It has been a busy few weeks behind the scenes since the official announcement of a new Blackpool FC Ladies committee led by ex-Blackpool FC player Marc Joseph.
With fresh energy and ideas driving the standards throughout the club, a new structure has been put in place to improve the quality of the Blackpool FC Ladies First Team, and ensure a steady pipeline of talented young players are coming through the ranks.
One key aspect of this is the new prominence and priority of the Blackpool FC Ladies Under 18s team which included holding trials for the squad, it was great to see so much interest and so many talented players getting involved.
Andy Aspinall, Blackpool FC Ladies Manager said,
“We have had girls all over the Northwest express interest in joining the Under 18s team. We believe in the power of youth and want to invest in creating the best set-up in the Northwest. We aim to build a strong Under 18s team who will quickly be pushing to join the Ladies First Team. The Under 18s and First Team train side-by-side every week, which allows us to invite the most talented girls to train with the First Team and create a much easier transition.”
In addition, the FA funded Blackpool FC Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre (ETCs) now has an exit route into the Under 18s and the First Team. ETCs are part of the England Lioness Talent Pathway and aim to develop girls to play at the most elite levels of the female game. FA Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres across the nation will increase and diversify the talent pool and give more girls than ever the chance to take their first steps on the pathway towards playing professional football and following in the footsteps of the inspirational Lionesses.
Andy Aspinall, Blackpool FC Ladies Manager said,
“We have had fantastic success with the ETC in the last 2 seasons. This season we have had five players identified to be monitored by the England Lionesses, which is an incredible achievement! The programme is for the most elite girls from Under 9 to Under 16, and we are using these groups to signpost more players into the Blackpool FC Ladies teams when they turn 16. This season most of our ETC teams have gone unbeaten and picked up wins against Manchester United and Liverpool along the way. It is an exciting time for young females to be part of Blackpool FC who can meet our ambitions of driving the Ladies First Team up the leagues.”
Open age trials are currently being held to recruit new players and strengthen the Ladies First Team and Development Squad. We have had a huge turnout, with over 40 players attending the first week alone.
Alice Earnshaw, Blackpool FC Ladies First Team Captain,
“I have been involved with Blackpool FC Ladies since I was eight years old, and this is the most interest I have ever seen in the First Team trials. We have had some cracking players attending, and we are looking forward to a positive season and aiming for promotion.”
Blackpool FC Ladies are continuing recruitment at all ages, with open training sessions running for all of our teams throughout June. If you’d like to train with one of our teams and meet our coaches, register your interest by following the links below and submitting the form.
Open age – https://bit.ly/BFCLTrials
Junior teams – https://bit.ly/BFCGGTrials
