“A slap in the face”: Ladies of SKC react to Gavin Wilkinson hiring

It’s been a week since Sporting KC announced Gavin Wilkinson as Sporting Director. In spite of very strong, and nearly unanimous backlash from the national soccer community, Wilkinson remains. It’s difficult to see the club reversing course at this point.

“It’s a slap in the face.”

The Ladies of SKC have been the lone outspoken voice among the supporters’ groups since this news broke. While many feel the KC Cauldron and South Stand SC did not properly capture the feelings of the fanbase in their official responses, Ladies of SKC has made sure their stance is clear.

6 days with @SportingKC having an abuse enabler on their payroll. Time to take out the trash! #GWOUT #complicit #youknew #takeoutthetrash pic.twitter.com/RcJgxNVxaC

— Ladies of SKC (@LadiesofSKC) January 16, 2024

Brandy Peed is a long-time member of the KC soccer community, she’s even a former board member of the Cauldron. She joined us on Shades of Blue to represent the Ladies of SKC and talk through the GW situation. Brandy tells us what this hiring means to her as a fan of the game, and as a woman.

So… how do we go forward?

“These Q&A’s are going to do nothing.”

The Cauldron put a lot of weight on the potential for Q and A’s. But that’s something you would expect would happen with any hire of this magnitude. A conversation with fans would have been planned anyway. Brandy isn’t expecting much to change from them. Especially after Wilkinson’s introductory press conference, in which he did a fair amount of denying and deflecting after a short opening apology.

The Ladies are going for a more direct approach. Brandy says we can expect some small things like scarves, buttons, and signs all season long for fans to voice their displeasure.

The over/under is at 3 games before the club says no more signs in the stadium.

“We’re going to continue to fight this.”

This Saturday, the Ladies of SKC have organized a protest to take place at the Sporting KC warehouse sale from 10am to noon.

If you’d like to get involved or learn more about the group, the Facebook group is a central hub. You can also find them on Twitter or reach out to ladiesofskc@gmail.com.

This week, the Independent Supporters’ Council of North America will be meeting, and the Ladies of SKC hope to communicate with the leaders of other SKC groups soon. As all of this continues to develop, we will have Brandy back on the show to give us an update.

The show is embedded below or you can find the KC Soccer Journal wherever you get your podcasts!

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