FOOTBALL has traditionally been a sport for men but make no mistake, the ladies are fighting back.

This Sunday, a woman bus driver is taking a busload of colleagues to Lewes to shout from the terraces in support of the women’s professional football team.

It’s all in aid of Unlock The Gate day, a Lewes FC campaign designed to encourage more people to the women’s game.

Senior supervisor Kirstie Bull has organised for her colleagues from Brighton and Hove Buses to travel on board the appropriately named Diversity Bus.

Lewes is the first professional or semi-professional football club to pay its women’s team the same as the men’s as part of its Equality FC campaign.

The two teams – who both play on the same pitch at The Dripping Pan – also play within equal budgets.

The club is now known as Equality FC.

Kirstie said: “I think it’s really important that we all gather together – women and men – to show our support for this club and the women’s game.

“I know something about working in an industry normally associated with men – where there’s absolutely no reason why any woman can’t become a bus driver and a very good one at that, work their way up the ranks and do really well in the

company.

“In football, women have been achieving for a long time, dating back over 100 years.

“Today the women’s game is as exciting as ever and players are extremely skilled.

“It’s time we got behind these really talented women and showed them we really appreciate what they can do.”

Her employer, Brighton and Hove Buses, is right behind her, having just agreed a two-year partnership deal with Equality FC.

Managing director Martin Harris said: “I applaud Equality FC for tackling outdated stereotypes and that very much fits with our ethos at Brighton and Hove Buses.

“As a company we’ve still got a long way to go and a lot to learn.

“Customers already see a number of women bus drivers but there’s plenty of room for more.

“Partnering with an organisation that is tackling these – still – very difficult questions is going to help us move forward with our own efforts.”

Lewes FC Women play in the FA Women’s Premier League alongside clubs such as QPR, West Ham, and Crystal Palace. Lewes FC (men) play in the Isthmian League South.

Last week just under 1,000 people watched their FA Cup defeat to Everton at the Dripping Pan.