Today, the FA and Barclays hosted the inaugural Biggest Ever Football Session across England as part of The FA’s Let Girls Play campaign. Taking place the day after International Women’s Day, the nationwide sessions highlights the importance of unlocking equal opportunities for girls to participate in football in schools and raise awareness for the Barclays Girls Football School Partnerships programme.

From Cornwall to Newcastle, the event has seen a record 758 primary and secondary schools sign up to deliver bespoke football sessions, with over 61,000 children taking part in the day. With the support of the FA’s delivery partner, Youth Sport Trust, the schools have been provided with football session ideas and resource cards from the England Football Physical Education team. These are to support teachers in the delivery of their sessions which will take place in PE lessons, before school, during lunchtime and after school.

Currently, only 63% of schools offer girls’ football in PE lessons and only 40% of schools offer girls regular extracurricular football. The FA’s ambition, as seen in the Inspiring Positive Change strategy, is to have 75% of schools providing equal access to football for girls in PE lessons and 90% of schools offering regular extracurricular football by 2024.

The Biggest Ever Football Session is part of the Let Girls Play campaign, which launched last year, supporting the FA’s strategic ambition for equal access and is backed by Barclays as part of their record-breaking investment in women and girls’ football and their commitment to the game. The campaign’s website provides inspiring resources to help influence the start of change and allow more girls to feel the mental and physical benefits of exercise through playing football.

Rebecca Harris MP said:

“I am delighted that Winter Gardens Academy in Castle Point have signed up to take part in the #LetGirlsPlay Biggest Ever Football Session on 9th March. This is a fantastic initiative, and I welcome The FA’s ambition for all girls to have equal access to football in schools and clubs by 2024. Good luck to all the girls taking part!”

To find out more about the campaign, how to sign up to the Biggest Ever Football Session and to see how you can help and make a difference to giving girls equal access to football in schools, go to www.englandfootball.com/LetGirlsPlay.