Football club's bid to help girls continue to play

Worcester City Women FC has partnered with a consultancy to help girls who face setbacks such as teams closing

A football club is trying to boost opportunities for girls who want to play the sport, saying budding players have faced setbacks such as teams folding and a lack of local leagues.

Worcester City Women FC has partnered with Talent Pathway Solutions, a consultancy specialising in women’s football, to boost the girls' game in the county.

The club held the partnership’s first event on Sunday, with workshops for players aged 15-17, grassroots clubs, and sports organisations.

The club’s owner Nicole Allison said the project was about "making sure" girls could "keep playing".

Women’s football has enjoyed a higher public profile in recent years, after the Lionesses' success in reaching the Fifa World Cup final last year and winning Euro 2022.

The last Conservative government also announced a £30m fund for grassroots women's football in England in 2023, as part of efforts to increase activity levels in adults and children.

Club owner Nicole Allison said the scheme was aimed at making sure girls could keep playing football

But Ms Allison said counties such as Worcestershire were still seeing teenage girls dropping out of the game for a range of reasons.

She explained one local league did not have enough teams to run an U16 girls' league this season, which meant players who still wanted to compete had to travel to play in the Central Warwickshire League.

“If you're not privileged enough to have parents who can afford, time-wise and also financially, to go [there], what options do you have?” she said.

Sunday’s event involved a players’ workshop for girls aged 15-17 who were currently playing or had recently stopped playing football.

At the workshop, Worcester City Women players held discussion groups with the teenagers.

The club said Sunday’s meet-up was the first step in its initiative and more events would be announced in the future.

Ms Allison said she hoped the partnership would start to find solutions by bringing players, clubs and other organisations together at such events.