More Chesterfield girls want to join football clubs following the success of the Lionesses

Sports leaders say over the last few weeks, Chesterfield has seen an increasing interest in women’s football, but England’s success on the weekend has drawn an unprecedented attention to Chesterfield Ladies, the oldest women’s football club in the town.

Jon Cotterill-Bolsoer, vice chairman at Chesterfield Ladies FC said: “The Euros had a massive impact on us. We have had a great increase in interest since the tournament started, but in the last 24 hours a lot of people have been contacting us to join the sessions following the success of our national team.

“When Chesterfield Ladies was set up in 1991 by Jane Ebbage, the first female in the world to get coaching qualification, women's football wasn’t so popular.

"Much has changed since than and now we have our very own Euro champion Millie Bright.

“I’m happy to say that we have created so many football opportunities in Chesterfield for girls and women over the last thirty years and we hope to provide even more in the future.”

Chesterfield Ladies provides sessions both for girls and women. Anyone interested can get in touch with the club through their website and join the training which runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Chesterfield FC also runs a school training programme for girls across local schools with an opportunity to sign up through the Community Trust website.

Nick Johnson, head of media and communications at Chesterfield FC said: “These sessions have run for a number of years, and they are always popular. But recently there has been even more interest from girls who want to take part.

“Among others we are taking part in coaching at the St. Mary's Catholic High School. We've had a particularly good uptake there from girls who wanted to take part recently and that interest is really great to see.”

Due to increased popularity and demand, Chesterfield FC is also setting up a Chesterfield women's football team, which will provide more opportunities for women to play football. The exact launch date has not been decided but will be announced soon as the sessions will start running later this year.

Millie Bright was brought up in Killamarsh and started her journey with local club Killamarsh Dynamos before being scouted by Sheffield United and eventually joining Doncaster Rovers Belles. At the age of 21 she made the swap from Yorkshire to the big city lights of London when she signed for Chelsea, a move which eventually saw her cement herself as part of the Lionesses' solid rearguard.