WSL kick-off is timely reminder grassroots must keep growing in women’s game | Kelly Simmons
Surge in participation requires game to keep pace in providing suitable and welcoming environments for women and girls
As the new Women’s Super League season kicks off with a bang this weekend, it’s set to give joy to fans who are turning up to matches and watching them at home in numbers we used to only imagine. These numbers are growing at an exponential rate and these teams are inspiring a new generation of women and girls up and down the country to lace up their boots and play our national game.
It is incredible to think that more than four million women and girls now play football in England; with more females playing football than males and females play rugby. I predicted last year that women’s football in my lifetime will become the second biggest sport behind men’s football, and I stand by that claim. This rapid growth has made it clear that the grassroots system and the game needs to change just as quickly, and be ready for the fact that by 2030, one in five football teams in this country will be female.
