By Nikita Miller
Back in 2023 a small group of female footballers were playing under the umbrella of a male dominated football club.
A mixture of football politics and becoming increasingly disheartened with the system, a trailblazing group decided to go it alone. Forge Way Football Club was formed.
Our name and club ethos has come from the story of local female legend Betty Beecroft and her work at Kirkstall Forge.
Many will not know her name, as it is overshadowed by her husband. But to the club, Betty was a force to be reckoned with – and she is everything we want all females in our club to aspire to be. Strong, driven, and proud.
From having a group of open-age players and a few small groups of younger players, the club was off to a positive start. New badges, new kits, new training venues… the list went on. With this came new players.
Then, at the end of their first successful season as a proud, female only football club, 11 teams had been formed, ages ranging from six right through to open age.
In the first two seasons, volunteers have started to create a club they hope Betty would be proud of.
They not only focus on football and skills/techniques within the game, but hope to help all players with their social skills, general confidence, and skills to navigate life as a whole. Weekly training sessions throughout the year, Saturday morning matches, and regular club and individual team social events all become the backbone of what they do best.
As well as helping the skills of players, the club also tries to develop its coaches by encouraging them to undertake any Uefa coaching licences and coach development courses.
The long-term aim for all players and the wider Forge Way family is to give access to as many healthy and active opportunities as possible, and in turn to help other local clubs and organisations to inspire others too.
Forge Way does not seek winning scorelines, the wins are watching the shy, nervous players making friends, or the players that have a tough time outside of Forge Way, enjoying a couple of hours a week away from their troubles.
The wins come from inspiring local girls to be fearless and know that they can achieve great things, just like our mate Betty did.
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