Critics including India Willoughby and Stonewall FC have denounced the English FA’s ruling to ban trans players from women’s football as ‘unjustified and unfair’.
The FA said it had updated its policy in light of last month’s Supreme Court ruling that the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Now FA has gone further and barred transgender women from the women’s game from June 1 after acting on legal advice.
The move has sparked fury from trans activists, who say the move sends a ‘harmful message’ and ‘risks legitimising discrimination’.
Transgender news reader India Willoughby blasted the action as ‘full-blown trans apartheid’ and ‘absolutely insane’.
She said: ‘This is crazy, absolutely insane. Trans people haven’t done anything yet we’re being stigmatized and demonized in such a horrible way. This is full-blown trans apartheid.’
She added: ‘How are trans people now expected to lead a normal life in society? This football ban is unfair – and totally unjustified.’
Stonewall FC, an LGBTQ+ orientated football team started in 1991 and based in East London, said they were ‘deeply saddened’ by the decision. When they were founded, the London FA reportedly said: ‘We don’t pay any attention to a team’s race, creed, religion or private life – so long as they can play football.’
Issuing a statement, they said: ‘The policy change sends a harmful message to trans players across the country – players who simply want to be part of the game they love, in the gender they live and identify as.
‘We recognise the pain and frustration this ruling willl cause, and we stand in unwavering solidarity with our trans and non-binary teammates, opponents, friends and supporters.’
The sports team added: ‘Trans rights are human rights. That includes the ight to play, to belong and to thrive in sport.
‘While we understand the complexities the FA cites, we believe any policy change that denies people access to the pitch is a step backwards.’
And TRUK United FC – who describe themselves as ‘a trans Femme team and trans masc & non binary team with a trans referee’ – said they were ‘deeply disappointed and outraged’ by the FA’s news.
They said: ‘Everyone at TRUK United is deeply disappointed and outraged by the decision announced today by the Football Association (FA) to ban Transgender Women from participating in women’s football from the age of 13.’
They continued: ‘Being allowed to play football has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the physical and mental health of many trans women.
‘We know of numerous individuals who have found not only joy in the game but also friendship, community and purpose through their involvement in their clubs.
‘To have that taken away so suddenly, without meaningful consultation or justification, is devastating.
‘We believe today’s announcement is a knee-jerk reaction by the FA-one that lacks transparency, empathy and foresight. It fails to consider the real impact on individuals, on teams, and on the inclusive spirit of football itself.’
TRUK United say they will ‘continue to champion football for everyone’, and are going ahead with their training tonight despite the ruling.
The governing body’s transgender inclusion policy had been updated just prior to the Supreme Court ruling in London on April 16, and continued to allow transgender women to play in women’s football provided they reduced testosterone levels.
Those rule changes gave the FA ultimate discretion on permitting a trans woman to play, with consideration given to safety and fairness issues.
But now the body has been attacked for its slogan ‘For All’ – as campaigners brand it a ‘cruel irony’.
TRUK United FC, in a social media post, called on the body to change their profile picture. They blasted: ‘Whoever made this decision should be ashamed of themselves.’
Chelsea FC’s official LGBTQ+ community group took to social media to say: ‘We at Chelsea Pride condemn the Football Association’s ban on transgender women in women’s football.
‘The cruel irony of this decision against their own “football for all” slogan exposes a fundamental hypocrisy. How can football truly be “for all” while explicitly excluding transgender women?’
Women’s football outlet The Women’s Game further condemned the body, saying: ‘In a stunning show of cowardice and cruelty, the English FA has announced trans women will be barred from soccer at any FA level.
‘The FA has made it clear: “For all” no longer includes everyone.’
‘As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by Uefa and Fifa.
‘Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.
‘This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary.
‘The Supreme Court’s ruling on the 16 April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025.
‘We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game.’
An FA spokesperson said: ‘We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify.
‘We are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game.’
The FA – which is the governing body for football in England, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – had said earlier this week that it was ‘carefully reviewing’ its policy.
The Scottish Football Association has also now updated its policy to reflect that only biological females can play in competitive female football from the start of the 2025-26 season.
The Supreme Court ruling clarified some of the terms used in the Equality Act.
Within that, the court ruled that Section 195 of the Act, which allows the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on sex, was ‘plainly predicated on biological sex’ rather than certificated sex.
The FA added: ‘As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by Uefa and Fifa.
‘Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.
‘This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary.
‘The Supreme Court’s ruling on the 16 April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025.’
Only a small number of transgender women – around 20 – have been able to play in the grassroots game this season.
Among them is Natalie Washington, a transgender woman who has played grassroots football in Hampshire for eight years, who said the decisions means she will probably have to end her career.
She told ITV News: ‘I play for this team because it feels like it’s somewhere I feel understood, safe and included.
‘I have played in men’s teams where I did not feel that way. I do not think I would still be playing football now if it were not for being understood and seen.
‘I’m in a semi-rural area, there are no inclusive teams, specific LGBT teams or anything like that, there is only the competitive men’s game and the competitive women’s game, and you can only play in one.
‘And if I’m not eligible in one and I’m not safe in the other, then that is probably it for me in terms of playing.’
Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who has led calls from athletes demanding that women’s sports are for women only, tweeted today: ‘Remember this is removing men from the women’s game. How was this ever allowed?’
Fiona McAnena, director of the campaign group Sex Matters, said: ‘This is welcome but long overdue. The FA has had ample evidence of the harms to women and girls caused by its nonsensical policy of letting men who identify as women play in women’s teams.
‘The requirement to lower their testosterone tells you that everyone knew they were not women.
‘Thankfully, the UK Supreme Court has now confirmed this, saying it is lawful to exclude ‘all men, including trans women, regardless of their GRC [Gender Recognition Certificate] status’.
‘Every other sporting body now needs to re-establish a genuine women’s category, and this shameful period in history will finally be brought to an end.’
Speaking about the FA’s decision, Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett said: ‘They admit this is a complex subject, and it’s been made clear to me from the people I’ve been speaking to that they have taken extensive legal advice on this.
‘The impression I get is the FA are trying to do the right thing, but it’s such a controversial topic, it’s difficult and they will be criticised whatever they do in this area.’
Former FA chairman Lord Triesman told The Telegraph at the time of the ruling: ‘The pitiful excuses of some sports bodies, and especially the FA, have been shown to be unlawful.
‘Women’s sport, as in all else, is defined by biology facts. There is no room for alternative propositions and the bodies concerned must reform and comply with the law at once or certainly face constant legal challenges.’
Football’s world governing body Fifa has been reviewing its policy on this topic over the last several years, and has been contacted for comment on the changes made by the English and Scottish FAs.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed it is also reviewing its policy.
Trans women have been banned from the top two tiers of elite women’s cricket since the start of this year, but they are still permitted to compete in the women’s game up to and including tier three of the domestic game and throughout recreational cricket.
An ECB spokesperson said: ‘Our existing regulations for transgender participation in recreational cricket remain in place.
‘These aim to ensure that cricket remains an inclusive sport, while including measures to manage disparities – irrespective of someone’s gender – and ensure the safety of all players.
‘We are currently taking advice about any impact the Supreme Court ruling may have, and will also await updated guidance from Sport England.’
Since the ruling was handed down, the Ultimate Pool Group has updated its policy to ban trans women, having also received a report that pool was a gender-affected sport.
Snooker’s global governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, is also reviewing its policy.
It comes after the Supreme Court declared last month that the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
The ruling has been interpreted to mean that transgender women, who are biologically male but identify as women, can be excluded from women-only spaces like toilets and changing rooms.
The judges said trans people are still protected from discrimination under equalities legislation, and that this interpretation of the law does not cause disadvantage to the ‘potentially vulnerable group’.