THE WESTERN Bulldogs took up a role as one of the trailblazers in the AFL’s women's football push for a simple reason, CEO Gary Kent said.

"Everyone deserves a fair go," Kent told AFL.com.au.

The Dogs were involved in the first women's match between two AFL clubs, against Melbourne at the MCG in 2013, and were key players in subsequent exhibition matches, including the all-stars game, also against Melbourne, played at Whitten Oval last September.

The club was quick to say yes when the AFL approached it about being involved in the exhibition game.

"It sat well with our values," he said.

"We'd looked at how we were developing our VFL team and how that got us closer to having footy back at Whitten Oval. It meant more people in our local area could attend footy again.

"We started thinking about how well (women's football) would fit with the direction we had as a club."

Being a big part of Melbourne's western suburbs is important for the Dogs and they believe having a women's team will help them further cement their presence in the community.

"One of the roles we have is engaging people in sport to improve their lives, whether they do it simply by meeting people or as a way of improving their health and wellbeing," Kent said.

"(Being involved in footy) is good thing for young girls, just as much as it is for young boys."

Fans have shown their support for the women’s team, with a fundraising campaign to support the squad expected to raise $250,000.

"It shows what sort of support there is, even from people who haven't been involved in football before but just want to get behind women's sport," Kent said.

The players are semi-professional and the AFL pays their salaries. Many of them already had jobs when they arrived at the Bulldogs but Kent said he wants to eventually see them employed by the club in other areas.

"That is one of the opportunities for us, as the girls develop, to make sure we've got a good balance between males and females in specific roles in all areas of the club," he said.