Emerging Talent Centres helping female player pathways

England women’s technical director Kay Cossington has reflected on the encouraging signs that the regional Emerging Talent Centres which were introduced in 2023 are providing a more diverse group of young footballers on the England player pathway.

The number and locations of the ETCs was increased last year, with the aim being to provide more talented female footballers an opportunity to receive the best coaching and guidance in their formative years.

And the introduction of the new ETCs, with 73 now in place across England, has seen a 127 per cent increase in ethnically diverse players accessing the centres and a 112 per cent increase of players from lower income households.

Nationally, 95 per cent of girls can now get to a talent environment within an hour of where they live, as a result of more centres being placed in urban and the most rural areas and the average travel time for girls is 32 minutes.

The cost of girls being able to access a talent programme has reduced from £50 per week to £8 per week and 75 per cent of centres are now free to play – increasing to 100 per cent of centres from the 2025-26 season.

In London specifically, there’s significant progress as the percentage of players from ethnically underrepresented groups has increased by 31 per cent.

“Every player’s journey is different, we know that, whether it’s their family circumstances, their travel and exposure so a lot of that is purely down to geography,” said Cossington.

“Our aim is to provide a pipeline of players that are reflective of our society and can compete at the highest levels of our game, both for club at domestic level or at international level.

“Our Emerging Talent Centres have provided much more accessibility to players across the country on the first step of the pyramid.

“They’ve been designed and put in place to try and offset some of the challenges we set ourselves with the development of our previous pathway.

“That focuses on whether players have been able to access a pathway and whether it was inclusive across the country.

“Those numbers are extraordinary for the short amount of time we’ve been rolling it out.”

Sharon Brownlie, our women’s club pathway operations manager, added: “We’re two years on from the start of the ETCs now and we believe we’re seeing some key signs of success.

“We have three times as many players in our system, supported by 73 ETCs which has been made possible by the Premier League’s funding.

“We’re now looking at over 6000 players which has superseded our goal, and it was so important for us that the new ETCs were located in areas of high deprivation and high in diversity as well.

“This has cut down the travel costs and times and this has really led to a massive growth in players from diverse and deprived areas who are now accessing the player pathway.”

An FA spokesperson added: “We are fully committed to increasing diversity in the women’s game and ensuring any talented girl, regardless of her background, can pursue her dream of playing professionally.

“We have invested heavily within this area and we are making significant progress. The introduction of Emerging Talent Centres, which are the entry point for the pathway, has been transformational.

“Many of these ETCs are placed in the country’s most urban areas, and they have helped us to nearly double the number of environments where girls can access high-quality training and triple the number of girls entering the pathway. We have also taken important steps to remove cost, travel time and accessibility as barriers to playing.

“Whilst it will take time for this change to filter through to the senior Lionesses, the tide is turning with our Young Lionesses. Since the 2021-22 season, the level of ethnic diversity across the women’s under-15s to under-19s has increased from 13 per cent to 24 per cent, more accurately reflecting the makeup of the nation.

“Of course, there is still more to be done, but huge strides have been taken over the last few years to tackle the problem head on and ensure every girl can feel inspired and represented when they watch the Lionesses.”