Accrington Stanley Community Trust coached football to 400 girls in the last school year as part of the FA Women and Girls Programme which started in October 2013. Many of these girls had never played football before but now thoroughly enjoy the sport thanks to Accrington Stanley.

This programme has seen football league clubs in England deliver sessions to 15,000 girls in less than a year. Year 2 resumed last week and will see a similar number of participants take part in the programme.

Community Manager Martin Fearon said ‘The Female Football Development programme we run at Accrington Stanley increases participation in women and girls football, targets young girls to get more involved in the activities which we set out and also supports local grassroots teams by helping with recruitment. Overall the feedback we have had from schools has been very promising and the interest in female football has become more popular in our local area.’

Accrington Stanley Women and Girls Football Officer, Amy Bland explains how we attracted girls into the sessions who have never played football before ‘We found that a number of girls wanted the exercise element rather than just play football therefore we incorporated sessions concentrating on different exercises and stretches. We also delivered team games and races to boost the girl’s competitiveness and enjoyment.

This programme is free of charge for schools and sees Accrington Stanley coaches come in for a 10 week block of girl’s football sessions.

If you are interested in getting involved in the programme or would like any more information please get in contact with the Community Trust on 01254 304071 or email info@stanleytrust.co.uk