New strategy for women’s and girls’ football launched by IFA

One of the main goals of the Irish FA’s new five-year strategy for women’s and girls’ football in Northern Ireland is to include infrastructure, accessibility, and player pathways.

The new strategy will serve as the “blueprint” for the sport going forward, according to Angela Platt, director of women’s football at the IFA.

According to the association, the new strategy, which includes “five key pillars,” took 15 months to implement.

According to Platt, the previous five-year strategy “built a really strong foundation,” and the new strategy will aim to carry that forward.

The Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) and Northern Ireland Women’s Football Association (NIWFA), according to Platt, will “invest our resources collectively” in order to keep the domestic leagues growing.

She claimed that Northern Ireland’s “real focal point” is to strengthen the club infrastructure to increase competition in the domestic leagues.

13 players from Northern Ireland’s women’s premiership squad for the Euro 2022 finals played football there.

With the majority of Tanya Oxtoby’s squad now pursuing their trade in England or Scotland, that number has since decreased to just six for the Nations League games in February.

When questioned about whether the Women’s Premiership is evolving into more of a development league to prepare players for moves across the water, she claimed that the IFA and NIFL were working together to “review the women’s football pyramid.”

She continued, “That is one of the priorities we are really focusing on this year.”

“I think it’s important to say that those players who are in higher performance environments are benefiting from having them exposed to higher levels of competition.”

According to Platt, participation rates have increased since Euro 2022, and there are now 11, 441 players registered, up from just 1600 in 2018.

She continued, “The National Training Centre is” pivotal because there is a wealth of talent coming through, and she particularly praised 16-year-old goalkeeper Abbie Smith, who signed a two-year scholarship deal with Manchester City.”

It’s really important for us to devote our time and effort to promoting their competitiveness, she continued. “There is a wealth of talent coming through the system.

I believe that the more opportunities there are for players to play at the highest level that is best for them.

Additionally, Platt claimed that increasing attendances was a “key priority” for both Northern Ireland’s senior team and the domestic leagues.

Northern Ireland’s first women’s major tournament championship was held in 2022, making them the first to qualify for the European Championships.

Despite being eliminated from the Euro 2025 finals by European giants Norway, Platt expressed her satisfaction with the senior women’s team’s progress under Oxtoby.

She continued, “We don’t want it to be a one-off, and” the Euro 2022 finals were a “pinch me moments.”

She stated, “It’s my aspiration to return to the top table in the future.”

It’s no shame to lose to a team like Norway, who were significantly higher than us, because we came so close in our previous qualifying campaign.

Oxtoby, who was previously Emma Hayes’ assistant manager at WSL giants Chelsea, has “wealth of experience,” according to Platt, and enjoys working with the Australian.

Kenny Shiels resigned from his position that January, and in July 2023, Oxtoby was appointed manager of Northern Ireland.

On Oxtoby, Platt praised the level of professionalism, dedication, and attention to detail that “we probably haven’t experienced before.”

“Our players have genuinely embraced that,” he said. The performance environment and culture have really changed.