The Women’s
World Cup has attracted thousands of new players but space to play is at a premium
Colin Lowe, a football coach in Manchester, often receives calls from women in the area keen to join his new grassroots team. But when one woman called last week to ask where the team trained, he couldn’t give an exact answer. “I said to her: I’ll ring you back next week and let you know where we’re playing, because we’re struggling to find places to play.’”
Lowe’s problem is one affecting grassroots women’s football teams across the country. The number of girls and women taking up the sport has skyrocketed since the Women’s World Cup, with 605 new girls’ youth teams and 260 new women’s clubs registered to play this season. But grassroots teams say the lack of affordable and accessible pitches has made it a struggle to establish themselves or grow to meet increasing demand.