Women's football: FA has a new plan to boost diversity and equality in girls' football

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, England beat Norway to reach the semi-finals of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France

The Football Association (FA) has launched a new plan for women and girls' football.

It's a four-year project called Inspiring Positive Change, and it aims to "create a sustainable future" for women's and girls' football in England.

The new strategy means football will be part of the PE curriculum in schools and has created a target for 90% of schools in England to be part of The FA Girls' Football School Partnerships network.

Video caption, Girls in football: "I'm making a stand for girls in football"

What are the aims?

There are eight objectives that the FA want to achieve by 2024 - here are some of those aims:

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, England Women have never won a major tournament

They also want England to win a major tournament and are focusing on the 2022 Women's Euros and the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Getting bigger audiences and making the women's game more attractive for football fans is also important for the FA, who want England to be known for its world-class leagues and competitions.

Image source, The FA

Image caption, Over 2.7 million women and girls have regularly played football in the last year

Baroness Sue Campbell, The Director of Women's Football at The FA said:

"We want to ensure there is access and opportunity for every girl and woman to play, coach, spectate, officiate, manage or administer if they so wish and the game to be truly representative of our society across all characteristics and social backgrounds."

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, England Women's captain Steph Houghton said the strategy "will help provide opportunities for women and girls of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to fall in love with football"

Growing diversity

The England women's side has far fewer BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) players than the men's England team.

At the 2018 Men's World Cup, almost half of the England women's squad was BAME. That was 11 out of 23 players.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Nikita Parris playing for England against Demark

However a year later, at the 2019 Women's World Cup, the England side only had two out of 23 BAME players.

The FA say they want to work with specialist community groups and inclusion advisory groups, such as the FA Asian Women in Football Advisory Group and The FA Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Football network, to help develop leaders from diverse communities.