{"id":47755,"title":"Spotlight: The Growth of Women's Football","description":"From grassroots to the professional game, we've taken some perspectives on pre-season training from varying levels of football. Plus some helpful tips","content":"

Throughout this article we\u2019ll take some different perspectives on the growth of women\u2019s football. We\u2019ve got predictions on what the future might hold from football finance guru Dr Rob Wilson, a grassroots view from South Wales and England\u2019s Millie Bright tells us where the \u2018missing link\u2019 is when it comes to female participation.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

Earlier this year, Barclays announced that it would become the first ever title sponsor of The FA Women\u2019s Super League in a landmark deal<\/u><\/a>. It\u2019s understood to be worth upwards of \u00a310m over a 3 year period. Clearly big brands are finally sitting up and taking notice of the Women\u2019s game and putting their money where their mouths are. adidas also joined the party earlier in the year when they declared that their sponsored athletes competing in this summer\u2019s World Cup would receive the same performance bonuses<\/u><\/a> as their male counterparts.<\/p>

Meanwhile, in the media, we\u2019ve seen the likes of Alex Scott, Eni Aluko and Chelsea manager Emma Hayes take the punditry world by storm. England head to this month\u2019s World Cup fresh off the back of SheBelieves Cup success and there\u2019s now an expectation that they will go deep into the tournament and be among the favourites.<\/p>

The Expert View<\/strong><\/h2>

We took the opportunity to pick the brains of Sheffield\u2019s own football finance guru Dr Rob Wilson. He has given us his take on the Barclays deal and the development of women\u2019s football in general.<\/p>

\u201cThe broadcast market has started to take a real interest, particularly organisations such as the BBC. This has increased exposure and larger businesses are beginning to see the value of the proposition. The women\u2019s FA Cup Final demonstrated the power it is having with over 40,000 people in attendance plus a prime time media spot. You will also note that the BBC Sport Online web pages are full of content covering Womens Sport, sometimes making up 50% of the top stories.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The BBC has made it a centre piece for their coverage. This is much a result of the growth of the game but also strategic. They can\u2019t compete with the pay broadcasters for the EPL so have gone after the WPL. This is working but the BBC have limited funds, making further investment challenging.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

We will see a sharp increase in its popularity over the next 5 years, of that I have no doubt. It won\u2019t reach the heights of the Men\u2019s elite competition in the short or medium term but it will grow to become one of the top 5 most watched sports by 2025 in my opinion.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The next step is to get more people watching Women\u2019s Football, both in the stadiums and on TV. The marketing agencies will be working hard to achieve that.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

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The Grassroots Perspective<\/strong><\/h2>

So it looks promising from an economic standpoint at the top end of the sport but what about those just starting on their footballing journeys? To get a perspective from grassroots level, we spoke to Andrew Lewis. Andrew is Club Secretary and U10s coach at Coed Eva Athletic Girls FC<\/u><\/a>, a club that is helping to get more girls involved in football in South Wales.<\/p>

\u201cSeeing more Women\u2019s Football on TV is a massive step forwards for the growth of the game. It\u2019s not just important for children to watch but parents too, as they can then see that it\u2019s another way for their daughters to get active, learn new skills, make new friends and most of all enjoy sport.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

For young girls to have idols to look up to is great for their game. From the men\u2019s game you\u2019ve got the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Hazard to name a few. But to have women like Alex Scott, Steph Houghton, Sophie Ingle and Jessica Fishlock so visible to them is special. It gives them the chance to dream of being in their shoes. This is a goal many of our girls want to reach in their futures, including wearing that national shirt.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

I have the conversation about careers in football with many of my own players, including my daughter. They love football and they want to continue in the game as they get past the grassroots stage.\u00a0 I hope for all of them that if they don\u2019t make it to a big club then they want to continue in our own adult women\u2019s team, which is an ambition of ours.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

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The View From the Top<\/strong><\/h2>

Finally, whilst deep into her preparations for her debut World Cup, we were lucky enough to catch up with England and Chelsea FC Women defender Millie Bright. We asked her about her own experience of grassroots football when she was a youngster.<\/p>

\u201cI can\u2019t really remember there being that much opportunity for me. I was very fortunate to come across a friend that was going to football training and I joined in for \u00a31 and that was how I got into football. I think I was very fortunate that that happened otherwise I don\u2019t think I would have known about my local team. I didn\u2019t even know it existed. I definitely think that the opportunities have improved since when I was a kid and that\u2019s the way we need to keep growing.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

I only played in girls teams but I did most of my training with the boys. At school I was playing with the boys on the courts and getting involved in PE lessons. For me, that was where I got my aggression from, getting stuck in and loving a challenge because the boys were always better than me.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

I think that to get more girls involved we just need to make opportunities more known. I don\u2019t think that little girls know that there are opportunities out there for them and I don\u2019t think that they know of teams. So we just need to make it more visible for them to know where to go to join a team or where to go to train.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

I think it needs to be something where it\u2019s not just parents that are noticing those things but kids can go to school or walk down the street and they can see something like a poster etc. I think that\u2019s something that we need to figure out. It\u2019s about making sure that girls know that there are places for them to get involved. That\u2019s the missing link that we need to get sorted.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

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It seems like women\u2019s football has never been healthier and we expect interest to ramp up even further over the summer with the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup hitting our TV screens, inspiring the next generation of Millie Brights to pick up a pair of boots and a ball. The pressure of expectation is higher than ever but if the Lionesses can deliver in France, then the profile of the women\u2019s game could be boosted even higher.<\/p>

Keep your eyes peeled on our Blog and socials in the coming weeks as we have more women\u2019s football content in the pipeline. Including a full length interview with Millie Bright, where she discusses the World Cup, grassroots football and much more.<\/p>","urlTitle":"growth-of-womens-football","url":"\/blog\/growth-of-womens-football\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/growth-of-womens-football\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/kitlocker.com\/blog\/growth-of-womens-football\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1743073480,"updatedAt":1749570805,"publishedAt":1749570804,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":356097,"name":"Kitlocker"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kh65lhveuddzhcrah3tu6xm84aohzrvbywzmwjleogwqwvhi.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kh65lhveuddzhcrah3tu6xm84aohzrvbywzmwjleogwqwvhi.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kh65lhveuddzhcrah3tu6xm84aohzrvbywzmwjleogwqwvhi.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Spotlight: The Growth of Women's Football","metaDescription":"From grassroots to the professional game, we've taken some perspectives on pre-season training from varying levels of football. Plus some helpful tips","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":47766,"title":"Hope United: Using Algorithms to Design Football Kits","url":"\/blog\/hope-united-football-kits\/","urlTitle":"hope-united-football-kits","division":356097,"description":"Hope United is a campaign against online hate and discrimination, created by EE. It features an array of stars from the world of football and a unique shirt.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hkuqedlo6rg0zvdd3ix1a3kcdin5dyjrnttrsdhyn7gcqqxl.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hkuqedlo6rg0zvdd3ix1a3kcdin5dyjrnttrsdhyn7gcqqxl.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":48049,"title":"Kits of the Month: September 24","url":"\/blog\/kits-of-the-month-september-24\/","urlTitle":"kits-of-the-month-september-24","division":356097,"description":"KOTM September 2024: Featuring INDIVISA, Malvern College & more. We ship out thousands of kits every month, here are some of our faves.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/um577e6xucxguqgzkt9jvddnlm6pf1prgdktbi0gpyj0c8co.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/um577e6xucxguqgzkt9jvddnlm6pf1prgdktbi0gpyj0c8co.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":47844,"title":"Get ready to #PowerUp your kit","url":"\/blog\/powerup-your-kit\/","urlTitle":"powerup-your-kit","division":356097,"description":"PowerUp your team football kit with custom shirt designs applied to Nike & adidas kits. Add a bespoke design to make your kit, truly yours. Enquire now.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/j4g45b9okrjmltkdikjard04hkd57rkzbctcf1tj6utgvnhg.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/j4g45b9okrjmltkdikjard04hkd57rkzbctcf1tj6utgvnhg.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}