BBC analysis has revealed that the number of registered female football teams across England and the Channel Islands has doubled in seven years. According to data provided by 31 county football associations, there are now 12,150 registered women’s and girls’ teams, up from 5,632 in the 2016-17 season. The largest increase was seen in the 2022-23 season, which followed the Lionesses’ success in the Euro 2022 tournament, with almost 1,500 new teams registered.
Ella Toone, who scored for Manchester United in the Euro 2022 final, said it was incredible to see the rise. As a child, Toone started playing for Astley and Tyldesley FC girls’ youth team prior to joining Manchester United’s academy. She says that women’s football was not on television in her youth, so she didn’t have a female role model to look up to. At its height, last year’s Lionesses’ Women’s World Cup final was viewed by 14.4 million people, which Toone believes had a significant impact.
Keira Cross, 14 and teammate Iris Benson, 15, both highlighted why it was vital to have girls’ football teams. Cross has played for Morecambe Girls FC since she was six years old, and she stated that she felt like she was “with people who would be doing the same thing” as her. Benson, on the other hand, appreciated that new friends could be made in girls’ football.
The growth seen in registered female teams has been driven by the success of the Lionesses, whose triumph in the home Euros in 2017 provided the opportunity to change the game’s future forever, according to Baroness Sue Campbell. The FA’s Director of Women’s Football added that the organisation’s priority was to make the game as accessible to as many women and girls as possible, so that anyone could receive the benefits of the sport, no matter their background or circumstance
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