Laura Woods Hits Out at Eni Aluko in New Statement as Ian Wright Row Escalates
Laura Woods appears to have lashed out at Eni Aluko following her controversial comments reigniting her feud with Ian Wright.
Back in April last year, former Lioness Aluko sparked controversy when she claimed that Premier League legend Wright was “blocking opportunities for women” while covering women's football.
The ex-Chelsea forward later apologised for her comments, admitting she was wrong to single out Wright, but the former Arsenal star reacted by saying that he would not be accepting her apology, but was eager to move on.
Nearly a year later, Aluko decided to reignite the feud, criticising the fact that Wright was one of two men taking up a punditry spot during ITV and the BBC’s coverage of Women's Euros final last summer, despite the fact that she and other former players were available.
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But now, fellow pundit Woods has weighed in on Aluko's comments, claiming her point of view is 'damaging' for football and that it would 'drag women's sport backwards'.
During an appearance on the ‘90s Baby Show’ podcast, Aluko claimed “we need to gatekeep the women’s game in a way that the men’s game is gatekept", before adding: “In the women’s game, the opportunities are even more limited, so the main characters of the show should be the women.
Although she later mentioned that she had no personal issues with Wright, she later called for the 'weaponisation' of his name against her to stop, claiming that her “humility” following their previous public fall out was “met with disrespect” by Wright, who she believes “greenlit” other people to “pile on” her.
Following the post, Woods, who has worked with both Aluko and Wright on several occasions, took to social media to criticise former Chelsea player, referencing her comments about having 105 caps but not being selected to cover the Women's Euros final.
Posting on X, she wrote: "Caps don’t win automatic work and they don’t make a brilliant pundit either.
"The way you communicate, articulate yourself, do your research, inform your audience, how likeable you are and the chemistry you have with your panel are what makes a brilliant pundit."
In a series of follow up posts, Woods continued to criticise Aluko's belief about 'gatekeeping' women's football, claiming that doing so would be seriously damaging for the sport.
“The women’s game should be by women for women,” is one of the most damaging phrases I’ve heard," Woods continued.
"It will not only drag women’s sport backwards, it will drag women’s punditry in all forms of the game backwards.
"If you want to grow something, you don’t gate keep it. We want to encourage little boys and men to watch women’s football too, not just little girls and women. And when they see someone like Ian Wright taking it as seriously as he does - they follow suit. That’s how you grow a sport."
Topics: Laura Woods, Ian Wright, Womens Football
Ben McCrum