Huddersfield Town is hosting its first ever Her Town event to promote safer, more inclusive environments for women and girls both in football and the wider society.
Her Town, sponsored by Kirklees College, is being held in the H Town bar at the Accu Stadium on Thursday May 7 (6pm-8pm).
The event will bring together supporters, club staff, local services, community organisations and civic leaders to explore how football can play a role in creating safer, more inclusive environments for women and girls.
Zoe Shackleton, head of HR and EDI at Huddersfield Town, said: “It’s the first time we’ve run this event and it’s very much a focus on what we do as a football club around female safety and inclusion.
“We want to engage with fans from all different backgrounds and remove barriers for access to football.
“There’s still long-standing perceptions that football might not be safe and we want to dispel some of those misconceptions around what football is.
“We also want to have an honest discussion around what’s happening in society and the wider agenda around violence against women and girls.”
The event will be hosted by Deborah Ogden and speakers will include former Town player Iffy Onuora, who is now the head of race equality and inclusion at the Premier League; Polly Harrow, vice-principal at Kirklees College who has expertise in safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion; Supt Jim Griffiths, district commander for Kirklees Police; Town fan and Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater; Simon Wootton, an education and sport advisor; and Naomi Morrison, CEO of Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership.
Zoe stressed the event wasn’t just for women and said: “It’s open to everybody and we really need men to come along and be an ally for women in this on-going battle.”
There are no accurate figures for how many Town season card holders are female but it’s thought to be around one in five.
The club has also made great strides in increasing the number of women working at the club.
In 2022 Town became the first UK football club to achieve accredited Menopause Friendly Employer status and followed that in 2025 by achieving Menstruation Friendly Accreditation.
Zoe added: “As a club, in terms of staffing, it’s an ongoing priority to try to employ more women, and that’s one of the reasons we’re taking a lot of care around really looking after our female staff.
“We have menopause friendly and menstruation friendly accreditation. No other football club has both of those accreditations. We want to be an employer of choice for women.”
The main football club has recently taken on the women’s football team and that support has been rewarded with success on the field.
Huddersfield Town Women have just completed a league and cup double winning the FA Women’s National League Division One North and the Sheffield & Hallamshire FA County Cup.
“It’s fantastic,” added Zoe. “And doesn’t it send out a message to women and girls that football is for them?”
The event is free to attend and tickets are available HERE.
