Karen Dobres Launches ‘Pitch Invasion’: The Memoir Changing Women’s Football

It’s been an iconic week for women’s football. The Lionesses became the European champions for the second time in a row, won by a record-breaking penalty kick that became the “most watched TV moment of 2025”. The first English team to win a major trophy on foreign soil, football came home (again) in spite of every twat who said they couldn’t do it.

Watching this historic moment at St Jakob Park in Basel was Karen Dobres, co-founder of Equality FC and The Sisterhood Network for Lewes FC (which we are proudly a part of). She’s mostly referred to as a ‘former model turned football director’, but I prefer ‘kickass revolutionary’. This epic powerhouse found football dull before she realised how deeply misogynistic the whole thing was and stepped in to do something about it.

That “something” being joining the board of Lewes FC and developing the Equality FC campaign to give the women’s team the same resources as the men’s, as well as campaigning for equality in audience experience. Now, she’s one of the UK’s leading voices in women’s football.

In the most perfect timing of all, Karen topped off this iconic women’s football week by publishing her brand new memoir ‘Pitch Invasion’ (with the P designed as a B on the cover, for additional badass effect). Here she talks candidly about her experience entering arguably the most stubbornly male-dominated industries and fighting for change.

It may have taken a Chloe Kelly kick to make the world notice, but lifted in that trophy are the efforts of fighters like Karen; creating opportunities and calling out the inequalities that have held women back from playing for so long.

Read all about her Pitch Invasion by picking up a copy at Waterstones or Amazon.