Football needs a ‘Marcus Rashford of sustainability’, but stars fear label of hypocrisy

As well as Wheeler, who spoke at Glastonbury in 2023 at the Speakers Forum about how football has the power to tackle climate change, there are several notable examples of players who are passionate environmentalists.

Former Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin is an investor in vegan club Forest Green Rovers, cycles to work and frequently uses his platform to speak out about sustainability issues in the game. Eric Dier, Burnley’s Josh Brownhill, Sheffield United’s Tom Davies and Brentford’s Ben Mee, who has even stopped buying new clothes, are among the others who have spoken.

But Wheeler says right now, it’s the female players who are leading the way. The PFA sent out invitations to all its members for Wheeler’s workshops and the gender divide was clear in participation.

“It’s interesting, it seems like women are much more engaged with this issue,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s because they’ve generally received more higher education or if they’ve been exposed to more people and are more well-rounded. “I’m not sure, but it definitely seems to be a trend.”

Asked if that could be because female players don’t feel as prominent, she added: “I think it’s certainly a factor: the higher the profile, the greater the reluctance to come out.

“And maybe that’s why on some level it’s been easier for me, because I’m not a Premier League footballer, so the setback won’t be anywhere near the same.

“But of all the work I’ve done so far it’s been overwhelmingly positive. It’s complicated, isn’t it? It’s very easy for me to ask Premier League footballers to come out and say things, but they can’t do it unless they understand the issue and are passionate about it. It wouldn’t seem sincere.

“It would only take one Marcus Rashford for climate change to make a real difference.”

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The PFA’s top priority is championing the wellbeing of its members, and there is a clear crossover between one of sport’s hottest topics and climate change.

Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Raphael Varane are among those talking about match congestion and there is an environmental reason for reducing matches.

Teams often justify their use of short-haul flights by suggesting they have few options when there are games every three days. Liverpool were criticized after taking a 33-minute return flight from Newcastle last February, while an investigation revealed that in a two-month period between January and March 2023, Premier League clubs took a staggering number of 81 domestic flights. In stark contrast, Championship club Millwall have a no-fly policy and travel by bus or train to all away games.

Wheeler is campaigning to embed environmental sustainability in clubs as part of the next football governance bill and believes discontent with the calendar could provide a useful springboard for the movement.

“I don’t care how we manage to achieve positive climate change, just that we do it,” the League One player said.

“There seems to be a huge overlap between protecting the well-being of the players and the well-being of the planet. There is much to gain if we all work to be more sustainable.

“Any athlete who comes out and speaks passionately about climate change is powerful, but if there’s a whole block of players and athletes doing it at the same time about the same issue, then it’s very hard to ignore.”

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