Author Spotlight: Sally Freedman unveils her story in football and battling sexism.

Amidst the backdrop of the most recent controversy surrounding sexism in the wake of Spain's World Cup victory, the timing couldn't have been better to keep the conversation going with the release of Sally Freedman's new book 'Get Your Tits Out for the Lads – True Stories from a Woman in Football.' The book chronicles her personal journey in navigating sexism across the landscape of her life and career starting from being told at seven years old that 'Football is only for boys, Sally. You can play hockey or netball.' Sally lives (and wrote most of the book) in Nyon and will be sharing more insights and experiences at her Meet the Author event at Café Ex Machina in Nyon next Wednesday 13th September. It will be a chance to find out the inspiration behind Sally's book and the story behind the provocative title. Readers will be able to buy a signed copy of the book too. Meet the Author Event Wednesday 13th September10:00 - 11:00Ex Machina CaféWe had a chance to sit down with Sally this week and speak to her more about the inspiration behind her book. How did you start your career in football and come to live in Nyon? In 2007 I was fortunate that I was awarded an academic scholarship to study a Masters in Business in Griffith University in Australia. I was living in England at the time. A few years after navigating the work industry over there, I was able to start my career in sport. Then after nearly 12  years in Australia, my parents had been dropping hints that they would like me to move back to this side of the world. I had been looking at job opportunities here and eventually after knocking on UEFA’s door a few times they finally offered me a role in 2018 for Euro 2020. Before Covid hit it was meant to be the biggest Euro ever, in 12 different countries celebrating the 65th year of the competition and that’s what brought me to Nyon. Once the Euros were done, I was hoping to secure a permanent role at UEFA but because of Covid the whole organisation froze recruitment. I took a 6 month fixed term contract with them but the position I hoped to get no longer existed and then I left. There were a few things that happened that had led me to say enough is enough. A lot sexism, a lot of misogyny. It's really tough being a female in a male dominated world. People had warned me when I walked into football that I would struggle. I was very naïve and I ignored all their comments. I'm Sally, I'm tough, I'm strong, I'm resilient, I know football, I love football, I play it, I coach it, I will be fine. But they were very right and I was very wrong. I love the game more than most. I believe in the power of sport. I thought I had my dream job but sometimes your dreams are not what you thought they would be. What then motivated you to write the book?  What sparked it was when I went to the Euro final in England between England and Italy in Wembley 2021. It was disgusting. I went with my brother. I've been to football around the world. I’ve never been scared for my life. I was invited to talk on a Women in Football podcast in Australia of my experience of attending that final as a fan. Within 2 minutes I described some disgusting sexism that I had experienced at the match and I said quite tongue-in-cheek 'You know what, this isn’t an isolated incident. I’ve had this throughout out my career. I’ve got enough stories for a book!' After listening to the podcast, the publisher of the book got in touch with me and said 'Sally, if you’re serious about writing a book will you please let me publish it. Send me what you’ve got and let me take a look.'  I'm a writer and I have kept a diary here and there but I did not think I had a book in me. A few hours later, she got in touch 'I would love to publish your book!'  I knew nothing about writing a book - how does this work, do I get paid, when does it need to be done by? I did my research and the contract was sent and I understood that I would have 5 years to write it but if I wanted to get it out before the Women’s world Cup in Australia 2023 I would have a year to submit my manuscript by Nov 2022. I wasn’t working, this was the perfect opportunity. I actually wrote most of the book here in Café Ex Machina inside. I found it easier to write here then at home. What was your writing process? For me the order came quite easily as it’s like a diary, it’s chronological by the fact that it’s a memoir. I still had to put some structure to it in terms of story telling and I wanted to intertwine some research to back up my points and so I had to find the flow around that. I would send whatsapp notes to myself when I saw or heard about sexism in the news which these days, was sadly, daily. I would send the link to myself and it would give me food for thought and along with my diary entries turned it all into my story. How did it feel once the manuscript was submitted and the book published? I felt a huge sense of relief and the whole writing process was very cathartic for me. It was escapism. I still didn’t quite believe that it would be good enough for a book. As women we often doubt ourselves. Choosing the cover photo and design was a 3 week process in itself but I got the manuscript handed in before the end of 2022. It was released just before the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia. I was attending the Football Writers Festival there, full of authors, journalists, writers, readers and fans. People talking about their books, sexism, racism, coming out, sexual abuse, match fixing, gambling. The ugly side of sport. It was such an array of really interesting and meaningful topics. We all love football but we all hated it for certain reasons too and we were all trying to tell stories to try and make it better. It was a great event. The book flew off the shelves which was lovely to see. What’s been the response so far? Really positive. It’s an easy read, it’s not a pleasant read in some ways. It’s got some sad stories in there but it’s really important that we talk about this because so many women don’t. They are scared to. We are seeing now with the Spain story - why on earth would women speak up when the evidence is so clear and obvious, it’s on camera, in colour for the whole world yet still, nothing happens. How is that going to encourage women to speak up? There’s no accountability, no punishment. So what is the point in raising your voice? And that’s what drove me to write the book. If I have the book I have got a tiny bit more of a platform to talk about these issues and get my voice heard. It gives other women the courage to say 'You know what Sally I've got a similar story to you.' I am hopeful for the future. I think we are making progress. It’s slow but there are signs of progress. I was told girls don’t play football. There weren't any girls football clubs, they didn’t exist when I was a young girl. So now we’re seeing that change which is wonderful. It’s been a lot of hard work and banging on drums to get there. I’ve been honest, I’ve told the truth. The book is very vanilla, it’s not pointing the finger at any particular individual. I didn’t want it to be about that. The reason I wrote it is because (sexism) it is systemic. This was throughout my career and it was everywhere. And it’s not an attack on men. I don’t blame men. We live in a gendered stereotype world and sometimes they don’t really know that they are being sexist. It’s a slip of the tongue, it’s culture, it’s peer pressure, it’s conditioning as well. Now the book is out, what are your plans for the near future? A lot of the people who have read it have said 'how do you still love football?'  But I do, I needed a break from it. But my passion for the game has been reignited recently being in Australia, seeing the Women’s World Cup. It's in my DNA. It’s a waste if I don’t work in football. I absolutely love the game. So I want to get back into it somehow some way shape or form and the Women’s Euro will be in Switzerland in 2025. I’m a bit unsure about what's next but I want to keep banging the sexism drum. I’m extremely passionate about it. I want to keep telling my story. Use my book as a platform, support grassroots, get girls playing, get girls believing they can be playing football. I want football to be part of Sally again. An eye-opening and insightful book that balances Sally's own experiences of sexism with that of women all around the world. As for the story behind the title, you will just have to come to the event or read the book to find out!Thank you Sally.