International Women's Week 2022: Hannah Gorman

FC United will be celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) once again this year by shining a light on some of the amazing women that make up our club. This year, the official theme is #BreakTheBias and the day falls tomorrow, Tuesday 8th March. At FC United, we are all equal, and that is exemplified by our one member, one vote democratic system.

There are so many women we wanted to celebrate this year, that we will be extending our celebrations to last the week: International Women’s Week! Every day this week, we will spotlight a woman from every corner of the club, kicking off today with Hannah Gorman. We spoke to Hannah, who works in finance at the club, to understand more about her role at FC and her thoughts of being a female at a non-league football club, which is typically a male dominated environment:

“I’ve worked at the club for seven years, starting as an apprentice when I was just 16 years old. In 2018, I progressed into my current role as Finance Technician. My day-to-day role entails more or less anything regarding finances. For example, I do month end procedures, payroll, producing management accounts and helping with the financial year budget. However, most people will probably recognise me from pouring their pint on a match day!”

Hannah told us about what it’s like to be a female working at a football club:

“Within the staffing structure at FC, it’s predominantly male and I am one of the few female members of staff. One of the challenges I have noticed, which I’m sure is reflected in many sectors, is that the lower-level tasks are normally viewed as female roles, whereas in today’s world you would hope these tasks and roles would be shared equally amongst all.

"However, there are also many advantages to being female at the club. I get to work alongside experienced women such as Joanne Burtonwood, Viv Ware, Shona Gillespie, Liv Smith and our newly appointed chief operating officer Natalie Atkinson. Not forgetting Pat Shaw, Chris B and all of the wonderful bar staff! It’s a pleasure to work with all these amazing females.”

When discussing the changes Hannah has seen at the club over the years, she commented on a recent change that she sees as a positive:

“Over the years I’ve been at the club, the CEO/Operations Managers have always been male. I’m very happy that we now have a very experienced female as the COO on board to bring a different perspective to the club. I’m very excited to see the impact Natalie will have.”

Despite the challenges, Hannah feels equal at FC:

“I have always felt an equal member of the club, especially standing on the terraces singing along and bantering with all types of people, no matter what gender, old or young!”

She shares her hopes for the future with us:

“Going forward, I would like to see more females involved in the running of the club, such as more female board members as I feel they could bring a different perspective on things. I would also like to see females in the new committee structure, and it’s great to see some of the committees contain women. #GIRLPOWER!”

Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s interview with another amazing female from our club, and make sure you visit our social media to see some extra special content to celebrate on International Women’s Day tomorrow!