May 2024 saw us wrap up the second season for the Blackpool FC FA Girls Emerging Talent Centre (ETC). 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. ETCs across the nation increase and diversify the talent pool and give more girls than ever the opportunity to take their first steps towards playing professional football and following in the footsteps of the inspirational Lionesses.
It has been an incredibly successful season, with most of our age groups playing an unbeaten season, picking up wins over local ETCs including Manchester United and Liverpool. We are extremely proud that five players have been highlighted to be monitored for the England Lioness Talent Pathway. In addition to this, seven players have been offered places with Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Andy Aspinall, ETC Manager said,
“Our role as an ETC is to improve individuals to help them play at the highest levels of the female game. The fact that our players are in such demand by Women’s Super League clubs, and national teams, is testament to the hard work put in by our players and staff.”
To celebrate such a fantastic season of achievements, we held an end of season celebration in the Matthews Hospitality Suite at Bloomfield Road. Well done to the winners at each age group:
Under 10s
- Player of the Season: Lucy Rukin
- Player’s Player of the Season: Imogen Britton-Birchall
- ‘Progress’ Award: Mali-Rae Dean
Under 12s
- Player of the Season: Ava Adams
- Player’s Player of the Season: Ainsley Cross
- ‘Progress’ Award: Charlotte Billington
Under 14s
- Player of the Season: Maycee Atkinson
- Player’s Player of the Season: Freya Taylor
- ‘Progress’ Award: Amelia Roberts
Under 16s
- Player of the Season: Ella Beadsmoore
- Player’s Player of the Season: Ella Beadsmoore
- ‘Progress’ Award: Hannah Asquith
Goalkeeper of the Season: Sophie Rogers
Player of the Season: Freya Taylor
We hope everyone had a fantastic night and we are looking forward to improving our squads with a full month of trials in the summer and seeing everyone for the start of the new season in September.
Thank you to Blackpool FC for their continued support, and to LionTrust for sponsoring the programme! Find out more about our ETC here.
