Arsenal partner with Dykes Who Hike to create walking route to celebrate women’s footballArsenal partner with Dykes Who Hike to create walking route to celebrate women’s football " data-image-caption="
Arsenal partner with Dykes Who Hike to create walking route to celebrate women’s football
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Get your comfiest trainers on for this special route
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY ARSENAL/SUSANA FERREIRA (@SUSANA_RF)
Calling all football fans who love a good hike! Arsenal has just announced an exciting new partnership with the walking group Dykes Who Hike to create a special trek across North London to celebrate 38 years of Arsenal Woman.
The flagship walk was led by Arsenal legend and quadruple winner Anita Asante, taking 60 walkers from the team’s grassroots origins in Shoreditch Park to Arsenal Women’s main home today, Emirates Stadium. Alongside the Dykes Who Hike, the walk was attended by the world’s longest-serving LGBTQIA supporters’ group, GayGooners.
So where does this walk take you? Starting at Shoreditch Park, where the Arsenal Women’s first teams played from 1987-89, take a stroll to the Outrage Plaque in Highbury Fields, the site of the first gay rights demonstration in Britain in 1970. Head on to Highbury Stadium to see the original Arsenal Community Hub and the birthplace of Arsenal Women, and then finish off at the iconic Emirates Stadium.
Speaking about this powerful new pilgrimage for Arsenal fans everywhere, Anita Asante said: “We went on a journey to be proud of – charting the grassroots of our women’s team to Emirates Stadium, our home today.”
She added: “Inclusion is a force for progress – in sport and society. That’s the principle on which Arsenal Women was founded, and why we want all our supporters, no matter what their background or belief system, to feel like they belong here.”
Dykes Who Hike was created by friends Lucy Cooper and Yas Message to provide a safe space for LGBTQIA women, trans and non-binary people to do what they love most: walk, chat and build community.
Speaking about this new partnership, they said: “We started Dykes Who Hike as a place to meet other LGBTQIA women, trans and non-binary people, and it’s now a space for everyone to make connections that exist beyond just the hikes. One of the ways this manifested was with us organising trips to watch Arsenal Women play, as there is such a deep connection between the team and the LGBTQIA community.”
“This special hike in collaboration with the club was the perfect opportunity to reflect on, and be proud of, this journey – not just that of Arsenal Women but our hiking and our LGBTQIA community.”
This initial hike celebrated the launch of the first-ever Arsenal Women lifestyle range, dedicated to honouring the incredible legacy of the players, legends and supporters who have helped to pioneer the women’s game.
Arsenal Women are set to play against Liverpool Women at Emirates Stadium on Saturday 22 March in the Barclays Women’s Super League. Tickets for Saturday’s game can be boughthere.
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