Palace for Life ETC players visit Downing Street during Lionesses celebrations
Six players from our FA Emerging Talent Centre visited Downing Street in early August as part of a visit celebrating women’s and girls’ football.
In the week that the Lionesses were being celebrated at Downing Street for their back to back EUROs win, our own stars of the future were invited for a visit of their own.
As part of the Premier League’s work supporting the development of women’s and girls’ football, 12 players from across the FA’s Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre network were given a rare tour of No.10, including six players from Palace for Life and six from the Brentford Community Sports Trust.
Our U10s and U12s players explored the corridors of Downing Street, including the famous front door, the Cabinet Room and the White Room, which is often used for TV interviews. They saw the Grand Staircase lined with portraits of former Prime Ministers and the garden that has hosted world leaders and history-defining moments. There were even a few unexpected highlights, like seeing an Olympic torch and seeing a piece of the moon, plus, a sighting of Larry the famous cat.
The opportunity was arranged by the Premier League, who are supporting the development of girls’ football across the country through a £41m investment between 2022 and 2025. This includes over £6m for the FA’s network of 70 Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres, which more than 6,000 girls now attend.
At Palace for Life, our FA Girls’ Emerging Talent Centre is part of that network, offering talented girls aged 8–16 high-quality coaching in a positive environment. It sits alongside our wider girls’ football programmes, from grassroots holiday camps and after-school sessions to our Girls’ Development Centre and new Emerging Talent ID programme.
A day at Downing Street isn’t something you forget, and for our players, it was a chance to see where football can take them, on and off the pitch.
For more information on girls’ football at Palace for Life, head here.