I was unable to play at school, now girls can - Smith

Kelly Smith scored 46 goals in 117 appearances for England between 1995-2013

Former Arsenal and England forward Kelly Smith says it gives her "goosebumps" to see schoolgirls given the opportunity to play football she craved growing up.

The Football Association (FA) announced on Thursday that their target of 90% of schools in England offering girls equal access to football in PE lessons had been achieved three years ahead of schedule.

The figure was originally set for 2028 and forms part of the FA's strategy to provide equal opportunities for women and girls to play football.

The Barclays Girls' Football in Schools network, which began six years ago with 3,000 participating schools, now has 20,202 schools signed up.

The FA also said that 2.6m girls now have equal access to football in PE - a 31% increase since the 2020-21 season.

"I was kicked off a boys team for being the wrong sex," Smith told the BBC.

"So it gives me goosebumps thinking about it because now so many girls have the opportunity to play football if they want. In PE, I never had that. I had to fight my way to try and play on a team.

"We had to change in the car because all the boys changing rooms were taken up with their bags and shirts hanging up."

The FA credited the Lionesses' home success at Euro 2022 as key in "shaping government discussions and driving forward policy change".

Sarina Wiegman's winning side signed an open letter to then Conservative party leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, asking for "every young girl" to be able to play football at school.

The FA says 90% of schools now offer girls equal access to football through PE lessons at Key Stages 2 (aged 7-11) and 3 (aged 11-14).

"This was never about girls becoming the next Lionesses, it was about normalising girls playing football, just like boys do. It's about equality," said former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright, who is an ambassador for Barclays Football.

After winning the Euros at Wembley in 2022, England reached the Women's World Cup final the following year, losing to Spain. But they then beat Spain to retain their European crown in July.

"No girl should ever face barriers to playing football in school," said Stacey Mullock, the head of development at the FA.

"That belief drove us to set ambitious targets and push for a cultural shift where girls have the same access and opportunities as boys."

However, the FA said there is "more work to be done" for Key Stage 4 (aged 14-16), where "many teenage girls stop participating in team sports due to barriers like confidence, body image, and negative perceptions".

The governing body also aims to increase the amount of schools offering equal opportunities through extra-curricular clubs from 83% to 90% by 2028.