Exclusive Interview: How FOUDYs Built a Women’s Football Retail Empire

If you’ve ever tried to buy a women’s football kit only to find a ghost town of empty retail shelves, or worse, a men’s jersey with absolutely zero printing options, you already know the exact frustration that birthed FOUDYs.

Named after US soccer legend and equity advocate Julie Foudy, FOUDYs is the world’s first retail platform dedicated entirely to women's football. "There’s a bit of a misconception that we are 'women-only,'" founder Helen clarifies, setting the record straight on the brand's ethos. "But we are for all women’s football fans and players. We have a massive array of customers, and actually, a huge portion of them are male allies who just completely love the vibes and the community of the women’s game."

Photo Credit: via @helenfootball

As FOUDYs prepares to open its highly anticipated permanent in-person store in Manchester, Helen’s journey from a bedroom startup to a major market disruptor stands as a testament to what happens when you refuse to let a demographic be ignored.

The Screamer That Started It All

Helen’s obsession with the game was set around the 2015 World Cup when broadcasters like the BBC finally began giving it mainstream airtime. Coming from a marketing background, she viewed visibility as a non-negotiable strategy for growth. "I'm a firm believer in 'you’ve got to see it to be it,'" she says. "If I see someone walking down the high street wearing an Arsenal shirt with Leah Williamson on the back, it builds an instant connection and builds the brand."

But by the 2019 World Cup, despite massive hype around bespoke kits, the actual access to the product was non-existent. You couldn't get a three-star USA shirt or a Lionesses jersey. The turning point came vividly for Helen during a trip to France to watch England face Norway.

Photo Credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

"Lucy Bronze scored that absolute screamer from outside the area," Helen recalls. "I was standing at the back of the stands, looking out at tens of thousands of England fans, and I realised almost everyone was wearing old Beckham, Shearer, or Neville jerseys. We traveled all that way, and none of us could wear the actual shirts of the women on the pitch. I thought, 'My God, surely I can help in creating brand awareness.'"

Initially, the plan was simple, with Helen just wanting to create a platform to signpost people to where stock actually existed. But Helen quickly ran into a deeper issue which was that nobody was doing custom printing for women's players. "Not only were high street stores not selling the jerseys, they weren't putting women's names on the back," she says.

Driven to fix it, Helen launched FOUDYs from her bedroom in December 2020 (what a time for it…!). Despite the months it took to source the official WSL lettering, the day it arrived, she went live. FOUDYs instantly became the first company in the world printing the entire WSL and Championship font ranges, long before the majority of top-tier clubs even offered it themselves.

Big Names, Big Plans

Holding onto an athlete-like mindset, Helen always believed FOUDYs would become a household name. "To succeed, you have to believe you're going to win," she says. That confidence paid off just eight months into the business when Nike offered a direct wholesale deal, a move that is much bigger than it sounds. 

To put it in perspective, Helen comments that her investor, the founder of the massive multi-million-pound sports retailer Kit Bag, had to spend six years winning deals with smaller brands before Nike would even sit at the table with them.

Photo Credit: Pride in Leadership

"I was still in my bedroom, eight months in, and Nike were working with us," Helen says. "Credit to them, they recognised nobody else was properly servicing the women's game. They were like, 'at least this girl is trying, let’s give her a go.'"

That single partnership made FOUDYs the 23rd official football retail partner in Europe and one of only six in the UK, sitting alongside multi-billion-pound empires like Sports Direct and JD Sports.

From a Bedroom to Two Warehouses to Regent Street

The rapid scaling that followed was a whirlwind. Helen's first official hire was Arbon, a FOUDYs’ super-customer who turned out to be a walking encyclopedia of women’s football.

Arbon began printing shirts just next to Helen’s desk in her back bedroom. And, when the inevitable success began to arrive, they squeezed into a tiny one-person office in Trafford, before eventually moving down the corridor to a six-person space, then a 12-person space. Today, the operation spans two full warehouses. 

"It’s a misconception that as the business grows on the outside, it gets easier," Helen admits candidly. "The machine just gets bigger, and you hemorrhage yourself consistently. The risk gets bigger, and the fall gets higher."

Photo's Courtesy of @wearefoudys

That chaotic behind-the-scenes reality was on full display during FOUDYs' massive summer pop-up on Regent Street in London. On the surface, it was glamour, a high-fashion space all about women’s sports, however, behind the scenes, it was a beautifully mad chaos.

"We were completely feral for three months," Helen laughs. "I had this comically giant suitcase, and every Tuesday I would stuff it full of emergency stock, like Chelsea shirts or Lucy Bronze name sets, and drag it on the train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston." At one point, after days of traveling in hoodies and joggers, Helen found out a major newspaper journalist was in the store and had to frantically change her entire outfit in a tiny, unglamorous back room. "On the surface it was beautiful, but behind the scenes, it was the lowest of lows!"

Why Manchester, and Why Now?

The decision to open a permanent, physical storefront in Manchester stems from a deep-rooted frustration with how traditional sports retail treats female fans and players. Helen points out that standard stores are built almost exclusively by men, for men, leaving women’s players ignored as consumers.

"I play football four or five times a week, and I went into a famous specialist boot store looking for top-tier boots," she shares. "I asked a technical question about cushion support, and the staff didn't have a clue. Then I asked for a size seven, and the guy looked around and asked who they were for. I said, 'For me.' Every aspect of sports retail is built for a different consumer."

Photo's Courtesy Of Helen Hardy

FOUDYs' new permanent space intends to disrupt that entirely, intentionally launching during the men's World Cup and right at the start of Manchester Pride Month. The storefront will proudly lower pride flags from the windows on day one.

"If you love football culture but don't identify with the aggressive, 'beat-your-chest' environments of traditional spaces, this is being created for you," Helen explains. "Women's football happens 365 days a year. The players exist 365 days a year. It’s vital that we have a physical presence that reflects that, especially at a time when major sports websites tend to let women's football go missing from their homepages."

Foudys’ Worldwide Future

Looking toward the future, Helen’s ultimate dream focuses on achieving equity for women's sports on the high street. She intentionally named the brand after Julie Foudy, because Foudy represented a broader voice for advocacy across all women's athletics.

While football remains the current focus, the plan for FOUDYs is global. "There is 100% a place on Earth for a women's sports store on every high street in every western country," Helen says. "In Bristol, it might be full of rugby jerseys; in Manchester, it’s City and United. A flagship in Manchester felt right, but next, we are looking directly at London, New York, and Australia. It’s not a pipe dream, it’s heading towards a reality."