Cissy Radford has been working to further girls and women’s football as part of her role at Lincolnshire FA as a football development officer, with players aged between five and 80 years of age benefitting.
Cissy has spent just over a year with the county FA, during which time she has been involved with pushing a number of initiatives targeted at creating new opportunities for female players – young and old – and even mucking in with some coaching of her own.
Originally from Nottinghamshire, Cissy supports her hometown club, Notts County, though she admits that before joining Lincolnshire FA she was far from a diehard football fanatic. Cissy used this to her advantage, as it allowed her to view the state of girls and women’s football in Lincolnshire as an outsider.
“My background before was a mixture of working in schools and working for women’s sports charities,” Cissy told Fen Regis Trophies. “I hadn’t worked in football previously.
“I came at the roll with a different lens to others that have worked in clubs or in grassroots football for a while, but I certainly felt I had a good understanding of barriers and the needs of women and girls, as well as what it’s like working with young people and what it’s like working with volunteers.
“I certainly understood those things. I think in a role like a football development officer it very much helps if you have an interest or a passion for football, but knowledge of football hasn’t always been so necessary. You learn as you go.”
Lionesses Bounce
Without question, the success of England’s Lionesses has created a buzz surrounding girls and women’s football. Alongside new Wildcats centres opening up, dedicated to offering recreational football sessions for girls aged between five and 11, there is also a wave of older women playing for the first time, too.
The Lincolnshire Women’s Walking Football League offers competitive football for those aged 40 and over, offering the opportunity to those who may have seen opportunities limited to play some 15 to 20 years ago. Cissy has seen women’s walking football take off in the area and her part to play in that is something that she regards as one of her proudest achievements.
“Walking football in Lincolnshire for women has really taken off over the last couple of years,” said Cissy. “This year, we’ve run a league for women’s walking football for the first time with an over 40 division and next year, that will become an over 40 division and then an over 50 division.
“We have over 100 women playing in that league across seven different teams. That’s something I’m really pleased that we got to do, and we got to take off the ground, giving those women the opportunity to play for a team play in a league and win something at the end of the season.”
The ‘Missed Generation’
It is clear that Cissy takes great pride in helping to provide something for what she labels as the ‘missed generation’, stating that it is equally as crucial that older women have just as much opportunity to fall in love with the game as young girls.
She said: “Many women didn’t grow up playing football, playing through schools, or even any clubs. I’ve had some bad experiences of being a woman and trying to find a place football.
“It’s amazing to be able to give those women the opportunity to play. Not just those women who wanted to play but couldn’t, but also the women that never considered playing football before.”
“We’ve got to look at both ends of the scale,” Cissy added. “In Lincolnshire, our youngest registered female player is five and our oldest registered female player is 80.
“It’s so important that we provide football for all the women between those ages, and I think walking football is brilliant at doing at.
“Those women that, 20 to 30 years ago, would have never considered playing football did not think the game was for them. We can now, in 2023, give them a league to play football in that is solely for them.”
While Cissy’s time at the Lincolnshire FA has come to an end, her involvement in sports has not as she moves into a new sports development role elsewhere.
The outgoing football development officer said: “This won’t be a women and girls specific role, but it is centred around young people’s experiences of sport and creating a world for young people trying to forge a relationship with sport.”
The Lincolnshire FA offers a complete pathway for women and girls to play the sport, offering recreational, educational, and competitive football. More details can be found by visiting the Lincolnshire FA’s website here.
By Aaron Gratton
