Lionesses Legacy Lives on at Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust host celebration event to continue the lasting legacy of England’s Euro 2022 success.

On the day that Lionesses’ hero Beth Mead was crowned Sports Personality of the Year, more than 100 women and girls joined the Trust at Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub to take part in a football celebration day in collaboration with Middlesex FA and supported by Ealing and Hounslow Council.

Various activities took place throughout the day including a football camp for girls aged 6 – 16 and a tournament involving some of the Trust’s Girls Development Centre teams and local grassroots clubs in the morning.

In the afternoon Luis Melville delivered a Futsal workshop for the Trust’s Post 16 Girls, which was followed by an adult recreational session in the evening where players from Brentford FC Women’s First Team and B Team took part in small, sided games alongside the participants.

The weekly recreational session regularly gets more than 40 women of various abilities enjoying the beautiful game and Councillor Katherine Dunne, Deputy Leader of Hounslow Council was also in attendance to take part.

Brentford FC Women’s defender Chloe Webb visited the girls camp and commented, “I couldn’t believe how many girls were playing here today, particularly in the older groups who tend to think the stereotypical ‘girls can’t play football’, but it’s grown so much since the Euros.”

Reflecting on her development through the ranks at Brentford she added, “I started at the Trust’s Development Centre when I was nine, where I was coached by Amber (Lloyd) who I now play alongside for Brentford. The sessions were quite small when I started as there weren’t as many girls playing and we struggled to get new players to come down as it wasn’t such a massive thing, but more recently its grown a lot which is great to see.”

Erin from St Mary’s Primary School in Chiswick attended the Girls Camp and said, “We did lots of different drills and I enjoyed the assault course where we had to complete different tasks and got to set a challenge for the losing team. We also got to chat to the players (from the Brentford Women’s team) and ask what it’s like for them playing and I found that really inspiring.

“At the moment I play football at school, and I enjoy playing football with my friends – especially after watching England win the Euros which was really exciting.”