Belles of the Ball

The beautiful game is the nation’s obsession, head to any park on a sunny day and you are sure to find men kicking a ball around with all the seriousness of a World Cup game rather than a friendly five-a-side. However, for too long, women on the pitch were a rarer sight – women’s football was often an afterthought, invisible on mainstream television channels and barely discussed in the sports section. That was until the Euros last year when the Lionesses seized victory in the Euros and catapulted the women’s game into living rooms across the country.
Suddenly, the next generation of Lionesses could see women playing their sport in the media, but what about women who’d grown up without the Lionesses to look up to, with fewer resources, opportunities, and recognition?
Two new teams have been formed in Lancashire and Yorkshire, hoping to provide an opportunity for women to get involved with football…

COLNE LADIES FC
Lancashire

“Ladies football has really taken off within the local area and we’re the only open-age ladies’ team in Pendle.”

The Colne FC Open Age Ladies Football team was set up last year in June 2022 with Sean Howard running the coaching. “The Ladies team at Nelson came to an end, and we were approached to take 14 players,” Sean explains.
Sean started coaching ten years ago and already coached the junior teams within Colne FC but the football club had never had a Ladies team before. “It’s the next stage for the club,” Sean smiles. “Over the years ladies have never had the best opportunities to get involved in football, it’s always been netball and other ball sports. It’s great to see how over the years, especially with the success of the Lionesses, the ladies’ game has been brought to the forefront and publicised more. Ladies football has really taken off within the local area and we’re the only open-age ladies’ team in Pendle.”
While some of the women Sean is working with have played for 15 years, many are new to the game and found football at a later age. “We’re hoping to build this momentum over the next 12 months with The Colne FC Academy.”

The Academy helps train 30-40 children in a fun, supportive environment at their grounds in Colne, known as Holt House. Sean hopes the girls within The Academy will be inspired by the ladies’ team and hopefully provide an opportunity to get girls into full-time football or at least provide a regular hobby.
It’s certainly true that the ladies’ team is inspiring, despite only setting up last year they are currently placed third in the Lancashire County’s Women’s Premier League – the top of the county pyramid.
“We’ve had some phenomenal results in very tough games,” Sean says… Over the summer Sean hopes to establish a reserve team to help women not as established in the sport gain a foothold in the game. “If there’s women who want to get into football this would be perfect for them.”
Training sessions are open to all women interested in football over the age of 16, regardless of skill. The team trains on a Wednesday and plays games on a Sunday. Head to the Colne FC Facebook page for more information.
Colne FC is now a society for community benefit which means the club is owned by the fans and to continue its fantastic work within the Colne community, the club is looking for donations.
“We are looking to make significant improvements to the Holt House pitch to make the pitch more freely available to the community for wider use,” Sean explains. To donate go to gofundme.com/f/colnefc

 

CROSSLEY BELLES
Yorkshire

“We want to get as many women into football as possible! The girls are coming from all around Halifax…”

Husband and wife team, Rob and Natassja Woollhouse have been working hard over the last few months to set up an open age women’s team in Halifax, running from Illingworth Sports Club named the Crossley Belles.
Rob scouts for Middlesbrough women and Stockport County and Natassja has previously played for several teams across the north. With their experiences in women’s football, the couple were keen to put together a team that would get women active and having fun.
Going back and playing for a team was also a huge personal achievement for Natassja. “It’s a bit of a personal achievement being able to go back out. I’m not one hundred per cent fit by any stretch of the means but I’m getting there.”
The ladies played their first match on Sunday 2nd April and although it might have been a loss, it felt like a huge win for the ladies.
“I’m so proud of our efforts. We held our own, we put up a battle with all the girls helping each other and keeping each other’s heads up. We got three goals and showed us how good we will be when up to full fitness.”

The team currently has a team of 23 girls but Natassja and Rob are keen to recruit more ladies. “We want to get as many women into football as possible! The girls are coming from all around Halifax, so we’ve got a nice different bunch of people and with everybody all starting fresh in a new team everybody is getting on really well, we’ve all gelled straight away. We all have a laugh, it’s such a nice little community that we’ve built already.
“We’ve got girls that are my age that have come back to football and haven’t played for a while, some that are not necessarily fit but want to work on it, we’ve got some that have not even kicked a ball before but they want to come for the training and hopefully get in on the games eventually. For me and my mental health, it has done wonders, just being able to go to the training and get rid of that excess energy. We all know that doing a bit of exercise does help your mental health, so we’re trying to promote that.”
If you’d like to go along to Crossley Belles’ training sessions, practices are every Thursday 6pm-7pm at Saville Park in Halifax.
All abilities are welcome, you just need to be over 16. Head to the Crossley Belles Open Age Ladies Football Team Facebook page for more info.

 

NorthernLife May/June 23