Norwich City women: Canaries players on being role models

Shaun Howes' side face Ashford in NR1 in a fortnight with over 5,000 supporters already buying tickets. 

A year of progress on and off the pitch has led to the doors being opened to Carrow Road, with City's women usually hosted at The Nest for home matches. 

Since their integration into the main club 12 months ago, the team has sought to make positive strides for improvement, including appointing Flo Allen as general manager, increasing training and gaining access to Colney training centre. 

General manager Flo Allen (Image: Denise Bradley)

That has culminated in an outing on the biggest stage in front of a bumper crowd. 

City's players are acutely aware of their role among young supporters, especially females who will look towards them as inspirational figures, especially when such figures weren't as prominent in their own childhoods, and they know their responsibilities when representing Norwich. 

"All the girls here know that we are role models and all that we can do is show our commitment, hard work and resilience on the football pitch," City player Kathryn Stanley said.

"We get decent crowds here at The Nest and there are always young girls watching and are being inspired. Knowing there is going to be even more at Carrow Road ups the stakes a bit. If we go out and play our game, that is all we can do as role models." 

That sentiment is echoed by City's captain Millie Daviss, who shared her experiences of growing up as a female interested in playing the game. 

"I think that is really important. When I was young, I was a Norwich fan, and still am, and look up to the male players but I didn't really know any female Norwich City footballers," she said.

"But now, young girls and boys can look up to female role models. That is something I feel really passionate about.

"The Lionesses have really boosted that and that's amazing. It's something that is happening across the leagues that female teams are playing at their men's grounds and that is really great.

"The Carrow Road fixture is a brilliant showcase to get the young people in to see what we're about."

City defender Alice Parker added: "100pc and I hope they are in my shoes one day and grow up to be good little footballers.

"You walk around and people say 'hi, can I have your signature?'. You think 'gosh' and it shows how times are really changing. It's amazing. As long as we can inspire them then we have done our job, really."

Stanley, an Arsenal fan, can relate to that experience of having few female role models to aspire to in football - that void was often filled by male counterparts. 

But the proliferation of the female game, aided by the triumph of the Lionesses at the European Championships last summer, has trickled down to having an impact on City's players. 

"To be honest, there were none at all when I was growing up. I also played in a mixed team until I was 11 so I never really had that female presence within football," Stanley said.

"I grew up supporting Arsenal so it was the male footballers that I was following. It's only in the recent years that drive of women's football has really made a difference."

For young footballers like Parker, the Lionesses have shown there are opportunities for young, talent females hoping for a career in the game. 

"When someone used to say to me, it was always a Norwich City men's player. Now it is different, it's a female player," she said. "Leah Williamson and all of them, we aspire to be like them. When you see girls with their names on shirts it shows times are changing." 

Daviss added: "The Lionesses have really boosted the coverage of the game. You've got players like Ella Toone, Alicia Russo and players that are playing for United and that's class.

"It's really grown over the last few years more than any other time since I've been playing football."