“It started with a Tweet……..”
After years and years of watching football from the sidelines, firstly watching her Dad (who every Saturday took her and her Sister, from a young age, to all his games for Reigate Priory FC) and then her 2 boys, Carol Bates (probably like a few other women nearing their fifties) had always wanted to play football. The nearest Carol got was managing a team of men in the Redhill & District League in the 90s, for a few years. Unfortunately, growing up in the 1970s and not being able to play, Carol, along with many other “older” women, have become “the generation that football missed”. Football, in those days, was for boys and not girls.
However, having links with Crawley Town FC and their Community Foundation, as a fan and Chair of the Supporters Alliance, it was a day in February 2015 when a tweet from the Community Foundation caught Carol’s eye. The tweet was promoting a girls’ football session, run by the Community Foundation, that had been funded by the EFL Trust to encourage young girls to play football through the Female Football Development programme (FFD). Carol thought she would like to have a “kickabout” and asked what the maximum age was. It was 25…… To cut a long story short, Carol suggested in an exchange of friendly tweets to Amy Fazackerley, who was managing the CTFC Community Foundation projects for the FFD Programme at the time, that if she could find enough women to start a new session, maybe between them, they would be able to set up some football sessions, for an untried idea. Amy discussed the idea with Nicol Meredith, who was the FFD Officer at the EFL Trust, and Nicol agreed to the funding for an hour a week, for 10 weeks. After rounding up a few friends on Facebook who also loved the game (and were no longer spring chickens), with the premise of “no experience necessary, come and have some fun”, the first session was attended by 10 women. No one knew if this would take off but it certainly did……
Between Carol, Amy, Nicol and all the women who joined the Crawley Old Girls, we have all shared in some incredible moments since that day on 16th April 2015. Many thanks go to the Crawley Town Community Foundation (Amy) and the EFL Trust (Nicol) for their help and support in the early years. A special mention goes to former coaches Claire Burrage-Edwards and Ryan Cook. Former long time Coach, Marcus Doyle (pictured below) had the “pleasure” of putting up with the ladies, to help them improve their skills and enjoyment! What a great job he did! Then we had Sophia Pittounikos, who was fab and Bradley Wood who coached the COGS from August 2018 until early 2020 when Harri Nourse took over. Harri continues to be a great coach and in the Summer of 2020 we hired our own COGS’ Coach for our new Beginners/Intermediate COGS’ run session. Gavin Gordon is a UEFA C coach and he is doing a great job! In January 2020, Carol set up the COGS’ Walking Football session and coaches that along with Tracey Thornton, who completed her FA Playmaker and FA Intro. to Football Coaching (the old Level 1) after learning to play. Many women who have come along have now gained coaching qualifications.
So, if you have no experience of playing football, little experience of playing football or would just like to return to playing football, come and join us! There is no age barrier (we have women from 25 to over 70) no size, shape or ability barrier and no judgement. There are women waiting to welcome you, so what’s not to like?!
Women’s Recreational Football (as it’s now known) has continued to grow over the last 71/2 years and in 2020, Sport England and The FA announced that it would fund £1M to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Legacy Programme, for Adult Women’s Recreational Football. This investment was be used to employ Women’s Recreational Football Officers at each of the areas of the Host Cities. Opportunities are growing for women to play Recreational Football. Be a part of it!
The majority of professional photographs used on this website are courtesy of James Boardman/Telephoto Images with some from Jane Stotty of DJ Stotty Images and Simon Roe from Simon Roe Photography, as well as our own COGS’ photographs.
This website was launched on the 25th June 2017 and shows how far we’ve come in a short space of time. If you have a team and would like us to add you into our Team Directory please let us know, as that is a good way for women across the country to see where they can join in.
“No experience is needed, just a willingness to have fun, make new friends and learn to play football. You’re never too old and it’s never too late”
BEGINNERS’ SESSION:
Wednesday Evenings: 3G pitch opposite the Redz Bar at the Checkatrade Stadium (Crawley Town FC) – 7.30pm – 8.30pm
BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE SESSION:
Wednesday Evenings: 3G pitch opposite the Redz Bar at the Checkatrade Stadium (Crawley Town FC) – 8.30pm – 9.30pm
INTERMEDIATE SESSION:
Thursday Evenings: 3G pitch opposite the Redz Bar at the Checkatrade Stadium (Crawley Town FC) – 7.00pm – 8.00pm
ADVANCED/EX-PLAYERS’ SESSION:
Thursday Evenings: 3G pitch opposite the Redz Bar at the Checktrade Stadium (Crawley Town FC) – 8.00pm – 9.00pm.
WOMEN 40+ WALKING FOOTBALL SESSION:
Monday Evenings: Hazelwick School, Hazelwick School Close, Three Bridges – 7.00pm – 8.00pm.
Contact: cogscrawley@gmail.com, CarolBates66@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can call Carol Bates on 07837523370.
COGS XTRA – BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE/CONFIDENCE IN COACHING SESSION:
Monday Evenings: Hazelwick School, Hazelwick School Close, Three Bridges – 8.00pm – 9.00pm
Contact: cogscrawley@gmail.com, CarolBates66@gmail.com as above.
Check out the Sessions Menu for more details!
