as even one supporter questions whether they are welcome or can enjoy football because of their sexuality, the campaign is important. It sends the message: you are welcome, we are on your side and the small minded idiots who make you feel uncomfortable have no place in football. Simple as that.
“In this day and age that anyone would make another person feel uncomfortable or unwelcome because of their sexuality is mind-blowing. I can’t get my head round it … this is a place for everyone and it’s up to all of us — players and supporters alike — to get that message across as powerfully and as often as we can.”
In his Liverpool FC matchday programme notes back in November 2021, Henderson reinforced the same message. He wrote: “Before I’m a footballer, I’m a parent, a husband, a son, a brother and a friend to the people in my life who matter so much to me. The idea that any of them would feel excluded from playing or attending a football match, simply for being and identifying as who they are, blows my mind.
“The idea they’d have to hide from it to be accepted? But that’s exactly how too many members of the LGBT+ community feel. We know this because they tell us. So we should listen, support them and work to make it better.
“I don’t feel worthy of being classed as an ally on this subject, but I am incredibly proud to be regarded as one. Improving knowledge and understanding is important.
“That’s why the Rainbow Laces campaign is important – not least on our club’s own Community Day – because it gives space for those who do have a proper understanding to help us all learn.”
So, even with the Saudi Pro League, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, signing up high profile players on big wages over the summer, it still came as a shock when news broke that Henderson was set to agree a move to Al-Ettifaq for a reported £700,000 per week.
Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ fan group Kop Outs released a statement in response to the potential transfer, saying that they hoped that Henderson would “prove to be a man of his word.”
In a thread shared to social media the group said: “Kop Outs have valued the allyship shown by Jordan Henderson.
“We are appalled and concerned that anyone might consider working for a sportswashing operation for a regime where women & LGBT+ people are oppressed and that regularly tops the world death sentence table.
“When someone’s made a fortune, should money tempt them to go to work? Maybe they should be asking themselves those questions.
“We hope that Jordan Henderson proves to be a man of his word and stays true to the values of our club, which so far he has been an absolute embodiment of.”
It isn’t difficult to conclude that the Saudi Pro League is sportswashing, a political project to garner some respectability in the shadow of lamentable human rights and intolerance.
By agreeing the move, Henderson went from being considered an honourable and decent sportsman to just another mercenary selling his soul for riches.
In the announcement video, the club made no attempt to disguise the cultural discrimination, censoring his rainbow armband during a montage of his career highlights.
Stonewall’s director of external affairs Robbie de Santos hopes the attention the move has attracted will help shine further light on Saudi Arabia: “I was shocked but not surprised at such blatant erasure of the LGBTQ+ community through that and it shines a light on just how systematic the Saudi authorities and the prevailing culture is, eliminating and eradicating the visibility of our community there.
"We can’t deny the reality of lives for the LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia, and we hope that Henderson continues his work to build towards a world where sport is everybody's game."
No wonder former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger tweeted his shock at Henderson’s move to the Middle East: "So Jordan Henderson finally gets his move to Saudi Arabia.
"Fair play to him, he can play wherever he wants to play. Curious to know though how the new brand JH will look like. The old one is dead!
"I did believe for a while that his support for the LGBT+ community would be genuine. Silly me…”
Henderson’s hypocrisy in moving to Saudi Arabia has undone all the great work he had previously done as an LGBTQ+ ally, and the lack of comment for some weeks gave rise to more assumptions that he had sold his soul for the money.
In a tweet ahead of joining the England squad for their September internationals, Henderson said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the hospitality of the hosts, the enthusiasm of the fans, the exciting league and the irreplaceable sense of victory. Next is better Great win, looking forward to meeting up with the boys now.” It’s hard to imagine that he wrote what felt like a propaganda post by himself.
When Henderson was called up by England coach Gareth Southgate, Joe White, the co-chair of Pride in Football and founder of Three Lions Pride, believes Henderson will be shunned by some fans.
“I don’t think it will go hostile because ultimately we want England to do as well as possible but I do think that, say he came on as a substitute, where before there would be a lot of cheering, particularly from our group at Three Lions Pride, I think there will just be silence now .
“It may well be that there comes a joint message from the LGBT fans in the stadium who may well turn their backs on him coming onto the pitch in the same way he turned his back on us by going to Saudi.
“I don’t think he can regain the trust purely because he’s now living in a country where it’s illegal to be LGBT, where the local LGBT community have to hide and live in fear of arrest, of state-sanctioned abuse.”
In early September, Henderson finally spoke out in a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic which was full of contradictions and fanciful comments that made a mockery of his reputation as a wise head on young shoulders.
He recalled a visit in Qatar - undoubtedly sanitised for the sake of the players - which saw him question the concerns about human rights he had previously been concerned about.
He said: “We had a meeting with the FA about human rights, about the issues around the stadiums. I think it might have been Amnesty who had sent the images and stuff. And then, half an hour later, I go into a press conference or some media and I’ve commented on that situation.
“I was like, ‘Well, it was quite shocking and horrendous”’ and that was quite hard for us to see. But then when I went to Qatar and we had the experience we had at the World Cup, you get to meet the workers there and it was totally different.”
Perhaps Stonewall’s de Santos will see his wishes granted if Henderson’s comments can be taken at face value.
Henderson revealed that he was prepared for a backlash: “I can understand the frustration. I can understand the anger. I get it. All I can say around that is that I’m sorry that they feel like that. My intention was never, ever to hurt anyone. My intention has always been to help causes and communities where I felt like they have asked for my help.
"I do care about different causes that I've been involved in, and different communities… I do care. And for people to criticise and say that I'd turned my back on them really, really hurt me.
"All I can say is that I apologise, I'm sorry that I've made them feel that way. But I haven't changed as a person.
"I've gone above and beyond to help [the LGBTQ+ community]. I've worn the laces. I've worn the armband. I've spoken to people in that community to try to use my profile to help them. That's all I've ever tried to do.
"When I hear stuff like, 'You've turned your back on us', that hurts me. I do care. I have family and friends in the LGBTQ+ community."
“When I was making the decision, the way that I tried to look at it was I felt as though, by myself not going, we can all bury our heads in the sand and criticise different cultures and different countries from afar. But then nothing’s going to happen. Nothing’s going to change.”
He goes on in the interview to admit that he would consider wearing the rainbow laces in Saudi, although he then hints that it wouldn’t be appropriate: “I wouldn’t rule that [wearing rainbow laces] out. But at the same time, what I wouldn’t do is disrespect the religion and culture in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“If we’re all saying everybody can be who they want to be and everybody is inclusive, then we’ll have to respect that. We’ll have to respect everyone. And by doing something like that, if that did disrespect the religion, then no, I’m not going to do that. But if the opportunity comes where I can do it and it doesn’t, then yeah, because that’s my values.”
We could be waiting a long time, one suspects, with his interview dismissed by Kop Outs founder Paul Amann, who said: “I was very surprised that he thinks he can take the ‘oh sorry if people feel that way’ sort of approach. It doesn’t feel like any genuine sense of an apology.
“It almost speaks of a white saviour complex for Henderson to think that he’s going to be the individual that will result in change for that regime.
“His contribution as a player is untouchable. He’s captained Liverpool to everything that could be won. His behaviour as a human being is the thing that has been trashed. I would not be happy to celebrate his legacy personally and I don’t think many Kop Outs would be happy because of what he’s done.”
There is often a debate about why high profile sports people are seen as role models and that they should not be held to the same standards as politicians, for instance.
But that misses the point, especially with the influence and platform that elite sports people have to reach, in many cases, far bigger audiences, avoiding the opportunity really stand up for the cause.
By positioning himself as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Henderson had a responsibility to maintain that solidarity, both for his own reputation but more importantly for those affected by causes that athletes like Henderson have chosen to support.
The abandonment of his supposed principles has not just damaged Henderson’s reputation, but has also broken down the trust of the community in the support from other players, with everyone now conditioned to expect that player support will be taken away if it no longer becomes suitable or convenient for them.
Henderson still has an opportunity to right this wrong, and any public support of the LGBTQ+ community now has the potential to be even more powerful given that he would be doing it from Saudi Arabia.
Based on his recent messaging, however, it feels hard to believe that will ever happen.