Steph Houghton Quotes

It's a dream that we, as women footballers, get to play in the same stadium as the men.

Women's sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women's sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.

In recent generations, women's sports have been a blessing. Some of us can remember the bad old days in the '50s, when we would discover in casual schoolyard play that a girl could outrun most of us or hold her own in basketball or hit a softball - but there were no teams, no coaches, for girls.

Women's tennis has been around for a very long time - we're talking about the 1800s. But women's soccer hasn't had such a long history, so now they're right at the beginning of really trying to make things equal. We need to continue not only to advocate for women but to have men advocating for women.

For women's football in this country, it's important we do play in the best stadiums, and for me, Wembley is the best in this country.

Women's football will always be different from men's football, but that doesn't mean you cannot still appreciate it. OK, so it might be a bit slower than the men's game, but then League Two football is slower than the Champions League, and it doesn't stop people turning out to see their local teams.

What is best to hope for and what everyone is working towards is to elevate the quality of women's sport and to bring it to a level where it is seen as something that is very entertaining, something to be admired, to be looked up to, to put it in that level playing field as a product to be sold equal to the men.

Here I am just trying to fund myself to play a sport, but the greater picture is that I'm a female athlete really pushing the envelope for women in sports.

I think that what's happening is that girls are enjoying playing. It's a lot more acceptable, and now we have a Women's Super League with hugely dedicated female role models - really committed players who people can see are dedicated and training as hard if not harder than any male players - that's all progressing the sport.

We like to be kind of at the forefront for how all football federations should treat their female athletes.

For the average person walking down the street, they don't even know a women's soccer league exists in this country.

We are at a point now where people respect us and respect our work - the guys want to sit down and watch women's matches.

Gender equality cannot be achieved by cutting programs that allow girls to get the same chance to compete, learn, and play. The United States has had a solid history of commitment to its female athletes and expanding opportunity for women, and it is imperative that we continue on this path.

When we reach the point where the women athletes are getting their pick of dates just as easily as the men athletes, then we've really and truly arrived. Parity at last!

But the reason that women's football is still unknown is because it's not on television and not widely publicised for a wide majority of the leagues in the world.

I don't care how many championships you've won or how many records you've broken - if you've had a hand in pushing forward not only a game but women in sport's movement, then I think that's pretty darn good.

I didn't want to walk into WWE and be someone who just does bikini matches and played second fiddle to the guys. I wanted to stand out, make people excited to see women's wrestling, and show them we can be better than the men.

The girls are working so hard to put female wrestling on the map and to make it as big as the men. To see it actually happening... I'm so grateful.

I think as females, we always want to have more air time, more room time, more - longer matches and more main events. But, at the end of the day, we're going in that direction, and I'm happy with that, and I'm happy with the side everyone has taken in women's wrestling.

The reality is, like, women's basketball players are playing against women. And we're all in the same boat the same way men's sports is.

We're changing the way people are going to look at wrestling, women's wrestling, forever. Forever. And we're at the start of it? That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable! Unbelievable.

In the age of millennials, women's rights, and female empowerment, I hope my voice helps to encourage the next generation of great female athletes and golfers to possibly stop social injustices and prejudices from creeping into the game that I fell in love with at such a young age.

I think it's important that we try to showcase what we're about as women footballers.

Women's sport is growing, becoming powerful, and we want to continue to raise that platform for the young girls at home.

I'm enormously proud that I can do a deal with the National Women's Soccer League to showcase the power and passion of women athletes as positive role models, not only for my daughter but also for my son.