Martha Omasoro

⸺Who is Martha Omasoro?

1/2 of MOLO. Martha is a football fan, from growing up watching the games with her family and then supporting Manchester United since she was a teen. Having played various sports including football all throughout her schooling years, she is passionate about women’s representation in sports.

⸺How long have you been watching women’s football and have you noticed any changes within the sport?

Honestly, i’m a newbie in the space. I’ve been watching women’s football on and off since I was a teenager. But more recently since the 2022 Euros.

⸺What impact do you think the 2022 Euros had on women and women’s football in general?

Around the time of the Euros last year, there was a lot of debate around the lack of coverage for the competition and for women's football in general. Which made me think about the last time I engaged or came across women’s football on my TV screen - and honestly it was a long time.

About a decade ago, I could name my favourite women’s football player, in contrast to the 2022 Euros, I couldn't tell you much about the current England national team and that was a problem. This issue wasn't solely mine; it was due to the lack of reporting and the documenting of women’s football, which was quite inconsistent and only really discussed when it came to victories and major sporting competitions.

From this came our first photoseries.

We also want MOLO to serve the purpose of highlighting the importance of women's football and reflections from newer and longstanding fans as to how they perceive it and what changes can be made for the future of the sport to continue championing women.

⸺What actions do you think could be made to encourage more diverse younger girls to continue playing and support our current players?

There are a lot of ways in which we can build the momentum for women’s football, and it can span from tangible actions from the team, sponsors and football bodies. But they also come from hearing and seeing how important the game is to the everyday fans.

We’ve started having discussions with other fans and hearing their predictions for the sport and how women’s sport can be taken more seriously.

From this we’ve started gathering predictions on this very platform, that ranges on the topics of diverse representation in the England team or WSL and how that impacts younger girls from POC backgrounds in wanting to continue with sports past their schooling years to how the Euros transformed grassroots culture and can continue to do so with the needed coverage and support. So lots of authentic predictions that are all valid and all from the fans.

⸺How do you view the future of women's football?

Viability.

That’s the word that comes to mind.

As I believe the future will be young girls considering football as a viable career; and this is because they will have sponsorships from brands that will provide funding in order to have new kits every season. They will have new training facilities, with more stadiums and playing-fields that will not only support the professionals but also the grassroots teams too. They will have supporters, new fans coming to watch games in packed stadiums. It won’t be just Project Mbappe, but also Project Earps or Project Aluko.

Football won’t be something girls just give up when they get to a certain age. It’ll be their careers.