Meet Chichester’s newest girls’ football team

Formed in 2022, the club was started by ex-professional coach Dan Garrod and his wife Megan, whose daughter was desperate to play football but found some clubs too focused on boys.

Dan has a background in youth football coaching and hs worked for professional teams and run soccer camps in Australia and America.

Girls football has massively grown in popularity in recent years, boosted further by the Lionesses’ Euros win last year.

Sessions are held on the fantastic green space opposite the pavilion within the Graylingwell Park estate. The girls are aged five to nine, allowing similar abilities to play against each.

The pavilion has a large studio space which has been perfect for training during bad weather.

Dan said: ““After my daughter Poppy showed an interest in football, I saw a gap in the market for a girls-only football team.

“Being local to Graylingwell Park, I started having conversations with Chichester Development Trust and we saw an opportunity to work alongside each other to introduce a session.

"We started in October and had over 20 girls attend our free taster day.

"We have a great group of girls who attend weekly but we’re looking to expand in the future and would love football or sport-loving girls to come and try a session with us.”

Graylingwell sessions run every Sunday at 9.30am. You can book through directly on [email protected] or see @graylingwellgirls on Instagram.