Man City’s Kerstin Casparij on FA trans ban: ‘It breaks my heart’

When Kerstin Casparij opened the scoring in the 13th minute of Manchester City’s fixture against Everton in April, the first thing she did was kiss the trans flag-coloured wristband she had DIY’ed before the match. Coming just days after the UK Supreme Court ruled that trans women do not fall under the legal definition of a woman, the gesture was a powerful statement of solidarity with the community. “Sometime’s there are bigger, more important things than football,” she wrote in an Instagram post following the match. “I’m proud of all trans women – you are women no matter what anyone says.”

The reaction online was immediate and emotional, the support clearly meaning a great deal to queer football fans and the broader LGBTQ+ community, and it was covered widely in the media, particularly when just two weeks later the FA made the decision to ban transgender women from playing in women’s football in England. 

For fans of the 24-year-old Dutch player, the gesture came as no surprise. Casparij has become beloved within the women’s football community – the New York Times went so far as to call her a “cult hero” – for her playful, pun-filled social media presence, her openness about being queer and the content she creates with her partner, and, of course, her talent on the pitch. Since joining Man City in 2022, Casparij has established herself as a vital part of the squad’s defensive line thanks to her energy, speed and reliability, which recently earned her a nomination for Women’s Super League Player of the Month award.

On socials, she’s racked up over 80,000 Instagram followers and 30,000 TikTok followers who adore her for her authenticity, silliness and the fact that she uses her voice and platform to create safe spaces and be the queer representation she didn’t have when she was growing up. “I always feel like it’s important to be loud and proud, especially being a lesbian couple. We’ve been able to create such a nice community and connect to so many incredible people. So far, we’ve had nothing short of incredible experiences,” she says. “We’re very proud of being able to be such role models and giving other people, especially young people, the representation that we both did not have when we were younger is a very wholesome, wholesome experience.”

Just before the 2024/25 season came to a close, Casparij spoke to Dazed about injuries in the women’s game, learning to be herself on social media, and how she is feeling about this summer’s Euros.

How are you feeling about everything that’s happened this season, and what do you think you want to change for the next one?

Kerstin Casparij: I think we’ve been very unlucky this season. Looking at our first half of the season, we had a lot of incredible results. We had everyone pretty much fit to play. Then in the second half, you saw a lot of injuries coming in, which changed a lot the dynamics on the pitch. The way that we played under Gareth [Taylor, former coach] at the time was very systematic, so if a few very important players – the likes of Hempo [Lauren Hemp], of Alex Greenwood – then get injured, that was quite tough for us to deal with. But overall, I see what an amazing group we have. I feel very confident going into the new season, but I can’t ignore that this year has been a bit underwhelming to say the least.

Yeah I wanted to ask you about the injuries, because when you scored [against Everton], you paid tribute to Mary Fowler, who had just suffered a big injury [ACL]. What do you think needs to happen moving forward to stop the number of injuries that we’re seeing in the women’s game?

Kerstin Casparij: I think we need to have a look at the schedules. Viv [Vivianne Miedema] said something about it on social media, and I think she was absolutely spot on. I think the schedules now are insane. You see in the men’s game, they got rid of the April window for the national teams. We still have it. You saw the amount of injuries that came from that April window, seeing Mary getting injured pretty much right after that window. Having to travel out of Europe, being jet lagged, that’s so hard on our bodies.

The same goal that you dedicated to Mary, you also dedicated to the trans community, and you then made a very moving statement on your Instagram. Why was that something that you thought was important to speak out about?

Kerstin Casparij: Because being a queer woman myself, to see a part of my community be attacked like that has been heartbreaking. That was quite an emotional week, seeing the abuse but also seeing the sadness from the transgender community. So I was thinking, what can I do to give them my love and support and to show them that whenever they come to a game that I will be playing, whether that will be for my club or my country, that I’m going to do my best to make sure that there’s a safe space for them.

I know we have a lot of trans fans at City, we have a lot of trans fans in the women’s game. So I spoke to Katie Startup [Manchester City goalkeeper] and we said, what can we do that’s within the guidelines? And we decided on a wristband. I told my partner I was going to try to score for Mary and for the trans community, and to actually be able to do that was very special. I’m very happy that that worked out in the way that they did.

Being a queer woman myself, to see a part of my community be attacked like that has been heartbreaking.

Are you going to keep speaking out in light of the FA’s decision to ban trans women from the professional game?

Kerstin Casparij: I have my thoughts and feelings about that. I’m not going to make an official statement about it yet, because I want to get my head wrapped around it. Also bringing in the FA – I’m a part of Manchester City which makes it a bit more complicated for me. But I’m very sad to see that trans women do not have a place in football at the moment. That breaks my heart, because we’re for everyone. So to see them make that decision, from a personal point of view, makes me very sad, especially since it’s such a small group – I think it’s 20, 30 people that are now being excluded.

You have a lot of fun on social media, people love your captions and the puns you make after every game. How did that become such a playful space for you? 

Kerstin Casparij: I’ve always been quite social media shy! I’ve always gotten quite nervous about what I’m going to put on social media. I grew up with social media, so I’ve always been made very aware that everything you post online, it's gonna be there forever, it’s safer not to say anything, or to keep it very PG. It’s very easy to say, ‘A good three points, thanks to the fans’. But I feel like that didn’t capture me as a person and my personality. So I decided, you know what, I’m just going to try to do something fun. I love coming up with little puns or little jokes. And turns out people loved it, and I love doing it. So it’s now become a routine after every game, trying to come up with something new, trying to come up with something fun.

The women’s football community on social media is very passionate!

Kerstin Casparij: Yeah, we’ve noticed, but they’re all fun! I like how funny everyone is and how down to earth everyone is. Everything’s been so positive so far. I think what you give is what you get.

How are you feeling about the upcoming Euros? You mentioned that the schedule is a lot for female athletes.

Kerstin Casparij: I’m very excited to play the Euros. I’m very excited to go into my first major tournament for the Netherlands. We get a bit of a break beforehand, so I guess that’s why I’m feeling so ready for it, I get to go on holiday before we go to the prep. I’m also very excited about the team that we have. I think we have a lot of incredible players who all play at the top level, the top teams and top leagues. So I’m very, very keen to see what we can do this year.

You said in an interview that even when there’s disappointment in football, there’s always another game, there’s always another season, another opportunity. It’s a great mentality but it also must be hard to deal with such highs and lows. Most people in their jobs don’t have such extreme victories and then losses. How do you handle going between those emotions constantly?

 Kerstin Casparij: To be fair, I used to really struggle with that. I think it’s been the last one or two years that I became very stable, in the sense of, if games go well, then that’s great. If the games don’t go well, that will still be fine. Growing up, if I did well, I was on top of the world. And if I did poorly, I thought I was the worst footballer in the world. Now I’ve reached a certain point where I will do the exact same things when I’m not playing well [as when I am]. I think having that continuity, just keep doing the same things, keep having the same mindset, will get you through it and make sure you become a very stable player.

Is that a mindset that you’ve been able to have in your life outside of football as well?

Kerstin Casparij: Yeah, my partner’s not in football, so when I come home, to be able to talk about your work and then just move on with your day I think has really helped me. I think also being in the game for 10 years now, you get a certain experience. You go through so many things, there isn’t anything I haven’t seen before. So to have such experience at such a relatively young age, and to create such a stable, calm and safe environment outside of football. I think both of those really, really helps me. But that has taken time. I’m 24 and it’s only this year, I feel like I’m completely at the point where I wanted to be.