The media were briefed by Kay Cossington on how the talent pathway is being shaped so that the future of the Lionesses is brighter for the future. She highlighted the key aims of the pathway directors, to protect player identities, compete for trophies and develop even more home-grown players that can progress to the highest level of women’s football in England.  

Cossington reflected that since the boom in the popularity of Women’s football, the number of young girls wanting to be a Lioness in the future has surged. Because of the work from the talent development team in England, the number of emerging talent centres has increased from 39 to 73 nationally making space for three times the number of players in the selection pools. 

Another problem that was highlighted was the excessive time and costs that families have previously had to commit so that girls had the best opportunities to pursue a football career. Significantly, because of the opening of the talent centres, the travel time has decreased by 50% on average and the costs decreased from £50-£8 making these centres accessible for a wider range of the country, whether that being people of different ethnic groups or different incomes. A key example of this was Aston Villa’s relocation of their academy centre from the suburbs of Birmingham to an inner city that is now accessible by public transport links. 

The professional game academies are targeted towards girls aged 14-21yrs and have been created in order to highlight exceptional talent in the country. Cossington restated that it was still important that the girls played in grassroots teams and in mixed football. As the girls continued to grow and develop into senior players, playing alongside the boys is making those that are special stand out to the regional talent directors. Occasionally, the media report that girls playing with boys was a hindrance to girls who want to progress into the top leagues, but after discussion it was agreed that it will increase the quality of the talent coming through the system.  

‘Discover My Talent’ was introduced in 2021 and since then over 5000 girls have been referred into the system, out of these 75% still have the opportunity to play in their local grassroots team. This programme along with the Regional Talent Programme aims to find more diverse players with different backgrounds and from different ends of the country.  

A player that was focused on in the briefing was Brooke Aspin who has recently been called up to the U19 camp for their Euros tournament in Lithuania. Aspin is now contracted with current WSL champions, Chelsea, which came from her success when playing for Bristol City previously. At only 19 she had an early opportunity for WSL minutes, and this helped accelerate her career. 

Overall, the briefing presented the many ways that the FA are looking to help the development of future Lionesses.