Fara Williams, England’s greatest footballer, took part in the launch 2022/23 EFL and Utilita Kids and Girls Cup. Children are offered a once in a lifetime chance to play at Wembley during the finals
Lionesses legend Fara Williams says it’s “fantastic” to see the opportunities being offered to young girls hoping to play football following the team’s success at the Euros this summer.
Williams, who has 172 caps for England, supported the launch of the 2022/23 EFL and Utilita Kids and Girls Cup at MK Dons on Wednesday, as the event aims to inspire over 25,000 children to be active and healthy.
The tournament is one of the largest in the country with all 72 EFL clubs represented and it also acts as a platform for future stars as Premier League players Scott McTominay and Will Hughes also took part when they were younger.
“It’s great to see so many local school teams coming out to play,” Williams told the Mirror. “I didn’t have a girls team when I was a young player so to see so many girls representing their school, with the opportunity to potentially go on and represent MK Dons and then go on to play at Wembley, I think it’s fantastic.
“It’s the start of something, in terms of the opportunity for girls to play in schools and this is one of the biggest competitions in the country. It gives these girls a taster and starts them on their journey, in football, in sport and in life.”
The former midfielder joined Chelsea at the age of 12 and went on to have a glittering career that spanned over 20 years. With England, she won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup and also represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic games.
She also has major honours at club level having won the Women’s Super League title with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, she also won the FA Cup with both Everton and Arsenal. Williams believes the experience of young girls playing at grassroots level has come a long way since the early days of her career.
She continued: “We didn’t have tournaments like this, certainly not with the chance to represent your local EFL team. With that and the EFL, along with Utilita, it gives these girls a great opportunity. I didn’t have a girls’ team at school, there was a boys’ team that only in primary school I was allowed to be a part of. When I moved up to secondary school, I wasn’t allowed to be part of it because you weren’t allowed to play mixed football.
“That’s what is so good about this. It’s not about boys or girls, it’s the kids’ cup. These are opportunities that I never had, I’m slightly jealous out here watching all these girls and thinking if only I was that age, because I had dreams of playing at Wembley at their age but never thought it was possible.
“Some of these girls here today are going to do something that not many professionals did in their whole career so it’s what dreams are made of. These tournaments being put together now through the success of the women’s team is giving these girls the opportunity to live their dreams.”
