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The pioneering Nottingham Forest supporters group tackling issues that have ‘definitely got worse’
For Ellie Molloson, it has been a “crazy” 12 months - but 2025 has the potential to be even more exciting for the passionate Nottingham Forest fan.
The 21-year-old is the founder of Garibaldi Girls, the Reds’ first women’s supporters’ group. An initiative a year in the making, since an early release launch at the start of this month the landmark of 150 members has already been reached.
The aim of the group is to “amplify female voices at Forest” as well as to forge a “welcoming community of like-minded women and allies”. It might be 2024, but Molloson believes there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to the experiences of female football fans.
“Oh God, yeah,” she tells NottinghamshireLive. “So much. I actually think we’ve gone backwards in so many ways.
“Very sadly, I think a lot of people have felt it’s actually getting worse in recent times. I know I certainly have felt more animosity than I ever have before.
“I’m not mad if your average male fan doesn’t notice these things, because why would they? I think people aren’t aware that it does actually happen more than they realise.
“I’m very lucky at Forest home games and have very little experience of that. I think a lot of it nowadays is online, but that in itself paints a picture and can put so many women off.
“You see so many women whenever they give their opinion on football, just get torn down or have the most horrific abuse targeted their way. I’ve been victim of some quite horrific abuse in the last couple of weeks. Sadly, I’m quite used to it so I kind of shrug it off. If I’m honest, I’m so unfazed now - which is really bad but also the truth.
“This is something I’ve had to be resilient to and have a fantastic support system. The Forest family have been brilliant and they have always supported me. But if you don’t have that, you could very easily wonder why you were bothering. Why would you continue with something where you receive that much abuse and such horrendous comments? For the most innocent thing as well.”
Molloson recalls an incident with a fellow England fan, where she says she experienced “physical aggression”. And she details abuse she received online following a video she put up on Instagram showing celebrations at the full-time whistle of September’s 1-0 win over Liverpool. Her caption referenced the fact it was Forest’s first win at Anfield since 1969 and quipped: “Did you like that (Jamie) Carragher?”
Some of the resulting comments referenced Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is accused of coercing and abusing women, and also made mention of Molloson’s late nan. She says she received many supportive messages from Forest fans.
“The comments were quite brutal, to say the least. Obviously you get your usual football banter, and that’s fair enough, I don’t mind that at all,” Molloson says. “There was also just some really overtly sexual comments - for celebrating a goal, which was interesting.
“They are the sort of comments women have become so accustomed to, especially with the hypersexualisation of female fans that you so regularly see on all platforms. I think the hypersexualisation is a huge thing right now that’s really moving things backwards.
“It’s definitely got worse, I think. There is so far to go, because there’s a lot of performative activism from various areas of the game which is causing more harm than good. The hypersexualisation of fans is really difficult and reporting systems continue to be inadequate across all leagues - although obviously that’s a generalisation because it doesn’t go for every club.
“I’ve luckily not had any experiences at Forest, so I genuinely can’t comment how good the reporting system is. That’s another good reason Garibaldi Girls exists, so we can find out how well the club deals with things because it may be that other fans have had experiences.
“I have certainly felt that at away games I’ve had experiences. And all my reports have resulted in no action and no response until I escalate it using a higher organisation which the average fan doesn’t have access to. The reality is there’s so far to go in terms of female fans and being accepted in the men’s game.”
Garibaldi Girls hopes to help change that. Inspired by Fulham Lillies, a group for female Fulham supporters and allies, Molloson initially set about gauging interest in the possibility of a Forest equivalent. The idea progressed from there.
“I wasn’t expecting people to care as much as they did,” she says. “It was really nice that people did care. It’s been a crazy 2024, a really exciting year and a lot has happened in that time.”
The club themselves, Molloson says, have “been brilliant” and she is keen to ensure female fans have their voices heard. Garibaldi Girls is now part of the Football Supporters’ Association and works closely with the other women’s supporters’ groups in the top-flight.
Earlier this year, the group put their name to a letter to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. They urged him to: “Make policy to ensure women get the recognition and fairness they deserve as well as better supporting survivors of violence against women and girls.”
A meeting with the Premier League followed. Representatives from Fulham Lillies, Garibaldi Girls, Sheffield Wednesday Women’s Supporters Group, Women of the Lane and Villa Bellas met with officials from the Premier League to discuss how best to work together “to ensure women and girls are fully respected and valued by and in football”.
The hope is further meetings will follow. Molloson says conversations with the Premier League have been “productive” and hopes to develop that relationship but accepts action takes time.
The final-year Nottingham Trent student appreciates she has a good network around her when she attends games but realises that isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. Garibaldi Girls aims to create just such a community, fostering a sense of camaraderie and solidarity.
“The main intention and purpose was to create a community of female fans and like-minded fans,” she explains. “I’ve always said I’ve had really good experiences of going to Forest home games, for example, because I go with my dad and the people I always refer to as my uncles and godfathers. There’s loads of us that go week in, week out, pre-match pub - we know what we’re doing!
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“I feel so comfortable and so safe. But the point is, if you’re a woman and you don’t have that support system that I’m so lucky to have, it can be daunting to go to a football match. It’s not naturally seen as a women’s space and it’s got a reputation for being aggressive. You hear horror stories and see the abuse online.
“The intention is to create a community where you can make friends; it sounds so cliched, but it is so true. Hopefully what is going to happen with Garibaldi Girls can make such a difference to the experience. Hopefully Garibaldi Girls will build that community for people.”
Molloson sits in A Block at the City Ground. She adds: “I love the rowdiness! It does my head in when I see activism about making it safe for women and they keep saying how chanting swear words will put women off and that the rowdy nature of singing all the time and noise will scare women away.
“What?! It’s not the 1800s! When we say there’s things that make us anxious, we’re thinking about sexual assault. That’s the reality, that’s what scares us and what we’re terrified of.
“We’re not weak. It might put some *people* off. Some *people* don’t like swearing, but not women specifically.
“Another thing with Garibaldi Girls is that we want to show fans as passionate fans. I like to think that day to day I am a good citizen, well spoken and not swearing. You put me in the City Ground and I will sing along. It’s part of the fun.
“You chant, the football banter is brilliant. But there is a line between football banter, which I love, and singling out women and harassing or assaulting them - and that’s the difference.
“We want to keep the atmosphere, we want to keep the singing, we want to keep the banter. We can handle banter! It’s insulting when you talk about women in men’s football and saying we have to dumb it down so that women can accept it. That is one thing we are really strong about at Garibaldi Girls, do not present us as weak.”
Looking ahead, Molloson says Garibaldi Girls will send out surveys to gauge opinions on female fans’ experiences while following Forest. The intention is to provide feedback to the club and to the Premier League.
Plans are also in the works for a YouTube channel to “amplify female voices”, pre-match meet-ups and regular events. Membership to Garibaldi Girls, which is not for profit, is free. Molloson believes the early release will allow members to shape what the group becomes.
At present, the Garibaldi Girls management team is made up of Molloson, social media manager Weronika Stelmaszuk, head of media operations Ruby Naylor, head of outreach Chelsey Butler and fan communications officer Jack Ridley. The intention is to grow the team further.
“Hopefully the power of Garibaldi Girls will create such a safe space, be really informative and give you a support system if you don’t already have one,” she says. “This is kind of the setting-up stages, but there’s still loads of opportunities for our members to get involved in. We wanted to release early so members could start taking these opportunities.
“We’re also going to send out a survey, asking our members specifically what they want to see from Garibaldi Girls so they get to be a part of the journey in this early release and see us establish ourselves. It’s all really exciting.”
To sign up for Garibaldi Girls, click here.
