Women’s sport in the UK has gone from strength to strength in recent years. From athletics to hockey, rugby to football, British sports women are feared by opponents around the world.
The UK are trailblazers in women’s sports with more funding and publicity creating an environment and platform for women to perform on the world stage. One of the greatest success stories has been in women’s football which is absolutely thriving right now.
There’s lots of excitement around the Women’s Euros being hosted in England this year. And, with both England and Northern Ireland qualifying for the tournament, hopes are high that the women can go one better than the men and bring football home.
The Lionesses are looking to build on their successful World Cup campaign in 2019 where they narrowly missed out on a place in the final losing to eventual winners USA. England’s form is looking promising with an opening win over a resilient Austria in front of a sold-out crowd at OId Trafford and a whopping 8-0 win against Norway in their second match. The fact that nearly 70,000 fans turned out at Old Trafford and a record-breaking 500,000 tickets sold for games across the tournament, as well as record TV viewers, shows how the nation is truly rallying behind the women’s team.
For Northern Ireland, the women’s team made history this year by qualifying for the Euros. This is their first ever European championship and indeed the first time they have qualified for a major tournament. It’s a huge leap forward for women’s sport in the country and one that we expect will lead to many more successes.
Tournaments like this are encouraging women and girls across the country to lace up their boots and seek out opportunities to get on the pitch. Following the Women’s World Cup, the FA reported a 40% increase in the number of women (over the age of 16) playing football in the UK. This year, the English and Northern Irish participation in the Euros is expected to encourage even more to start playing with more than 10 million women and girls set to be inspired to start playing football across the UK. However, at the moment 90% of these women and girls don’t know of a local team to join.
More women and girls wanting to play football means a need for more teams. Driving forward this mission to support women and girls playing the beautiful game is Just Eat, official partner of UEFA, who is helping to kick-start 101 new grassroots football teams and 101 new football coaches across the UK.
England and Arsenal legend Jordan Nobbs, who has over 60 England caps, is joining Just Eat in calling for women and girls across the country to get involved in the 101, regardless of ability. The food delivery app is providing the new teams with the ultimate starter pack along with expert advice.
Nobbs, who will personally deliver advice to managers and coaches, said of the campaign: ‘’I’m really excited to be a part of Just Eat’s 101 initiative. The women’s game has come so far in 101 years but there is still some work to do to break the stigma and provide the next generation with the tools to get involved and thrive in the sport.
“Grassroots football is where many girls start their football journey, so making sure they have access to opportunities is so important. Just Eat’s 101 initiative is great as it’s helping to make this possible and most importantly, it’s showing girls and women that they don’t have to be a Lioness to roar on the pitch.’’
Why 101 teams you ask? Well, it’s actually been 101 years since women’s football was banned in the UK by the FA in 1921; women weren’t even allowed to step onto a football pitch.
Just Eat hopes to remove any barriers for women and girls in communities across the UK hoping to get involved in football. So, they are providing all teams with everything they need to start playing including kits, bibs, tips and more.
New teams as part of the 101 include Skipton Town AFC Ladies who wanted to address the lack of opportunities for women to play football in the local area, and Doxford Athletic who provide a rewarding and safe environment for the girls to thrive with dedicated FA Qualified coaches. There’s also Hilltop FC in Stonebridge London and the Saltley Stallions Womens FC, two groups made up predominantly of Muslim women, in the hope of changing perceptions, providing positive role models and showing that football is for everyone.
Like all these teams, being part of the 101 gives clubs access to a ‘club in a box’ which includes equipment like match kits, training bibs, footballs, cones and managers’ tracksuits. There’s more than just kit too, the box also includes a ‘how to start a football team’ handbook written by experts to offer advice on everything the players and coaches need to know about running their new team.
Lack of involvement isn’t limited to playing though but also coaching teams and so the 101 will offer more exciting coaching opportunities. As part of the campaign, managers and coaches will also be able to sign up to receive a voucher for a recognised coaches course.
If you’d like to find out more about starting your own football team and become part of Just Eat 101, you can sign up here.
Featured Image Credit: Just Eat