Laura Woods has responded to Eni Aluko's recent remarks about the limited opportunities for female pundits in women's football, sparking a fresh debate over representation in the sport.
Aluko, a former England international, had criticised the selection of pundits for last year's Euro 2025 women's final, noting that two of the six pundits across BBC and ITV were male. She argued that women should be the main characters in their own sport, saying: 'The women's game should be by women for women.'
However, ITV and TNT Sports presenter Woods took issue with this stance. In a series of posts 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.'
Woods described Aluko's phrase as 'one of the most damaging phrases I've heard', warning it would drag women's sport backwards. She added: '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.'
Woods concluded by highlighting ITV's award-winning coverage of the women's Euros, which won best production at the Broadcast Sport Awards 2025, with Seb Hutchinson also winning best commentator.
