We are delighted to announce that Women’s Football will be back at Nethermoor following the formation of two new open age sides.
Young girls interested in playing football can now dream big thanks to the inspiration provided by the England Lionesses but their football dream doesn’t just have to be pitch side as former Guiseley Ladies player Jo Currie has shown, writes Rachel O’Connor.
In a new initiative between Guiseley AFC and Guiseley Juniors FC girls will be able to follow Currie’s path by playing in a Guiseley women’s team and on the Nethermoor turf that was home to Currie when she turned out for Guiseley Ladies back in their inaugural season of 2005-6 – a championship winning season.
Two new women’s teams – a first team and a Development team – will wear the Guiseley colours when they step out in the upcoming season with the first team scheduled to play at Nethermoor and the Development team on the 4G at Guiseley School.
The massive growth in women’s and girls’ football is evident, no more so than in the Wharfedale FA area where clubs in Guiseley, Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Horsforth all have thriving sections dedicated to female players.
What was once a dream is now a reality with pathways into senior teams and young girls continue to be inspired by England stars such as Yorkshire’s own Beth Mead.
Following Mead and England to this Summer’s Women’s Euros in Switzerland was Currie, now one of the BBC’s top sports journalists. Having started out on a sports journalism apprenticeship at BBC Radio Leeds in her playing days at Guiseley former Leeds University student Currie now sits at the top table of women’s presenters with the likes of Gabby Logan.
The ultimate professional she has travelled the world covering many of the major events in a number of sports including two women’s football World Cups – 2019 in France and 2023 in Australia.
There has been a new dawn in women’s football since the time Currie played for Guiseley and since the women’s team had to disband in 2019 due to a lack of funding. That was when the women’s game was re-organised to a more professional level and clubs like Leeds United Women and Guiseley fell by the wayside. Now both are back, albeit at lower levels, but this is just the start of their journey.
The previous Guiseley women’s team was maybe the victim of its own success having achieved a number of rapid promotions and getting within reach of the pro game.
Now a new era is being forged by a collaboration between Guiseley Juniors FC and Guiseley AFC. The junior club has been at the forefront of the growth in girls’ teams and leading the way has been Kevin Harrison who said: “The Juniors started a girls’ section 18 years ago and it now has over 300 players from 6 to 18 years. We are now looking to provide a pathway for the girls into women’s football and have been grateful for the backing of Guiseley AFC Director Chris Chadwick. The attention on women’s football has flipped on its head and we are delighted to be a part of it.”
He added: “We now start girls off at four or five and have a number of girls teams. Girls used to have to play in boys’ teams as there were no teams for girls. Now they have their own teams but they do have the choice to be filtered into some of the boys’ teams if they need to be challenged a bit more. Girls are now getting opportunities in football that the boys had all along.”
Harrison says that Guiseley Juniors were ahead of the curve when they started with a single girls’ team having a difficult start in getting enough players. He praised the work of former Guiseley Juniors secretary Nicky Clarke for her work with girls’ teams and leagues.
Harrison said: “Girls are now a third of our Junior Club membership. The whole mentality towards girls’ football has now completely changed. It is the same game but for girls and sponsors are now seeing the value of supporting the women’s and girls’ game. The potential for the women’s game is massive.”
Delighted with the fact that the women’s first team will play on the main pitch at Nethermoor Harrison, who has been deeply involved with the Junior club for well over 20 years, said: “This is massive for them and they are really looking forward to it. We could do with more female input into running these teams as it is mostly men at the moment. We cannot wait to get started on this new venture.”
The teams are still looking for new players, if you are keen to join then please contact Jamie Sykes on 07825727350 or jam33sykes@hotmail.com
