Mansfield Town chief exec slams ‘football dinosaurs’

Carolyn Radford

The Mansfield Town chief executive, Carolyn Radford has attacked football’s male-dominated landscape, saying the sport is “full of dinosaurs”.

Radford, who has led the League Two club since 2011, told BBC Radio 5 live’s Wake Up To Money, Business of Sport that her appearance is remarked upon when she enters the boardrooms of rival clubs, and pointed out that her “points are equally as valid” as her male counterparts.

She told the programme: “When you walk into a room and someone’s like, ‘oh, you look gorgeous today’ … I don’t think they’d say that to another man.”

She added: “I just think, ‘OK, it’s their problem, not mine’. But equally, is it preventing other women from getting involved in the sport, in the fact that I’m not standing up and saying actively: ‘No, this isn’t good enough’?

“If I go into a boardroom, a lot of the time I’ll be talking to other chairmen of other football clubs or other executives at a high level and they’ll choose to just smile if I say anything, and talk to my husband.

“Then we’ll be coming home in the car and I think, ‘What is this about? Why is our sport so full of dinosaurs?'”

Mansfield Town are eighth in League Two after three games of the new season following a 1-1 draw at home with Colchester on Saturday.

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