Girls' football: FA women's director on what's next after the Women's World Cup

Video caption, What's next for girls football?

Thanks to the World Cup legacy of the Lionesses, more girls across England have been keen to join clubs or start playing football in school, but some girls haven't been able to access training.

Young footballers Flo, Abigail and Rosie headed to Wembley Stadium, to quiz Baroness Sue Campbell - Women's Director at The Football Association (FA) - about the future of girls' football. They asked her about why girls haven't had access to the same opportunities as boys, and about what path is in place for the Lionesses of the future.

The FA says that, in a few years girls should be able to access football in school or in a football club, and that they are working in thousands of schools to help train up teachers and coaches to teach football to girls.

Are you a girl who has had trouble accessing football training? Do you not get to do football in PE? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page.

Why are girls having trouble finding clubs?

Image source, SolStock

Image caption, Some girls are struggling to find girls' football teams, with some having to travel a long way to get to training

Ten-year-old Rosie loves football and has been playing for a year now. She plays for a club outside of school, but explained that her school doesn't have a girls' football team, even though it has a boys' one. She only gets her footy practise outside of school, in an external club.

Abigail is 13, she plays for the same club as Rosie, but on a different team, and has a similar problem. Her town has no team just for girls - so her mum has to drive her for an hour to training with a girls' team. She now also trains with a boys' team.

Baroness Sue Campbell explained that the FA is working in schools and with coaches to try to train as many adults as possible to be able to teach girls' football.

She said that primary school teachers need to be taught how to teach football as a part of PE, and that they need more volunteers to help out in local clubs.

She also mentioned that lots of girls can access football through the Wildcats scheme, and talented players can be chosen to play in Emerging Talent Centres.

Image source, Nick David

The FA's latest research found that in primary school, girls often get to do football in PE, but not so much outside of school, and in secondary school it's the other way round, with fewer girls getting to do football in PE, but lots of interest outside of school.

Twelve-year-old Flo has been playing football for more than four years, she asked Baroness Sue Campbell why it feels like it's taken so long for girls' football to get investment.

Baroness Campbell explained that although lots of girls are interested, women's football is much younger than men's football and was actually banned until the 1970s, while men's football has had more than a century to develop and grow.

Can girls get football boots and kit?

Video caption, What is The FA doing about girls' football boots?

During the 2023 World Cup campaign, although fans could buy other Lionesses' shirts, people were unable to buy a replica of goalkeeper Mary Earps' shirt.

Mary Earps went on to win the golden glove for being the best goalkeeper in the Women's World Cup.

A 16-year-old goalkeeper, and Mary Earps fan, started a petition - that gained thousands of signatures - asking for Nike to release the shirt. After the tournament, Nike said they would release the shirt in "limited quantities".

Over the past year, different members of the England squad have spoken up about providing the right football boots.

A study found that 82% of women footballers in top European clubs have their performance impacted by uncomfortable football boots, and that around one in five players were making changes to their boots to make them more comfortable to play in.

The FA explained that there's been a history of women having trouble accessing the right kit, and until around 10 years ago, women would often be training in men's shirts. Baroness Sue Campbell said football boots are on their way for girls, due to rising demand.

Let us know in the comments if you're a girl that has trouble finding a football team, or if you don't get to do football in PE at school.