THE FUTURE OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

As interest continues to rise in the wake of the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 glory, we catch up with the captains of Bristol City Women’s Club and Bristol Rovers Women’s Club and discuss their hopes for the future of the game...

Like many big cities around the country –Manchester, Liverpool, for example –Bristol is made up of two halves. One side is red, one is blue –and we’re not talking politics. Bristol City (red) and Bristol Rovers (blue) have been fierce rivals for what seems like millenia and die-hard fans will never miss a chance to engage in some pre-game fight talk.

With that said, however, when I spoke to the captains of Bristol Rovers Women’s Football Club and Bristol City Women’s Football Club this month, following an explosion of interest in the game thanks to the Lionesses’ recent win at the UEFA European Women’s Football Championship, one thing became abundantly clear: the two teams are nothing but united in their efforts to inspire the next generation.

Bristol Rovers Women’s Club – now affectionately known as The Gas Girls in recognition of the club’s unofficial nickname, The Gas – has an interesting history. After forming in 1998, the club hit financial difficulty in the mid-2000s, which led to the funding for the women’s team being cut and them being renamed Bristol Academy W.F.C. in 2005. Some 11 years later, to add insult to injury, the team was taken over by Bristol City.

A ray of light came in 2019 when Matthew Davies joined the Bristol Rovers Community Trust and worked tirelessly to correct the imbalance within the club. Together with Nathan Hallet-Young, they formed The Gas Girls as part of the Community Trust. At the first open trials that were held for the team, over 100 women and girls showed up, highlighting the desperate need for such a team in the local area. Although women’s teams existed within Bristol, there was a Gas Girlsshaped hole in the offerings –a gap between those who wanted to play professionally in the FA Women’s Championship with Bristol City and those that wanted to play for fun.

The team’s inaugural 2019/20 season –captained by Natalie Coles –saw The Gas Girls achieve a 100% record in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League, the seventh tier, before the season was declared null and void due to the pandemic. The team returned the next season after training hard at their home ground of Lockleaze Sports Centre to win the title and a promotion. The 2021/22 season in the South West Regional League brought another title. Their final game of the season earlier this year was under the lights at the Memorial Stadium. In front of a crowd of over 2,000 people, the team were crowned champions of the South West Regional League (Northern Division). This season, the team will start in the South West Regional Premier Division, the fifth tier, with their eyes firmly fixed on the top spot.

As for Bristol City Women’s Club – which were once Bristol Academy W.F.C. and now widely known as The Robins – the team have been competing in the top flight of women’s football in England for over a decade. In 2011, Bristol Academy W.F.C Limited won a licence to compete in the new FA Women’s Super League (WSL). This allowed the team to become semi-professional and an untested Mark Sampson became first team manager. Sampson remained in the post until he left to take up the prestigious England Women’s manager role in 2014. In that time Bristol Academy reached two FA Cup finals and competed in the Champions League. In 2015, shortly after Willie Kirk was appointed as manager, the FA WSL management committee approved the name change for Bristol Academy Women’s Football Club to change to Bristol City Women’s Football Club. Summer of 2018 saw Kirk depart and new manager Tanya Oxtoby take the helm.

Playing their home fixtures at the Robins High Performance Centre, City Women had a positive 2021/22 season, finishing third in the Championship. For the upcoming campaign, the Robins have

moved to Manchester United and took me along with him. During my two-year spell at United, I went on loan to Sheffield United to get more game time. After the two years, I came back to Bristol and have been here ever since.

I definitely felt like the whole country was behind the Lionesses throughout the competition. Whenever I was out and about watching the games, people would come up to me and ask me more about the women’s game as well as being impressed with the ‘state of the game’. I also took the opportunity to tweet about our matches being at high performance centre which got a lot of attention, so I hope that we see the funnel of interest into our game. I do believe that the interest in women’s game has increased year on year which makes the future very exciting.

I think it’s super important to inspire the next generation and show any youngster that it’s possible. I know that as a kid if women’s football was more visible –and there were more role models –many more

Gas Girls captain Natalie Coles people would be where I am now. I also think it’s important for us to show them that we are just normal people. When we engage with them, I think it allows them to really believe in the journey, especially here at Bristol – the pathway is very successful.

My hopes for the season are for us to get promoted, I think Bristol City as a club should be in the Women’s Super League (WSL) and I genuinely believe that this season is our season. We have a very good squad on the pitch and off the pitch, which is something that I believe separates us from the rest of the league.

I hope that women’s football continues to grow, and that the increase in visibility has made many more people aware of just how good the women’s game is. Although it will never be like the men’s, it should be just as loved and available for everyone from all backgrounds to watch it. I hope it has inspired both young boys and girls to be involved in the sport and even businesses to invest and help grow the game.

My advice to any young person would be to enjoy the game, football is all about enjoyment – even in an elite environment you play your best when you’re enjoying it. I would also say that they should expect there to be bumps in the journey –no journey is ever plain and simple, and if you want to get to the highest level, be fine with things not always going right. My final piece of advice would be to always work hard, in anything that you do, training or games because then you will have no regrets.

A shining example of hard work, The Gas Girls have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with. Storming through the leagues season after season, they are both celebrated on the pitch and cherished off of it. The Bristol Rovers Community Trust’s tagline is ‘community, education, participation and performance’ and with local people at the heart of everything they do, the team have made national headlines for fighting discrimination within the sport. In 2021, The Gas Girls’ special edition away shirt, which celebrated the amazing work that Bristol Pride do for the LGBTQ+ community in the city, was inducted into the National Football Museum.

Just months later, The Gas Girls became the first club to donate the front of their away shirt to Her Game Too, an organisation which aims to foster an ethos in football in which women are welcomed and respected equally. Chairman Adam Tutton and club secretary Matthew Davies were honoured as the first recipients of the Her Game Too Hero Award for their contribution to the anti-sexism campaign. All profits from the shirt sales go towards fund free football sessions for young girls in Bristol, which are organised by the Community Trust.

Although currently on maternity leave, Natalie has led The Gas Girls to victory for the last two seasons. We sit down with the defender to find out more...

Natalie Coles: Some would say I was late to the sport, but when I was growing up, women’s football wasn’t as big in the 90s/early 2000s as it is today. I started when I was in Year 7 at school because my friend’s dad ran the team and I was quite sporty –it just went from there. I first started playing for South Bristol Wanderers, which then became Clevedon Town Ladies. Unfortunately, the club folded so I then went onto play for St Nicholas Football Club Ladies, followed by Brislington Ladies Football Club before joining Bristol Rovers. I’m currently on maternity leave and so have handed the reins over to our vice captain Libby Bell for the next season.

The Gas Girls

It’s been great to see how much interest there is in the sport now. I think the women’s victory at Wembley is going to do masses for women and girls in football. The interest in our team has already been huge –our inbox has been crazy since they won the Euros!

One of the reasons why people love the club so much is not just because of what we do on the pitch but it’s the stuff that we do off the pitch as well. We go into schools and run free sessions at Lockleaze and try and get as many girls into football as we can. It’s been getting more and more popular over the years but there’s definitely been an explosion of interest this summer. For me, I always loved football but I never had a team to play with in their local area –I think a lot of girls and women struggle with this. Hopefully now that it’s picking up a lot, people’s potential will be spotted earlier.

Libby was vice captain for the last two seasons and, from what I hear, is

already doing a great job as captain. I’m definitely missing it a lot, I’m missing the girls – I try and stay as involved as I possibly can. There are definitely high hopes for this season. We’ve signed lots of new younger players and they’ve added some depth to the team for sure. What’s good about signing the younger players is that there is potential to be able to develop that player and, in turn, improve The Gas Girls became the first club to donate the front the standards of the whole team. of their away shirt to Her Game Too, an organisation which aims to foster an ethos in football in which What are your hopes for the future of women are welcomed and respected equally women’s football? My hope is that women’s football becomes more and more accessible for anyone of any ability to enjoy the game. I hope, with the next generation, we can eradicate the negativite stereotypes that impede the potential of so many women and girls and we see positive growth within the sport.

I would say just don’t listen to people who tell you you shouldn’t be playing – go out there and enjoy it. Keep pushing forward. Train hard. Live those dreams that you’ve got. n • Stay up to date with Bristol City and The Gas Girls via their websites and social media channels: bcfc.co.uk/bristol-city-women; bristolroverswomensfc.com All images courtesy of Bristol City and Bristol Rovers Community Trust

TASTY TIDBITS FROM THE CITY’S BEST RESTAURANTS, CHEFS AND PRODUCERS

The team behind London’s Borough Cheese Company is bringing their new venture to Bristol. North Street Cheese Company will be open six days a week, Tuesday to Sunday, from 5 September, selling a range of continental and local cheeses, plus charcuterie, Italian Parma ham, pancetta and salami from small butchers in Italy and local cider vinegar.

Owner Dominic Coyte, from Devon, gained his experience in the industry in London before moving to Bristol, where he went to university. The shop will be managed by Kim Trethowan, whose name will be familiar with local cheese connoisseurs. The Trethowan Brothers have won awards for their pitchfork cheddar and gorwydd caerphilly, both of which are made in Puxton and will be sold in North Street Cheese.

North Street Cheese Company will also have the British crumblies, Cheshires and Lancashires as well as soft cheeses –soft goats and sheep.

The Get Growing Trail is now back to full participation, with 30 groups opening their gates for the weekend of 17 September. During the national lockdowns, increased interest in connecting with family and friends outdoors bloomed, and there was an increased interest in growing. This trend has continued, leading to a surge in community growing in Bristol this year. After a digital Get Growing Trail during the pandemic, and a smaller event for 2021, the 2022 Trail promises to be a wonderful weekend of opportunities to connect with Bristol’s growing communities. As well as garden tours, this year’s trail includes apple pressing, mini markets, pond dipping, tree planting, a scything workshop, seasonal produce tasting, and crafts such as making origami seed packets, and drawing. Plus, the weekend offers the opportunity to learn about permaculture systems, no-dig methods, food justice and other aspects of community growing –all for free.

• For more information, visit: bristolfoodnetwork.org

Credit: Hal Miller

• For more information, follow North Street Cheese Company on Instagram: instagram.com/northstreetcheeseshop

The impact of the cost of living crisis is taking a huge toll on local farms and food businesses, including The Community Farm, one of the largest hubs for local, organic food in the South West which is now struggling financially. The Community Farm is a Credit: MAHPhotographs not-for-profit, organic farm that grows, sources, and delivers food to households across the local area, as well as supplying local food shops and restaurants. Every year, thousands of local people benefit physically and mentally from courses, events and volunteering on the fields.

Since the start of the year, rising costs and a dramatic fall in customer sales, which has been felt across the organic sector, has left the farm’s future on a knife edge. Kim Brooks, Managing Director, said: “We’d like to call on as many people as possible to get out there and shop with local, ethical food businesses for the benefit of local people and wildlife.”

Starlings –an independent café and wine bar in the heart of Clifton –is bringing modern food and drinks, locally roasted Bristol coffee, fresh British produce and a warm atmosphere from sunrise to sunset, offering a humble menu to eat and drink both inside and out.

Starlings has a delicatessen providing the best of British (especially South West) produce and a café selling hand-made Bristolian cakes from the likes of Cakesmiths and The Bristol Loaf as well as exciting brunch options using exceptional seasonal fruits and vegetables.

In the evenings, Starlings transforms into an atmospheric bar, selling a wide selection of local beers, organic wines and innovative cocktails. The Bristol indie is on a mission to build relationships with some of Britain’s best independent businesses and bring them to the people of Bristol.

NEWS FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS

Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatres today announced the full cast for their autumn production, REVEALED. Set against the backdrop of an uprising, following an incident in police custody that stuns the nation, REVEALED tackles themes of racism, masculinity, sexuality and mental health, through the prism of a powerful and poignant family drama.

The cast, representing three generations of the same family, includes Everal A Walsh (RocketsAndBlueLights at the National Theatre, DrWho for BBC and Oscar-nominated Best Picture of the Year 2019 TheFavourite), Dylan Brady (best-known for his portrayal of Danny in CoronationStreet) and the play’s writer Daniel J Carver (HenryVIParts 2 and 3 at Royal Shakespeare Company). REVEALED builds on Tobacco Factory Theatres’ commitment to producing original work that delights and provokes. The play has been developed with support from the National Theatre’s Generate programme and it was co-commissioned with The Red Earth Collective.

• For more information and to book tickets, visit: tobaccofactorytheatres.com

Bristol-based tech firm Yeti Tool Limited has celebrated a product patent milestone by taking their unique portable large-format routing machine up a Welsh mountain to operate a computer numerical control (CNC) on a summit.

SmartBench, the world’s only portable large-format CNC routing machine, was granted a full patent recently, and Yeti Tool members of staff decided to celebrate in style –by transporting a SmartBench PrecisionPro (the firm’s flagship router) up a mountain in the Brecon Beacons to cut a plywood project.

A team of 17-strong took the CNC router on a four-hour trek up to Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons, where a plywood bench was cut, as Technical Director and Yeti Tool co-founder highlighted:

“We’ve had a patent pending for some time, which has given the unique CNC technology in our SmartBench product protection, but to get a full UK patent granted felt like it deserved a really unusual event to celebrate it. We opted for CNC on a summit.”

Corn Du is a summit of the twin-topped Pen Y Fan and the second highest peak in South Wales. Situated in the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park, Corn Du is 2,864 feet high.

Manufacturing is becoming more robotic and automated, and the SmartBench PrecisionPro provides the perfect portable product for construction professionals looking to make products in all kinds of locations on site.

The bench was made at the summit with a memorial plaque to Ian Adkins, the inventor of SmartBench, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2019.

International law firm Osborne Clarke’s legal and business services teams welcome 11 interns across its three UK locations including Bristol, as part of its sixweek #10,000 Black Interns (10KBI) Programme.

The firm’s Bristol office will host six interns with two legal interns joining the corporate team, and three interns in the IT and Osborne Clarke Solutions teams, while HR will also host an intern. In London, there will be two legal interns, one in real estate and the financial institutions group as well as a sales and marketing team intern. In Reading, the firm welcomes two legal interns, with one in corporate and the other in banking.

Each intern will have dedicated buddies to help support their learning journey, while junior and senior mentors have also been selected to inspire the interns and provide guidance for how to develop their careers. The mentors will maintain their relationship with each of the interns and plan monthly catch-up meetings throughout the programme and afterwards.

Bola Gibson, Head of Inclusion and Corporate

Responsibility commented: “We hope that this programme really inspires the participants and means that we can make some progress in growing the representation of black people in Osborne Clarke and other professional services businesses.

“We are also providing all our legal and non-legal interns with recruitment and employability training, and our legal interns will spend a week gaining experience in the in house team of one of our clients.” 10KBI seeks to offer 2,000 internships each year for five consecutive years. The programme has partnered with firms from 24 different sectors to deliver paid work experience.