Vivianne Miedema and her partner Lisa Evans have become the latest football stars to join Common Goal.
Arsenal striker Miedema is the all-time leading goalscorer in the Women’s Super League and the Dutch national team, male or female, while Scotland international Evans is on loan at West Ham from the Gunners.
They will both pledge one per cent of their salary to the growing social impact movement which supports and empowers football-based charities around the world.
Common Goal was launched by Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata in 2017 and there are now over 200 players, managers and influential figures in football who have pledged their commitment including Pernille Harder, Paulo Dybala, Alex Morgan, Jurgen Klopp, Casey Stoney, Christiane Endler, Izzy Christiansen and Serge Gnabry.
Miedema and Evans made the decision to join Common Goal after speaking to their Arsenal team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy, who joined the movement in May. They have chosen to help tackle the negative effects of conflict by supporting high-impact community organisations working with young people in situations of violence and conflict around the world.
Miedema, who is already a long-standing supporter of the NGO War Child, said: ‘Worldwide, over 600 million young people live in situations of violence and conflict.
‘As a War Child ambassador I’ve seen up-front how resilient these youth are and how sport has the power to take young people out of the trappings of their environments and become leaders in their communities.
‘I’m lucky to be living my dream and I feel the responsibility to help others live theirs too. I’m excited to join Common Goal and to be able to really scale the impact I can have off the field.
‘I urge other colleagues, male and female, from club and country, to join Common Goal. The time for action is now and it’s by working as a team that we can make real change.’
Evans, a title winner in Scotland, Germany and England, becomes the tenth Scottish player to join the movement alongside the likes Caroline Weir and Christie Murray.
‘I’ve been interested in joining Common Goal for some time and was really surprised to see how straight-forward it is to join the movement,’ Evans said. ‘The process is quick and easy, and we are both so motivated to be part of creating change and can’t wait to see the impact report for our first year of being part of the movement.
‘Both Viv and I want to be the best players we can be, but we also want to be happy and constructive human beings off the pitch. Common Goal is the perfect platform to create change through football in a collective, sustainable way.’
Common Goal CEO and Co-Founder Jurgen Griesbeck added: ‘The female leadership manifested during the growth journey of Common Goal is so inspiring, and Viv and Lisa joining the team is another big push.
‘The understanding of the need for teamwork, the motivation to use the platform that
football provides, and the willingness to pledge 1% of salary from so many top female players, despite the huge inequality that exists between salaries in men’s football, is testament to their vision and commitment to take action.’
Common Goal has generated over £3.4million for high-impact football for good programmes empowering young people all over the world. Learn more at https://www.common-goal.org/