Women’s Football Continues to Rise

Women’s football as a collective continues to grow and progress within the RAF and nationally. The great success of the Lionesses recently has been a large contributing factor to its development, having won the Euros and going on to be World Cup Finalists it has positively raised interest in the sport and the RAF is now seeing the benefits of this increased visibility.

AS(T)1 Lucy Farrow grew up in a football obsessed household and played football from a very young age, initially playing grassroots football before progressing to play in the FA Women’s National League in her late teens. Her desire to have a demanding career where she would need to push herself but also support her passion for football meant the RAF was a perfect choice. During her Phase 2 training the RAF coach contacted her to be involved in the team but this had to wait until her first posting to RAF Coningsby. Once there she found the football contact and asked to join the station team and simply turned up for training. In a very short time she was captaining the team and after some strong performances was invited to an RAF representative team meet which clearly went well as she is about to start her 3^rd season with the WRT.

When asked about the opportunities that RAF Football has brought her AS1(T) Farrow said, “I have been fortunate to be part of WRT set up for 2 seasons. Being part of the RAF football team has presented me with many opportunities such as meeting the England squad in the coming weeks and having training camps both abroad in Alicante and across the UK. All of which I did not believe would be available prior to joining”

The Women’s game is still playing catch up with Men and she also spoke about the development and what she believes needs to happen next. “There has been an increase in female tournaments such as the Shrewsbury 5 a-side, Cyprus 7 a-side, Station 9 a-side team and development camps. These have been great ways of ensuring greater participation rates of female players partaking in the game. As Women’s Football continues to evolve, it would be wonderful to see further opportunities, for example, playing at larger stadiums during IS fixtures like the men’s team, and having more social media coverage. In doing this it will aid the promotion of football with the aim to encourage additional players and create more competitive tournaments. I am greatly appreciative of the opportunities currently available, and the ongoing growth of woman’s football however, further development is still required. There are many positives of the growth so far and I am excited to see the sport evolve further”.

For anyone looking to get involved with Women’s Football she offered the following thoughts, “My advice to anyone is get involved in as much as you can. There are many station teams, tournaments and matches to be a part of all over the UK and further. Ask for feedback if you are looking to progress your game as there are some amazing coaches very willing to help. Overall, just enjoy it and take all the opportunities that come your way”. 

Good luck for the upcoming season to Lucy and all of those involved in the WRT, and thanks for your insight into Women’s Football.