Women’s football is going from strength to strength, pushed firmly into the spotlight by England’s success in the Euros.
I thought it was time to catch up with one of our West Cumbrian stars at Workington Reds Ladies – Laura Miller – and fire some questions at her.
Can you tell us how you came to take up football and were there are other sports for you?
Growing up I was the typical tomboy – you’d be more likely to find me climbing up trees with the lads than playing with the girls. We spent hours playing football amongst ourselves, begging our mams to let us stay out later and later to play, and it spiralled from there.
It wasn’t until I was around seven or eight that I decided I wanted to be a goalkeeper. Up until then I loved to play as an attacking player.. but I soon learned that I hated running!
When I got to secondary school, I also started playing rugby occasionally and also represented the county at hockey but once I left school, football took centre stage and has done ever since.
Did you watch Reds or local football, or just on TV and do you have a favourite big club you follow?
For all my sins I’m a Manchester United fan, though I grew up watching them on TV only.
Going to an actual game was never really on the cards, both money-wise and because I grew up with rugby league on one side of the family and motorsports on the other, so I was pretty much the odd one out.
I’d always followed Reds via the local newspapers and had some awareness of the club but never got to a game until I started playing for the Ladies team and now I can’t stay away!
How much has ladies’/women’s football developed and grown since you started?
The difference between now and 20 years ago is massive.
Take the England Women’s Team for example, I hadn’t even heard of them until I was 11 and I was part of a team representing Blackburn Rovers in a tournament before the opening of the Euros in 2005 and even then I’m not sure it clicked in my head we had a national team until the day of the game.
Nowadays, they’re everywhere and every female football player out there knows it.
At a grassroots level, there are far more opportunities for both younger and older females to take part and develop to the best of their potential.
I can remember from around ages seven to 12 we never had a proper league. We just had about four other teams we played occasionally along with the odd tournament thrown in.
Now there’s a full league structure right up until Under-16s and I think that’s awesome for the kids in our area.
Clearly the standards are improving all the time. Is that down to better coaching or more natural footballers taking up the sport?
I think it’s a combination of both. Both coaches and players seem more engaged with the sport than they were when I was a kid.
It seemed that most of the time, the coach was someone’s parent and once their kid stopped, they did too so the teams would fold (thankfully, this didn’t really happen with me).
Nowadays, coaches are a lot more interested in developing themselves as well as the players.
In terms of playing standards, the game has changed so much and continues to do so, the technical ability and tactical knowledge of kids these days is outstanding.
England’s success in the Euros made a big difference to the game nationally. Do you sense a local impact as well?
For sure – we’re now seeing far more support down at our home games than we did last season (though this is also in part down to our management and committee plugging it like mad. The work they do behind the scenes every week is unbelievable).
Before our home games we now have a curtain raiser, whereby we have two girls football teams playing a league fixture within their age group on Derwent Park.
The enthusiasm they have whilst playing and the quality is just unmatched – you can see they genuinely love playing the game and they’re now also aware that they can continue doing so when they’re adults. They can physically see us play in person and not just some team from down the country playing on the TV.
Visibility is key and it’s our responsibility to be role models on more local and accessible basis so that the sport continues to go from strength to strength.
What are your own playing ambitions for this season and the future? Do you want to eventually stay in the sport as a coach?
Every season I simply aim to be the best I can be. As I get older it’s getting a little harder as I’ve developed a niggling hip/back problem, that I can’t seem to fully shift (consequences of throwing yourself through the air for the last 20 years I suppose) so its a case of concentrating more on making sure I’m fully stretched and taped up.
With that being said, I want to continue playing for as long as I can – I don’t really want to think about retirement just yet..
I’d love to go into goalkeeper coaching once the dreaded day arrives and I’ve already started putting the prep work in for that – I’ve completed my Level 1 Coaching with the FA and my Level 1 Goalkeeper Coaching via the Welsh FA.
It’s not something I can throw myself into at the moment due to time commitments but once I finish playing its definitely something I want to get into.
I never had a goalkeeper coach until I was 17 and I think all young keepers growing up should have the same opportunity as the outfield players.
There’s a lot more to it than catching a ball and thankfully, I think people are starting to understand this more and more.
Are there pathways and opportunities for local girls to go on and reach WSL or England level?
As far as I’m aware, there are three pathways which can offer this direct opportunity and unfortunately, neither are inside the county.
You’ve got Blackburn Rovers, which produced the likes of Georgia Stanway and Rio and Steffi Hardy; Sunderland and more newly on the scene, Durham.
When I was around 15, they started a Cumbrian Centre of Excellence but I don’t think it ever reached the expectations they wanted from it and I must admit, I haven’t seen much about a similar platform since (but that’s not to say it’s not there).
What we’re really missing out on as county is having this clear local pathway for young girls – young boys have the opportunity to play for Carlisle United or Workington Reds and whilst there is an Academy via Reds for the girls, it is still in its early stages and it will take time to develop and prosper into a direct route to the WSL & England.
Tell us about the various competitions (leagues) open to Cumbrian clubs as they stand at the moment and how many are we talking about?
In West Cumbria, there is a full league structure for the youth side of things, from U10 right up until U16.
Penrith and District I believe is a mixed league and then Carlisle have a good few leagues too.
In terms of Women’s Football, there’s the Andrea Buggy Summer League, with 10 teams from across the county offering 9-aside football throughout the summer months.
Then there’s Stanwix, Whitehaven and Penrith Development playing in the Lancashire County League and finally, there’s ourselves (Reds Ladies), Carlisle United and Penrith playing in the North West Women’s Regional League (apologies if I’ve missed anyone out!)
My own granddaughter aged six has started with Workington Diamonds and loves it. What other opportunities are there in the county for girls to take up the sport?
That is great to hear! I hope she continues to love it as she grows older.
There are many different opportunities for young girls to get into football – it’s now actively encouraged within schools whereas before it was for the boys only.
There’s also the Reds Academy as well as Danny Grainger’s Academy now offering girls football too but most importantly for me, are all the Youth Clubs who are actively promoting and engaging young girls in the same way as the boys.
Keeping the interest of these girls as they grow up is vital to the sport – football needs to be fun and engaging and from what I’ve seen, they’re doing a very good job of it so far.
A rich benefactor is prepared to put a shedload of money into girls and women’s football. How should he spend it?
I think I could go on forever with this one if I thought about it long enough.
One major thing for me, is access to pitches that are suitable for all weathers. I’d love to see another two or three full-size 4G pitches out there for use by all.
But ideally, creating a full pathway from U8 to Ladies (a WSL Level Team) with access to good coaching, for both outfield players and goalkeepers.
Or at the very least, creating a centre which feeds directly into WSL Clubs but with some sort of financial aid involved, as travelling to and from these clubs isn’t cheap.
