Around the Counties: Women and Girls Football in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire FA reports growth built on three initiatives. Girls and Goals engages players aged eight to eleven at their local club, inviting clubs interested in developing girls’ football to host an event aimed at generating a new Under-9, Under-10 or Under-11 team. A new Under-18 Girls League adds an intermediate tier and a pathway into the adult game, with a central venue offering both nine-a-side and eleven-a-side pitches to cope with a large county’s travel distances. Most unusually, the county and Under-18 leagues run flexible formats: eleven-a-side from September to December, five-a-side Linx5s in January and February, then eleven-a-side again from March to May, letting teams enter part way through.