Whittlesey club eyes plans for progress thanks to the Lionesses
Whittlesey Athletic Ladies are hoping to take inspiration from the national team's success
A women's grassroots club in Cambridgeshire is hoping that its players can take inspiration to go even higher thanks to the England Lionesses.
The European champions face Portugal today in their final match before heading to the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand later this month.
Whittlesey Athletic Ladies has seen interest surge in the last year thanks to England’s Euros triumph and has come up with a five-year plan to go from the local leagues to tier four of the FA’s women’s football pyramid.
“The girls and ladies were coming through anyway, but I think with the women winning (the Euros), it has had a 10-fold effect in players coming through,” Gareth Booth, manager of Whittlesey Athletic Ladies, said.
“I think the girls will be taking a lot of inspiration from it, certainly the younger ones it’s what they could become.
"We want to work our way up"
“We have some talented players so they can use this as inspiration to think one day, that could be me walking out with England.”
Player recruitment has been tough for Whittlesey, with the likes of higher-league Peterborough United and Cambridge United located in the same county.
Despite community sports groups like girls’ grassroots clubs reporting concern over increased costs to run, Booth says the Fenland side are coping well.
“We’re working on selling the plan to them (players) so we’re not always going to be in the lower leagues; we want to work our way up,” he said.
“With having a ladies team back, that can only be a good thing because it’s another team the local community can come and watch.
“The more people we can get down, it would be better for the players because they get a big crowd and it’s got to be good for the club because it’s raising more income.”