Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre

The HFA Hereford FC Player Development Centre is delighted to announce it has been awarded a Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre (ETC) Licence from the FA, in partnership with the Premier League, for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

The awarding of an ETC licence means the Girls section of the Player Development Centre will officially become part of the England Talent Pathway, alongside other local centres such as Aston Villa Women, Birmingham City Women, Shrewsbury Town Football in the Community and Forest Green Rovers. This will provide a massive boost to the female pathway in Herefordshire, giving local players a platform to develop, progress and showcase their abilities.

Thanks to funding from the Premier League, The FA unveiled plans to develop its existing talent programme for women’s football with the introduction of up to 70 Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres, aiming to sustain the future of the game and provide a wider and more diverse talent pool.

The new Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre will operate for at least 30 weeks per season and will commence from September 2023. Emerging Talent Centres will be underpinned by five key areas:

• Better accessibility
• More inclusivity
• Reducing the impact of early selection
• More focused investment
• Providing more appropriate challenges

George Leyshon-James, HFA Hereford FC PDC Head of Centre – Girls, said ‘’Becoming an Emerging Talent Centre (ETC), is a great achievement for Herefordshire and the female football within it. We have been working with the Talent Pathway teams since its introduction last season, now to have a ETC which will align more closely with the England Talent Pathway, is a real step forward. This will in turn help us to develop, players at all levels whilst offering girls across the county greater opportunities to progress in the game both regionally and locally.”

Jon Nash, HFA Hereford FC PDC Technical Director said ‘It’s fantastic news that HFA Hereford FC Girls Development Centre will be coming an ETC. These means that it will open more opportunity for the girls in Herefordshire to be exposed to a higher level of football, this will make the girls game within the county stronger and keep players in Herefordshire. I would like to say a huge thanks to George and the HFA staff for all the hard work they have done to make this possible. There has been some amazing work being done already in the centre and look forward to the future.

For more information, please contact George.Leyshon-James@HerefordshireFA.com