An introduction by Altrincham FC CEO, Sam Mackenzie...

The theme around International Women's Day is ”Accelerate Action”. This action does not only rely on women, but a collective effort from all.

Which is why I want to pay tribute to the board, leadership team, the first team, our staff, management, Juniors, Community Trust, Academy, volunteers and fans for supporting the women who make a huge contribution to the club. It is unquantifiable.

We would grind to a halt if the women who participate in the club walked away. From opening the stadium, operating turnstiles, St Johns Ambulance, physios,  coaches, hospitality, mental health support, financial admin, media, board room, warm space etc…I could  go on and on. I would go as far as saying the women involved in the club are RoyALTY.

So how do we play our part in “accelerating “ women in the football industry? For Altrincham FC it is investment and support of young women who are starting out.

They bring a quality and mind set that will future proof the continued participation of women at Altrincham FC, and with our nurturing of talent throughout the club, juniors and community we will help women progress and meet their full potential.

As a female CEO in football I am fully committed to the qualities women bring to the sport. It is a richer and better place thanks to women.

Please take time to read and then celebrate one of our own, Erin.

As part of my media role at Altrincham Football Club, I work alongside the media team for both men's and women's teams. At present, I am the only female matchday commentator at the football club, regularly featuring on Radio Robins via Radio Alty and on Alty TV.

Working as a female commentator is great, as it is not yet sufficiently common for females to work on sports commentary. However, this is something I have an ambition to help change and to inspire more females to become involved in football media.

I started in this role in April 2023 when Brian Flynn asked me if I would like to be involved in the commentary for Altrincham FC vs. Wealdstone, an incredibly special fixture for more than one reason. Firstly, Altrincham had partnered with the national Her Game Too campaign to support Altrincham’s wonderful women's team.

The men’s first team won the game 4-0 and a then record crowd stayed behind to watch our women's team in action at Moss Lane. Since then I have been involved with both teams' media. 

As part of this role, I speak to and engage with players for interviews and social media posts before they are published. This included a big promotion of the Adobe Women's FA Cup tie against long-time rivals Macclesfield FC, which gained thousands of views on social media in an attempt to encourage fans to come down and support the team.

Despite having previously run my own page in the 2022/23 season I took over the position of Social Media Administrator for Altrincham FC Women's social media channels.

I have held the role for a couple of years, covering all the team’s activities throughout their respective divisions during games, training sessions, awards nights and other events. 

Through this position, I work alongside the talented Freya Richards (main picture with Erin), the Robins women's photographer who covers all home games. Freya works industriously taking photos for the team, which are also used on social media.

Examples of Freya’s work can be seen here. Freya and I work together on a matchday for Altrincham FC Women to make sure media-wise everything runs smoothly, but this could not be done without the help of Brian Flynn.

We are currently two of the youngest female volunteers at the club on the media team at the ages of 18 & 17 respectively. Further to this, on matchday, Radio Robins on Radio Alty covers all home fixtures at Partington Sports Village to keep Alty fans updated with what is going on with our women's team. 

On home matchdays I often form part of the Radio Robins team, helping to commentate on the women, most recently I commentated on the final league game of the league season against Stockport County LFC Development.

Unfortunately, the Robins suffered a defeat; however, commentating on them for the whole season has been amazing with some incredible performances and results going their way. A gratifying improvement on the last few seasons with many more happy memories being formed.

Finally, for the recent National League Cup quarter-final I worked as a PA announcer at The J.Davidson Stadium, and was involved in all matchday announcements during the entertaining 3-3 draw and penalty shootout win against Newcastle United under-21s, which saw the Robins go through to the semi-finals.

Working as a PA announcer is a very different experience when compared to commentary and social media coverage in the sense that everything must be done ‘on the fly’, and there is no room for error.

It was an incredible opportunity which really helped provide an insight into matchday operations, and I would totally recommend it to anyone given the chance. To work as a female volunteer covering both first teams at this football club is amazing.

For any females wanting to get involved but not knowing where to start, please try to get involved; it is so well worth it and very rewarding!!