International Women’s Day

Here at Exeter City Community Trust we are celebrating women’s and girls’ football – from tiny tots to the women’s team. 

Our celebrations mark the EFL’s dedicated Women’s Weekend on March 5 and 6 and International Women’s Day on Tuesday March 8. These occasions provide the perfect opportunity to showcase the fantastic pathway we have developed for girls and women to play football as part of the Exeter City family. 

In Exeter there is a female football pathway from four years old, right through to our Grecian Girls sessions, the Girls’ Development Centre, Exeter College Women’s Football Academy and, ultimately, the Exeter City Women’s team. 

Jamie Vittles, chief executive of Exeter City Community Trust, said: “Girls’ and women’s football in Exeter continues to go from strength to strength. We’ve developed a number of sessions for all ages and we’ve seen a really encouraging increase in the number of girls and young women interested in playing the game.” 

“Of course, we’d love to see more young girls signing up to play and we aim to put on sessions which are accessible and inclusive. It’s not about being the best, it’s about being active, playing as a team and all the great benefits that running around and being healthy can bring.” 

Girls can start playing at our tots’ sessions, which are held in Exeter and Exmouth on a Saturday morning, from the age of four. We regularly deliver sessions at primary schools across Devon, and, of course, girls take part in our popular holiday clubs. 

Our dedicated Grecian Girls sessions, which take place on Fridays at 5pm at Exwick Sports Hub are for girls aged from five to 14. Anyone is welcome to go along to the sessions, with some participants going onto the Girls’ Development Centre which is where things get a bit more serious. The centre has around 100 talented girls aged between nine and 16 who train at Exeter City FC’s Cliff Hill training ground. Its objectives are to identify talented young women footballers and they’ve already had great success with players following the pathway to the Exeter College Women’s Football Academy and the Exeter City Women’s team. 

The women’s team have enjoyed success over the last few seasons; they were promoted to the FA Women’s National League and recently narrowly missed out on the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup after losing to West Bromwich Albion women on penalties. A women’s development team was also launched to ensure there is a pathway to the first team for our most talented women footballers. 

Abbie Britton, former player and the team’s joint manager, says she’s really proud of the progress of the women’s team and is very optimistic about the future of girls’ and women’s football. 

She said: “We have definitely become more professional in our approach, both on and off the field. We introduced a strength and conditioning coach for this season, along with a sports nutritionist, to help the girls go the extra mile. We have also been travelling to games in the executive coach, which also gives the girls a more professional experience. 

“Of course, this all means nothing if we don’t perform on the pitch, and thankfully we have – our recent FA Cup and League Plate run was amazing, we were really disappointed to go out of those competitions. We are certainly moving in the right direction, that’s for sure, and I hope that can continue into next season.” 

Abbie believes the future looks positive for women’s football. She added: “With the buy-in finally from the Premier League, Sky, and other global brands, the strength of the women’s game should only grow in future. I do still wish that it was seen as women’s football and not compared to the men’s game as it’s completely different, but it’s great that young girls up and down the country can now actually see female footballers on the TV week in, week out. This visibility and representation only gives them belief that they too can achieve the same success.” 

And she’s full of encouragement for girls who are thinking of taking up the sport. 

She added: “Just try! I am 100% confident that when you turn up to the first session and express yourself without fear that you’ll love it. You will become addicted and obsessed with it, just like the hundreds of girls we see at our GDC, Weetabix Wildcats, which is also known as Grecian Girls, and multiple other projects we run. Don’t be afraid to be brave.”  

Visit the Exeter City Community Trust website to find out more about our programmes for girls and young women.