Screamer Alliance WFC say they were racially abused throughout their hour-long training session in Barnard Park on Saturday

A CHINESE women’s football team was harassed with racist slurs and pelted with footballs during a training session in Islington last weekend, but its players say they will not be intimidated.

Members of Screamer Alliance WFC told of their fear and distress when a group of around 20 teenage boys bombarded them with racist abuse throughout their hour-long session at a pre-booked pitch in Barnard Park on Saturday.

The players called the police and ­later shared an account of the incident on Reddit, triggering a groundswell of support and solidarity from residents and other amateur women’s clubs, some of whom spoke of similar discrimination on Barnard Park’s pitches and across London.

The Met has recorded the incident as a hate crime but made no arrests, and Islington Council has arranged extra security for Screamer Alliance’s future sessions in Barnard Park.

Civil engineer Ricky Lin, who set up the club in October 2023, told the Tribune: “I really don’t want to make the players feel that they have to run away.

“I think it will start to make them feel that they don’t belong to football, that they don’t belong here in this country.

“When I check in with them they say: ‘It’s fine, it happens’ – but no, it shouldn’t happen. I know the trauma will be left in them if I don’t rebuild their confidence in football and in human beings. I worry about that. I don’t want to leave that scar in their minds that we have to keep running.”

Twin players Taotao and Lele Ouyang told the Tribune how the teenagers also kicked away their cones, kicked footballs at their bodies and refused to vacate part of the booked pitch, leaving just the box and one goal for the Screamers to train in.

Players said they were heckled with racist language, which the Tribune will not print in this report.

“I’ve never, never experienced something like that,” said Lele, who has lived in the UK for three years.

“They tried to keep attacking us because we were the only women there and we were obviously non-locals by our appearance. It was really upsetting,” she said, adding that other men’s teams playing on neighbouring pitches did nothing to help the Screamers.

Members of Screamer Alliance WFC who were bombarded with racist abuse from teenage boys

The distress and frustration led Lele’s sister, Taotao, to post on Reddit about “the worst experience I’ve had in London”, detailing the racist abuse and violence they experienced.

“We’ve always felt welcome at this park, and we’re often greeted with friendliness as it’s rare to see East Asian women playing football here.

“But today was different. It was terrifying and deeply upsetting,” she wrote.

What followed were hundreds of messages of solidarity that have motivated the Screamer Alliance to stick it out at Barnard Park – and invite supporters to come down to watch them play tomorrow (Saturday) and prove that hate and racism have no place in football or in Islington.

The team’s determination not to be driven away from Barnard Park is also because they have already had to relocate twice before, following similar incidents of abuse.

The first was in De Beauvoir’s Rosemary Gardens last year, when a group of young men were kicking balls at them and squeezing them into a corner of their booked pitch.

“It’s what happens on the pitch and in real life too,” Ms Lin said.

“They keep hassling and making your space smaller.”

The second incident was at the Castlehaven pitch in Camden Town earlier this summer, when a group of teenagers were “screaming” racist slurs at the players from outside the fence.

“We just didn’t feel safe to go back,” said Ms Lin.

Amii Griffith with team members of Riot FC

Among the responses to Taotao’s Reddit post was a message from women and non-binary football team Riot FC, saying that they too had faced discrimination at Barnard Park.

Riot FC co-founder and coach Amii Griffith told the Tribune: “We had a really terrible experience where we were harassed and heckled. I was trying to coach the session and there was a group of boys who just would not get off our pitch. They stood around talking about ‘bad touches’, ‘bad passes’, things like that, being so derogatory and insulting, it was hard to keep our cool. The two men’s teams playing on either side of us did nothing.

“We stopped playing at Barnard Park because we felt unsafe, we felt exhausted, we felt like nothing was being done. We just play in a league now – we don’t train anywhere.”

Being driven away from a football pitch is all the more frustrating when it’s hard for women and non-binary amateur teams to find the resources and spaces to play in the first place.

Despite increased talk of funding to women’s football since the Lionesses’ two victories in the Euros, it can feel like “all talk with nothing really to show for it”, said Ms Griffith, who is in her 30s.

“It’s not necessarily that nothing is being done, but they’re funnelling it into young people and girls.

“Whereas there’s a whole lost generation of female and non-binary football players who didn’t get the chance to play.

“People my age are still trying to carve out their little space of football.”

The football pitch at Barnard Park

Initiatives like dedicated time slots for WNB teams could be a way for councils to protect safe spaces for women and non-binary people to play, Ms Griffith said.

Because despite the risk of harassment and intimidation, they don’t want to give up football, Screamer players told the Tribune.

Founder Ms Lin said: “As a young woman, you’re finding your place – work, relationships, trying to build a life – and you’re vulnerable. And when you don’t have your family or friends around you, support is very important.

“We’re each other’s support system.”

Islington’s environment chief, Labour councillor Rowena Champion, said: “We are shocked and deeply disappointed to hear of the racist abuse experienced by members of Screamer Alliance Women’s Football Club.

“We have been in touch with the team to express our support and are meeting with them this week.

“To provide reassurance, we have arranged extra security for Barnard Park and are supporting the team with their bookings.”

She added: “We are so sorry that the team have experienced this horrible incident and want to reiterate that hate has no place in Islington.”

A Met police statement said: “Police were called at 16:08 on Saturday August 30 to reports of racist comments made towards a group of women in Barnard Park, Islington.

“Officers quickly attended and spoke to the women and the alleged suspects – who made counter-allegations.

“Neither party wished to substantiate an allegation but a report was taken and the matter has been recorded as a hate crime.”

It added: “Enquiries are ongoing. Officers then left the park with the women to ensure their safety and patrols were increased in the local area.”

Anyone with information that could assist has been asked to contact police via 101 or online, quoting reference no: CAD 4746/30AUG.