Natalie Washington: ‘The FA banning trans women from women’s football was a hammer blow’
For Natalie Washington never thought she would blow the final whistle, signaling the end of her decade-long football career.
“I haven’t really had a chance to step back and think, ‘Wow, this might be the last game’ and think about never playing competitive organized football again,” he said. Independent. “I’m so glad I didn’t have time to think about it.”
But instead he experienced a “very surreal” moment when he had to hug his teammates from his beloved Rushmoor FC, based in Hampshire, as they said goodbye to him after playing for the last time.
Washington, 42, was forced to withdraw from her team following the Football Association (FA) decision to ban trans women from playing women’s football. This process began in June 2025, following a decision by the UK Supreme Court in April 2025, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010; The legal definition of “woman” and “gender” is based on biological sex at birth.
The ban was criticized in response to what Washington called “incessant lobbying” by anti-trans groups, who claimed the ban’s impact on people’s mental and physical health was not properly considered..
He said the blow was felt even harder because the FA’s motto was “For All” and the start date of the ban coincided with the start of Pride Month celebrations in England.
When the truth finally came out, Washington said he “went into a bit of a low-key depression for a while” because he wasn’t active and had a hard time motivating himself.
For now, he’s channeling his energy into advocacy work he started 10 years ago and has never felt more important for his fellow transgender football players.
Washington decided to get involved in campaigns for the sport he loves after reading data that said LGBTQ+ people had lower levels of activity and were less likely to participate in team sports.
He is now the manager Football and Transphobia The campaign he founded in 2019 after working on the Homophobia and Football campaign since 2016. Pride Sportsan LGBTQ+ sports charity.
Washington said one of the best aspects of the campaign was its ability to reach “people who don’t have positive role models around homosexuality that we haven’t been able to reach in other ways through football” in sports.
His name was also mentioned IndependentHe was named to the 2026 Pride List for his advocacy work after being awarded the prestigious EGLSF (European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation) Advocacy Award at EuroGames last summer.
Since the ban, Washington and the Transphobia-Football team have sought to assess the damage caused and have compiled the findings. in a report: “They say football is for everyone, but it’s not like that anymore: the lived reality of the English and Scottish Football Association’s new trans exclusion policy for women’s football.” Written by social justice expert Dr Jack Lopez.
“We heard that the psychological impact of being banned was obviously a big thing,” Washington said. “People expected it because of the context of what was going on at the time, but it was still a massive blow to a lot of people’s mental health.”
He said that the ban was felt the most by people who have a football team but also a friendship group and social community. It also emerged that some people felt their identities were being questioned.
“Some people felt so bad because it was their lifeline,” he explained. “Others were no longer able to train with their teams, some were not informed of the ban by their club or the FA and were only informed of the news. Others were not offered the therapy sessions the FA said would be possible.
“There seemed to be some confusion about how it was enacted.”
A spokesman for the FA said: “Following the Supreme Court decision… we decided that we needed to change our policy as legal guidance changed.
“We have implemented our previous policy for many years and understand that this change is very difficult for people who want to play the game they love as the gender they identify with, and we have reached out to our previously registered trans women to explore how they can continue to be involved in the game.”
For many, the FA’s proposed options for maintaining trans women’s participation in football were weak; These included coaching or refereeing. “A lot of people kind of giggled about it,” Washington explained.
He said this was a “non-starter” for him and many others, given the level of abuse referees were already subjected to; but did not take into account the fact that the referees were transgender.
The FA added that it had recently approved mixed football as a new playing option for adults to ensure “the game remains accessible to as many people as possible”.
Washington feels lucky to still have a strong connection to football, but fears the ban will mostly affect young players just starting their football careers.
“It’s ended up with a lot of people not playing sports anymore because unless people live in bigger cities, there are no other options available,” Washington added, referring to clubs such as Goal Diggers FC in London for all women and non-binary people. The BT director lives in a village in West Sussex and plays less football now, apart from Sunday’s six-a-side match.
Looking ahead, Washington is unsure whether the ban can be reversed. “In the current climate, I think we could be in this situation for years,” he said. “We need some courage from the sports leadership to make this happen.”
Washington is keen to emphasize that despite what has felt like a non-stop barrage of bad news for transgender people over the last few years, he still feels there is positivity.
She sees this in the way many queer and non-queer people are speaking out not just for trans rights, but for human rights more broadly in these challenging times. “I see people being energized by this and a growing coalition of people wanting to do good,” he added.
“It’s been tough before, a lot of people will remember that, and they got through it and so did we,” he concluded rather triumphantly.
You can read The Independent’s Pride List 2026 Here.
