{"id":414597,"date":"2026-02-08T12:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/414597\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T12:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:55:13","slug":"laura-woods-refuses-to-defend-eni-aluko-as-pundit-goes-on-another-rant-about-men-taking-womens-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/414597\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Woods refuses to defend Eni Aluko as pundit goes on another rant about men taking women’s jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laura Woods made it clear she wouldn’t defend Eni Aluko after the former England Lionesses star embarked on yet another rant.<\/p>\n

Aluko has been outspoken in recent years and, in 2025, caused outrage by suggesting that ITV allowing Ian Wright to perform punditry on their platform had limited her own opportunities within the game.<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old proceeded to apologise to Wright, who then said that he ‘couldn’t accept’ it.<\/p>\n

Now, Aluko has embarked on yet another rant – with Wright mentioned. The ex-footballer, who represented the likes of Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Chelsea throughout her career, has hit out at the choice of pundits for the Lionesses’ victory over Spain in the final of Euro 2025.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the 90s Baby Show, Aluko fumed: “In the women\u2019s game the opportunities are even more limited, so the main characters of the show should be the women.<\/p>\n

“Men should be part of that. I\u2019m not saying anybody should be excluded, I believe in diversity wholeheartedly, but the same way we\u2019ve played a role in the men\u2019s game that\u2019s a supporting role, you\u2019re part of the ensemble, you\u2019re never going to get the premium final games, it should be the same way for women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

“I think we need to gatekeep the women\u2019s game in a way that the men\u2019s game is gatekept.<\/p>\n

“What I mean by that is, and you\u2019ve heard me talk about the journey of women\u2019s football, it\u2019s taken a while, it\u2019s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get the women\u2019s game to where it is now. <\/p>\n

Eni Aluko speaks out about the Lionesses Euro 2025 final and the pundits for that game\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/1vQcKyIZ0s<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 george (@StokeyyG2) February 7, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a lot of people, including me, who have planted a lot of seeds to be reaping what we\u2019re reaping now\u2026 TV, money coming into the game, investment, and it\u2019s still growing.<\/p>\n

“From my perspective, we didn\u2019t go through all of that \u2013 blood, sweat and tears \u2013 for women to be second place in our own sport. What are we doing?<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s my point, the women\u2019s game should be by women for women. Male allies should absolutely support that but when it gets to the point where you\u2019re the main character of the show, we\u2019re just repeating the patriarchal stuff that we\u2019ve been fighting against.<\/p>\n

“Now whoever that upsets, that upsets, but that\u2019s the reality. <\/p>\n

\"EniEni Aluko is a pundit for the likes of ITV and TNT Sports | GETTY<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve always been protective about women\u2019s football because I\u2019ve done a lot, I\u2019ve invested a lot, I was doing women\u2019s football when it didn\u2019t pay to do women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

“Now we\u2019re reaping the rewards I\u2019m like women should be winning right now.<\/p>\n

“My point is, I\u2019ve never done a major final in men\u2019s football for eleven years, I\u2019ve done three World Cups, men\u2019s Euros, Champions League, I\u2019ve never had that opportunity, and maybe rightly so, I\u2019d probably say rightly so because again, I think the guys should always be ahead of me, the main guys.<\/p>\n

“Last year, at the Women\u2019s Lionesses final, I\u2019m sat in the stands, I wasn\u2019t on ITV for the final, Fara Williams was sat next to me, Fara Williams has 170 caps [172 caps] for England, something ridiculous, I think she\u2019s the most-capped player, she\u2019s sat in the stands.<\/p>\n

“The two broadcasters that had the rights for the game \u2013 ITV and BBC \u2013 on BBC you\u2019ve got Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Nedum Onuoha, no offence to Nedum Onuoha, nothing against him, I don\u2019t know whether he played for England or not, but you\u2019re on the main panel for the final for England Women.<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s go over to ITV, I\u2019m in the stands with 105 caps, so you\u2019ve got two women, between us we\u2019ve got 290 caps, something ridiculous, you turn over to ITV and it\u2019s Ian Wright, Emma Hayes and Kaz Carney.<\/p>\n

“So out of six punditry spots, two have gone to men. Meanwhile you\u2019ve got 290 caps, whatever it is, sitting in the stands.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve just told you I\u2019ve never done a final. I\u2019m probably going to struggle to think of any women, a female pundit, who has done a men\u2019s major final as a pundit.<\/p>\n

\"Laura<\/p>\n

Laura Woods was astonished by Eni Aluko’s comments<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not talking about presenters, people like to conflate the two, it\u2019s a different role, it\u2019s like comparing a forward and a defender, it\u2019s different jobs, I\u2019m talking about as a pundit, it doesn\u2019t happen, so something is not right there because I\u2019m saying this is still quite new where you\u2019re watching women\u2019s finals on TV, why are people like me and Fara not there?<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s nothing against Ian, it\u2019s nothing against them, I\u2019m just saying broadly speaking we need to be aware of that because if we\u2019re building a game where the limited opportunities are now being taken by men, where we can\u2019t go into the men\u2019s game and get the same opportunities, we\u2019re stuck.”<\/p>\n

Woods, however, has now made her feelings clear.<\/p>\n

The presenter initially commented ‘wow’ upon seeing the clip.<\/p>\n

One X user then asked her whether she would defend Aluko after her latest outburst.<\/p>\n

Woods simply responded: “Nope.”<\/p>\n