The Football Association has announced a seismic transformative shake-up to the Women’s and Girls' Player Pathway that will see up to 70 Emerging Talent Centres set up across the country with 95% of players accessing an ETC within one hour of where they live by 2024 in a bid to “unearth the very best talent in England”.
The bold pledge also promised to replace existing FA WSL academies with FA Professional Game Academies for the 2023/24 season to “cater for the development of talented players between the ages of 14 to 20”.
The new structure arrives as a result of a three-year Player Pathway Review to “assess the existing structure”, according to a statement from the FA, and is committed to make the game “more diverse, accessible and inclusive”.
Since July 2022, 56 ETCs have been launched, with a further 11 confirmed to follow in the ensuing months to replace the existing 28 Regional Talent Centres and 10 Advanced Coaching Centres.
With the new pledge, the FA is aspiring to increase the number of young female players engaged in FA talent programmes across the country from 1,722 to more than 4,200 by the end of the 2023/24 season and expand the opportunity for high quality training environments for players and coaches.
By next year, the FA have promised that 95% of players will have access to an ETC within one hour of where they reside.
Players will be allowed to play for both an ETC and grassroots club, school or representative team, in order to enhance diverse playing experiences, including an emphasis on mixed football environments to aid girls’ development.
Funding is set to be provided by the FA and the Premier League.
The transformation will also see the launch of new PGAs for the Barclay’s WSL and Championship. Developed in conjunction with the clubs, the PGAs will replace the existing FA WSL Academies and “improve readiness of players” bidding to compete at first team domestic and international levels between the ages of 14-20.
FA funding will be focused on two age groups for Category 1 clubs and one age group for Category 2 clubs.
For other age groups, clubs are permitted to develop their own programmes “that supports the clubs’ philosophy, ambition and resource”.
On the new structure, The FA’s Women’s Technical Director Kay Cossington said: “We have a responsibility to ensure that every young girl who wants to have a career in football has a clear pathway to doing so.
“These changes ensure more focused investment and will address some of the historic challenges many different age groups have faced when trying to access the game. We strive for our game to be more reflective of wider society and making our game more diverse, inclusive and accessible is the central ambition to the restructure of our pathway.
“With more opportunities and a better geographic spread, we are incredibly confident that this will inspire a new generation of Lionesses to flourish and evolve our game for the future.”
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