Save Watford FC Girls Centre of Excellence

My daughter has done her first (an last) season at watford coe, she now considering giving up football :( was this your aim f.a? cos i'm sure my daughter is not the only girl feeling like this!!

I just can't fathom why such a good positive/healthy youth programme/project is even being contemplated for the axe? I repeat myself - WHY?

Absolute joke the centre has been closed! My daughter is 10 years old and devastated.

Watford FC have a great reputation for developing children. This just shows how out of touch the FA are

Reality is that the FA have sacrificed the truly excellent Watford centre because Arsenal are also plying their trade in Herts. The FA in their (lack of) wisdom feel that there is only a need for one very good centre in Herts so Watford has to go!!

Quite how getting rid of an excellent centre with truly excellent players receiving top class coaching/competition three times a week and replacing it with one coaching session and nothing else at a PDC will achieve their objective of increasing the number of excellent girl players, only the FA seem to know!

We need to encourage physical activity in our young people, closing centres is defeating this objective and leaving the youngsters with no where to go.

As a gooner I value the ladies game as well please reconsider this thankyou.

Girls football is the fastest growing , so the FA close down centre of excellence , CLEVER MOVE FA , WELL DONE

I would ask the Fa to operate under a system that believes in openness and transparency. Please release the criteria for the CoEs and, the reasons that licences were not granted for all those who missed out.

Typical F.A

You go girls!

Odd decision!

absolute terrible who makes these decissions?
just when the FA is telling us that the womans Foot-ball is getting stronger and stronger and are supposed to be! looking to sponsor our female football clubs, not all girls are lucky enough to be brought up through the ranks of Arsenal,Chelsea and all alike our kids depend on the likes of WATFORD, and STEVENAGE BOROUGH and other local teams to help them progress. I personaly think the womans league is going from strength to strength.
PLEASE NOTE FA that i dont have a female child playing football this is just my personal oppinion that i feel strong about.Not all girls want to play skipping ropes and net ball.

This is so important to many of the yound women. Don't take this opportuity away from them.

Watford lost out because Arsenal were given the Hertfordshire Licence, am I wrong I always thought Arsenal were classed as North London and not Hertfordshire. Does that now mean that the North London Derby in the mens isn't going to be Tottenham against Arsenal any more? It will be interesting to see if they are reclassified as Hertfordshire.

I agree that the Watford FC Girls Centre of Excellence should be allowed to continue

such a shame a team in the true sense of the word. some may not have the finances to travel longer distances to get to training etc. and talented players will be lost.

The Watford FC Girls Centre of Excellence does not deserve to be treated this way after all the good work it has done.

With the FAs recent record of bizarre decision making this is hardly surprising; however, it's highly disparaging to any innovation or incentive to create high quality Centres of Excellence in either the mens or womens game. The future of the game lies in these Centres - a foolish decision if ever I've seen one.

The lunatics have taken over the asylum!

Having persuaded the Equal Opportunities Commission (now The Commission for Human Rights & Equality) to help me fight the FA's ridiculous mixed sex ruling 5 years ago with some partial success (a temporary 2yr dispensation scheme allowed my dauaghter to continue playing with the lads upto and including U15,s),may i share the benefits of my experience with regard to taking on the FA. . . forget logic, forget reason, forget respect, it acheives nothing. Go for the achilles heel and drag the FA through the mud via the media. The only thing they will respond to is adverse publicity. The age limit for mixed soccer has been changed four times in as many years, and was only done so following public ridicule via the media (particularly via TV).

Speaking of which find clip of Crewe CoE on Granada TV today.
http://www.itv.com/granada/crewe-cut63440/

The Girls, Staff, and parents at Watford, Crewe and others have logic and reason, whilst the FA continue to adhere to reasoning that they are unwilling to define, and that would never stand up to scrutiny.

I have spoken in private to a Girls Centre of Excellence Director recently (whos licsnce was approved) who unfortunately was not willing to go public but did say that not just he, but other CoE directors in his region (he was not willing to divuldge who)were aghast at what the FA have done. He also said that since many girls devolop technically at varying times there will be many girls who will now slip through the net and be lost to game forever. A damming inditement indeed on the FA's latest half baked masterplan from a professional with more experience and gravitas in this area than Kay Cossington and her 'now what can we change next brigade' put together.

The lunatics really have taken over the Asylum!

For those who have not yet signed Crewe's petition could i ask you to do so. Cheers.

#172: Seeing red in Crewe -  

We've just heard that a brilliant female footballer, with the utmost humility, who played for Watford with our daughter, AND who successfully played for England, has now decided to hang up her boots and not play anymore!  There's not many like her out there, so shame on you FA, shame on you!!

 

I am a fulham parent and have had a similar experience. Absolutely daft. Can you imagine reducing your pool of elite players? What is going to happen to elite players who do not get a place in a centre?