Carly Telford on how much the women’s game has developed and laying the groundwork for current generation of Lionesses
Carly Telford has endured a long spell throughout the women’s game and wants to ensure that the right measures of equality are put in place so that young girls can follow the footsteps of the current Lionesses who have reached an elite level. She spoke on just how much has changed throughout her career.
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00:00And as you say there, obviously, there has been a bit of a growth in terms of, you know,
00:06the Lionesses, the WSL, but how important is it that more is given to the foundations
00:11of women's football, because that ultimately does end up improving the professional level
00:15as well?
00:16Yeah, hugely, I think, especially as, like, former Lionesses and the Lionesses now, we've
00:21all come through a grassroots pathway. I think most professional footballers have started
00:25a local community or a local club and then have gone on to do fantastic things. But we
00:30all recognise that the pyramid at the top is the small percentage, and it's so important
00:34that we maintain that, but also keep kind of striving to be better, because there are
00:38so many boundaries still kind of barriers, sorry, still blocking women and girls getting
00:44and staying into football. So I think this research really shows that. So I think we've
00:48just got to keep having these conversations and making sure that we're now putting some
00:51changes in place to make sure that girls and women keep having those opportunities.
00:55How much has women's football actually changed since you started and in comparison to maybe
01:00when you retired or, you know, what it's like in today's day and age? I see quite a lot
01:04has probably changed.
01:05Yeah, and it's a very old age saying it back in my day, and I hate doing it. But at the
01:09same time, sometimes you do these interviews and you kind of have to reflect on it was
01:14kind of like just people's parents and the odd person passing by that might stop and
01:18look at the game for what it is. And at that time, it's still like Sunderland v Everton
01:22or Sunderland v Arsenal, there were still big names in the game playing. And I was only
01:2614, 15 playing senior football, but they were still recognisable names. And we were playing
01:30at some Sunday pitch just like at the side of nowhere. No one really cared about we were
01:35in men's kit, it was all oversized. And like say we just affiliated with the club, we weren't
01:40even cemented into it. And then you look at it now and the ambition every year is for
01:44every club to get to Wembley because the FA Cup is hosted there every year. Every club
01:48is pretty much full time in the WSL and WSL Championships. So it's a massive change, but
01:53it's where the girls need to be in the games when you're going to get better and better
01:55every year.
01:56Yeah, I've spoken to a few sort of lionesses from your generation just missed the, you
02:01know, really, really successful ones. But do you ever sort of give yourself credit for
02:06laying the groundwork for the, you know, for the lionesses to go, I think you should certainly
02:11be able to do that as a player as a former player. And, you know, maybe you look at them
02:16and think it would be great to be in there and winning major trophies or getting to finals.
02:21But you really do deserve some credit for actually laying the groundwork and improving
02:25the women's game, especially at a national level as well.
02:28No, I appreciate that. And I think it's yeah, we did look there was there was people that
02:32went before us as well. Look at me and probably like Sir Jill, Ellen, Steph, Kaz Carney, like
02:37that kind of age, age range, like we were lucky to probably live through both. I think
02:42like everyone that's worn that shirt, like we always had a saying is to leave it in a
02:45better place.
02:46And I think those that went before me, the Rachel Browns, the Pauline Copes, Leanne Halls,
02:50et cetera, Karen Bardsley's, they left that shirt in a better. And it was then for me
02:54to leave it for the likes of Mary, Hannah, Ellie Roebuck, like, and they will continue
02:58to live that legacy.