Suffolk women's football coach hopes to 'tap into' Lionesses' success at a local level

A Suffolk women's football coach says he hopes teams across the county can 'tap into' the success of the Lionesses at the Women's World Cup.

They're into the quarter finals after beating Nigeria on penalties - we'll find out this morning if their opponents will be Colombia or Jamaica.

Charlie Jackson manages Woodbridge Town's women's team and says they're looking at ways to boost the profile of women's sport: "Maybe we need to look at other ways to innovate.

"We've thought about piggybacking on the men's game and playing on a Saturday afternoon occasionally.

"Basically, it's just a question of trying anything and everything to get exposure, so people come and see the game and can get involved in any capacity that may suit them."

He says the sport's always had a following but events like the Women's World Cup help bring more mainstream attraction: "There's always been a great following and a great participation in women playing football, but performances like the Lionesses' can put a spotlight on the sport - that can only improve things...

"Now, It's up to us to capitalise and tap into that at a lower level and provide a provision to encourage spectators to come and watch."

Charlie says he is seeing fanbases grow: "It's so important. Obviously women's football is slightly behind men's football in terms of exposure to the game for players, not just on TV, but across the media board, in newspapers and everywhere else." First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.