Female MP fights against all-boys football rule
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
A female MP is hitting back at the Football Association (FA) after its role in the parliamentary football team meant she was thrown out.
Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, has traditionally played alongside her male colleagues in the 11-a-side and five-a-side teams.
With the FA taking over she will be thrown out, however. Under FA rules, only girls aged 13 or under can play in mixed teams.
"It's right that girls can't play alongside boys over 13 - the physical factors are too obvious - but it's ridiculous to apply those rules to something like the parliamentary football team," the football coach and FA referee told the Telegraph.
"The men's game is fast, more pacey, but women can be more technically adept. If you put a member of Arsenal Ladies team into a men's Sunday League team, I think the men would be surprised."
Ms Crouch, who supports Tottenham Hotspurs, currently plays alongside Jim Murphy, shadow defence secretary and Andy Burnham, shadow education secretary, among others. She has managed Meridian Girls under-13s for the last three years.
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