Girls' and Women's Football
Southampton FC Girls' & Women's programme comprises of the Tier 1 Plus licensed FA Girls Regional Talent Club (RTC) (Under 12s - Under 16s) Regional Talent Club Academy (Under 16s up) and Women's First Team. This enables talented female players to develop within the club's environment with the aim of turning potential into excellence on and off the pitch.
We host a Women's First Team who currently play in Tier 2 (Barclays Women's Championship) and the Regional Talent Club Academy (who play in the FA Women's National Reserve League) to support the transition of players from the Girls' programme, this is all led by the Head of Girls and Women's Football - Marieanne Spacey-Cale.
A Regional Talent Club (RTC) is an enhanced coaching centre for U10, U11, U12, U14 and U16 age groups, and allows players identified as having elite potential the opportunity to access appropriate levels of coaching and support and is part of England's Elite Pathway. It is a quality assured programme providing player development opportunities for elite female players.
Southampton FC are also one of only four clubs to be awarded a Tier 1 Plus licence for its Regional Talent Club (RTC), after the Football Association conducted a review ahead in 2020. The review itself consists of feedback from clubs, players, parents, staff and internal FA members, with the results then collected and graded. Southampton were found to be excelling in terms of general practises, with particular reference to: training facilities, player development pathway and player support.
