Save Watford FC Girls Centre of Excellence

Lively discussion going on about this very subject here
http://www.womensfootball.eu/forum/index.php/topic,6611.160.html

have added a link to this petition on this forum

This Centre has done and continues to carry out outstanding work in the development of girls football in the region. The FA MUST find a way to actively support the Centre if it is genuine in its apparent strategy to increase the quality and quantity of women and girls football.

What do these FA people think that they are doing that they mess about with these young people's lives like this. Do they have no idea the dedication it takes on behalf of girls and their parents to travel so far in the first place. Now they are going to have to travel further to another club - if they manage to get one of the few remaining places available.

Some very strange and biased decisions by the FA, leaves a nasty smell. A high quality CoE like Watford gets dumped in preference to some at other clubs which are of poor standard, but just happen to have people connected with FA boards and committees. Have they learned nothing by looking at FIFA this last few days? Scandalous

The Watford FC Girls Centre of Excellence is a fundemental cornerstone to the development of girls football in the Hertfordshire area. My daughter did not reach the standards necessary to enter the Centre of Excellence last year but through the continued support of the development infrastructure, maintains the desire to improve year on year to fulfil her potential. The Centre of Excellence provides a Gold Standard that inspires girls of all footballing ability to pursue their love of the game and creates a footballing community bond that crosses the boundaries of ability and background. To loose such a facility that focuses on engaging girls in developing their footballing ability and attaining their highest individual goals will deny a whole generation of girls the opportunity to pursue a sport they have chosen. If we allow the Girls Centre of Excellence to be removed, then we remove the community focus and girls 'grass roots' football in the area will slowly die.

fifa and the fa have £millions

It sounds like the FA have not been entirely open in the allocation of the new status. The process should be transaparent and fair. Why hasn't it been?

Nigel Higgs
AFC Wimbledon

My daughter has played for Watford girls for the last three years and has received the most amazing player development programme we could have wished for. Watford Girls is a Centre of Excellence.

I think it's a disgrace that they are closing these centres, the development of the game will suffer badly !!

Stupid decision, we need answers.

My daughter has been involved in Girls football for 6 years and I have heard many MALE FA represenatives giving rousing speaches regarding Womans/Girls but it always seems to be lips service. She was lucky and played in a team of girls that played at Wembly four years ago she was 8 years old and out of 500 kids there was one all girls team and about three teams that had a girl in the team. We were at a girls football festival which was attended by a 1966 world cup player who was showing his support for girls football and gave a great speach and then was asked to name three members of the then womans England squad who were then playing in the world cup, and guess what he could not name one. This shows that the FA give girls football lip service and no more. The FA should realise the world has moved on and they should join it. Instead of the ussual jobs for the boys attitute which unfortunatly most of these institutions have.
Why does it have to be a girls or boys C O E why can't the clubs run both under one licence for boys and girls, ok that would mean the centres being larger but the structure that is required must be near enough the same for both.

The FA are a disgrace. There are lots of talented girls who couldn't get in an existing centre - we needed more not less.

They should not deprive young girls from enjoying the sport which they love to do.Would they shut down ARSENAL MANCHESTER UNITED OR LIVERPOOL.I think because they are small clubs they can do what they like.
alan.bedwell@hotmail.co.uk

My daughter was with the c of e from the age of 10-16 and if it wasn't for them she would not of experienced the very good level of training and playing and having the opportunity to play in america which not many girls have! I don't understand how Watford havent received a license for next season as being the only successful club in hertfordshire, without watford she wouldnt be where she is today and that is playing for the womens premier league

It is an outrage that this excellent facility should lose funding and have to close down. I work with teenagers who have been in attendance and this has helped them to chanel their energy into positive activities rather than stay on the streets like some of their peers/mates.

Watford FC girls have a history of excellence. It's utter madness to change things.

Unless the FA release the REAL reasons why this has happened with a good reason then this whole thing stinks of corruption. No procurement methods were followed. No wander FIFA didn't take the FA seriously, they know they are hypocrites.

After just hearing that Watford were judged against one other centre I have to question the original rational behind the restructuring. If this change is aimed at improving the quality of centres then all centres should have been considered against one another and those not up to standard removed. By removing excellent centres because they are in close proximity to one another strikes me as a cost cutting exercise, rather than an genuine attempt to improve the quality of women's training and the game. I am completely disgusted with this news. I had genuine hopes that over the years women's football would grow and improve. The investment in women's football is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount that is spent on the men's game. There may be an argument that women's football currently doesn't generate a large amount of revenue, however it never will if this is the kind of approach that the FA adopts towards the game.

Cant believe this makes sense to anyone.

So we now now that Watford has been closed down because it was compared solely against Arsenal and the FA in their wisdom (or complete lack of) decided that there was only the need for one excellent centre of excellence in Hertfordshire!!

This is about as logical as judging Man City against Man United and telling them they have to close down because Man United finished higher in the table and there is only a requirement for one excellent football club in Manchester!

Also, the FA think it is irrelevant that Arsenal are plying their trade in the middle of Hertfordshire whilst remaining under the jurisdiction of the London FA.

Fools is too polite a word for those behind this decision which is supposedly meant to deal with the issue of there not being enough excellent female footballers. They disgust me!

For those who wish to let as many people as possible at the FA know exactly what they think of this dreadful decision, it would appear that email addresses at the FA tend to take the following standard format:

firstname.surname@thefa.com

HAZ SEP BLTTER GOT SOMTHING TO SAY
COME ON FA GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

The FA once again showing how out of touch they are with grass roots football. Surely they can see that the opportunities for girls to develope will now diminish with reduced numbers of centres of excellences.

save this centre PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE