Wolves Women are the latest club to have been granted a two-year Emerging Talent Centre license from the Football Association.
The ETC will replace the club’s Regional Talent Centre, with its main purpose to identify and develop future potential players by providing local, accessible high-quality training environments.
Launched in 2022, the ETC programme is supported by £5.25 million worth of funding from the Premier League and will see players engaged in FA Pathway programmes more than double within three years.
ETCs across the nation will increase and diversify the talent pool to give more girls than ever the chance to take their first steps towards playing professional football.
Aimed at girls aged between eight and 16, the wider network of ETCs is set to see a rise in the number of players from less than 2,000 to over 4,000 by the end of the 2023/24 season.
Academy manager for operations, Laura Nicholls, has explained how the running of a talent centre at Compton Park is key for the progression of players through to the women’s first-team at the club, while at the same time being able to support the development of players and football within the local area.
“The ETC will form the base of our female player pathway, allowing opportunities for more players to access the high-quality environment we can offer at Wolves,” Nicholls said.
“We’ve got a long history of running FA talent centres, which has seen players like Emma and Jade Cross, Katie Johnson and others move through the system and progress into the first-team squad.
“We hope that the ETC programme will allow us to continue to develop players that can go on to strengthen our academy teams and wider grassroots clubs in our area.”
Jenna Burke-Martin, head of women and girls’ football at Wolves, added: “We are pleased to have been granted a license for an ETC programme for two years. This is something we welcome and that supports our commitment to continue to enhance our offering to female players here at Wolves.
“The ETC for our U10, U12 and U14 age groups will operate as a training centre and sit separately to our girls’ academy teams, who will compete in the boys’ Junior Premier League this coming season.
“This is the first season our U14 and U16 groups will move out of the FA Talent Pathway League that was ran by the FA in previous years for the RTC programmes to compete in. We see this as a new challenge and are really excited to see the players develop in different environments. We will also have regular fixtures with girls teams as part of the ever-developing ETC and girls’ academy pathway.”
