As England prepares for its opening World Cup fixture tonight, Women’s Aid has launched “The Other Kick Off,” a powerful campaign built on a simple behavioral insight.
Ahead of every England match, millions of fans ask the same question: “What time is kickoff?” To answer it, Women’s Aid will display an alternative kick-off time for England’s opening World Cup match against Croatia: 11:37 p.m. To anyone searching for the fixture time, it makes no sense. Because 11:37 p.m. isn’t the football kick-off. It’s The Other Kick Off, the estimated moment domestic abuse is most likely to surge after the match ends. Women’s Aid is using the most asked matchday question to deliver a different, far more important answer.
The time (11:37 p.m.) was calculated using historical reporting data, average match duration, half-time, added time, and patterns of post-match drinking and travel. It marks the moment thousands of women fear most–one that never appears on any fixture list.
The campaign is rooted in a simple behavioral insight: before every England match, millions of fans search for the same thing “What time is kickoff?” With the 2026 World Cup spread across multiple North American time zones, that question will be asked more often than ever. The time difference brings a darker consequence: England matches will finish at anti-social hours in the UK, meaning any post-match rise in domestic abuse is likely to occur later at night, when victims are most isolated and support services are least visible.
Large-scale out-of-home placements will display The Other Kick Off time using the visual language of football. The work deliberately contrasts the anticipation millions of fans feel as they await the opening whistle with the dread far too many women experience as the final whistle approaches. Audiences can scan a QR code to uncover the truth behind the time.
Out-of-home placements will run across city centres, transport hubs, fan zones and areas surrounding pubs – locations intrinsically linked to football culture. Media space was donated by The Outernet, Ocean Outdoor, JCDecaux, Open Media, Alight Media, Grazia and Metro.
Across search and social, a simple question will also become a gateway to the campaign’s central message. When people search for “What time is kickoff?” Women’s Aid will be surfacing unexpected answers that reveal the hidden reality behind the game, reaching audiences at the precise moment they’re actively seeking information.
Josh Green, CCO, ELVIS said: “The World Cup dominates everything from search and social to pub conversations. It defines the entire national mood really. For Women’s Aid, that created a rare moment when millions of people were all doing the same thing at the same time. We asked ourselves what every England fan would do before the match and built the campaign around intercepting that moment. Getting the wrong answer to a question you were already asking is a very different experience to being told something you didn’t want to hear.”
The Other Kick Off follows Women’s Aid’s highly awarded 2022 World Cup campaign “He’s Coming Home,” which reimagined football’s most famous anthem as a warning, underpinned by research that shows domestic abuse incidents rise by 38% when England lose and by 26% when they win.
Farah Nazeer, CEO, Women’s Aid, says: “When it comes to kick-off, we’re not talking about football, we’re talking about what happens after. For many women and children, the final whistle signals the beginning of something frightening. Domestic abuse is never caused by football, but we know incidents increase during major tournaments, whether England win, lose, or draw. Every major tournament brings excitement for millions of fans, but it also brings fear, anxiety and danger behind closed doors. We want people to check in on loved ones, trust their instincts if something feels wrong, and remind survivors that support is available; not only for themselves, but for loved ones they’re concerned about.”
“Nobody should live in fear because of a football match. As a Mum and a Nana, I find it heartbreaking that while many families come together to enjoy the World Cup, some women and children are left dreading the final whistle. The latest Women’s Aid campaign shines a powerful light on this reality.We know domestic abuse can escalate during major sporting events, and there is never any excuse for it. Tackling this is central to our VAWG Strategy – including placing domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms through Raneem’s Law, rolling out Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and working with partners to challenge harmful behaviors.” said Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Natalie Fleet. Fleet added “We are clear that enough is enough. We will deploy the full power of the state to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.”
