Three-quarters of young players are at risk of hanging up their boots because of lack of funding; here’s how small-business owners are stepping in to sponsor their local teams There have never been more eyes on – and excitement about – women’s football. Investment in women-only sponsorship deals have risen by 53% since 2023 across major European leagues. England’s women are firmly cemented in history, with their multiple accolades prompting a surge in appetite for girls’ football across the country. Last year, the Football Association reported that 90% of schools in England were offering girls equal access to football in PE lessons. What’s crucial now, however, is that the momentum is maintained. This year, Starling found that 97% of coaches from female football clubs say their teams need more financial support, and three-quarters of female players fear they will have to quit if funding isn’t secured. Starling hopes its Kick On initiative is the answer, offering their small-business customers the support and opportunity to sponsor a local grassroots team. “I was quite a shy child. Playing football gave me a lot of confidence and helped me meet people,” says Nikhil Dhokia, one of the business owners who have signed up for the scheme. He spent most of his professional career in the NHS and became a small-business owner last year when he founded the York-based ultrasound service provider ND Imaging. “Some of my friends didn’t have the best home life and playing football was an escape … It can make such a difference,” he says. “I still think about the people I played with and the memories from that [time], so I thought this was a really nice thing to be able to contribute to.” This was the motivation that drew him to the opportunity to support the Wigginton Grasshoppers U17 team, a grassroots young women’s squad that competes in the York Football League. “I’ve had a few emails from the coach, introducing the team and saying what they’d like to do with the partnership. It’s just the kit to begin with,” Dhokia says. “They seemed really appreciative, and that was nice.” Phil Martinez has been coaching the Wigginton Grasshoppers for six years, and is aware that the sponsored kit can have a huge impact. “The team itself is funded by parents, and that’s hard in this day and age – you start to ask for a lot of money,” he says. “If you want any new bit of kit, you’re relying on the goodwill of others.” As a result, the free kit in a scheme like this is very important, he says. It’s a story reflected across the UK as communities and small-business owners rally behind the women’s game. In Brighton, Catbear is a queer alternative synth pop band made up of queer women and non-binary people. “It’s always been on our radar that we want to do this kind of thing,” says Lucy Hall, Catbear’s manager, about Kick On. “We’ve all been huge women’s football fans since the Euros. This felt like a really interesting opportunity, even though it probably wouldn’t be part of a regular marketing campaign for most bands.” Catbear was matched with Starlings United, an adult seven-a-side team from the Queer Football League, based in Brighton. They’ve designed a unique band logo for the kit, which incorporates the Progress Pride flag. “It felt like a perfect fit,” Hall says. Football is something that everybody should be able to play, she adds. “We all played when we were younger but were phased out because we were girls. The Kick On sponsorship was a big outlay for us but we’d much rather this money went to support a local, community-led group that we really believe in, rather than being spent on social media ads.” Starling subsidises the sponsorship scheme and to date has handed out more than 15,000 sets of kit. For Hall, involvement in the scheme will hopefully help the band grow a bigger local following. She says: “It also just feels like a really wonderful thing to do. We’re so excited about it.” The sponsorship scheme, sponsored by Starling, has so far handed out 15,000 sets of kit Ian “Chilly” Chilvers, doesn’t play football himself but as the founder of Do It Events, an audio visual events company in Derby, he does work with a lot of football venues and teams. When he heard about Kick On, he wanted to do his bit. “You hear about the struggles some of the England team faced trying to play as girls – things are changing but we have to keep fuelling that progress.” In his Kick On application process, Dhokia too was struck by how many girls’ and women’s teams are still finding it difficult to access the right things. “Many said they were playing in a boys’ kit that didn’t fit,” he says. “If you don’t feel good, then you’re not going to play as well, are you?” Ian ‘Chilly’ Chilvers Although featuring the brand name of ND Imaging on the Wigginton Grasshopper shirts may lead to new business opportunities, he says that wasn’t really a factor. “I wanted to support young people who could benefit from football in the same way I have.” Chilvers shares the same sentiment, though acknowledges there could be reputational benefits. “If other football people see us as a company putting something back in at a grassroots level, that’s good enough. If a business can afford to give just a little bit to the community, I think they should get involved. As a feelgood factor, it’s worth a lot. Football is more than just a game.” Another sponsor is VE Cosmetics, an alternative beauty brand known for its unusual colours and individuality, that was founded by Lynsey Drewett in Grimsby in 2015. It’s working with the girls’ football team at the town’s Humberston academy, the same secondary school that Drewett attended as a teenager. She got involved because she liked the idea of supporting girls at this age. “Football might seem like a completely different world to cosmetics, but we’re both challenging expectations and encouraging people to express themselves without being restricted by stereotypes. This felt like a really practical way to demonstrate those values.” Wigginton Grasshoppers’ kits are now sponsored by ND Imaging The kit is already in production and “looks absolutely wonderful”, she says. “If it introduces us to more local people that’s brilliant and hopefully it’ll give people a new understanding of what a cosmetics company can stand for.” To other business owners considering getting involved in similar initiatives, she has this advice: “Choose something you genuinely care about and never assume you’re too small to help. You don’t need a massive budget to make a difference.” Small business owners are the lifeblood of their communities, and sport sponsorship helps direct that impact to causes that genuinely change people’s lives for the better. Grassroots women’s and girls’ football may be one small piece of the puzzle, but it’s one that reaches far beyond the immediate community: growing players’ confidence, resilience, and sense of belonging. Companies that get involved are creating a lasting legacy as community champions that care about the places they live and work. Find out more about how Starling is championing women’s football