As part of our celebrations of the Premier League 30 Trophy Tour stop, an Under 11s Girls Premier League Primary Stars tournament featuring teams representing London clubs took place at Gunnersbury Parks Sports Hub on Thursday.

Club directors Preeti Shetty and Monique Choudhuri, Club Ambassador, Marcus Gayle, and players from Brentford’s women’s teams were on show in support of the event, which was held to highlight the Premier League’s funding of the Emerging Talent Centres for young female footballers. These have been opened with the aim of helping to enhance the player development pathway available to them.

The Premier League have announced the investment of over £5 million into Emerging Talent Centres (ETC) over the next three years, and after recently being granted a licence by the FA, Gunnersbury Park has become one of the latest sites giving girls in football a safe environment where they are able to progress.

With the FA confirming the first 60 ETC licences, which are set to operate for at least 30 weeks per season, the female game has been given a further boost to capitalise on the success of the England national team this summer at the UEFA Women’s European Championships.

Former England internationals Ellen White and Anita Asante were also in attendance, sharing their expertise to the young players during a Q&A session.

Ellen White speaks to young players at Gunnersbury Park

Speaking on the event, Monique Choudhuri explained: “Nobody should be excluded from sport, whether you want to reach a professional level or if you just want to do it for fun, and an experience like this emphasises that.

“This event is a showcase for girls playing football and with people like Ellen White here they have the chance to dream and to be inspired.”

Preeti Shetty, Director at Brentford FC said, “I am very excited that we are holding an event like this at Gunnersbury Park, it is great to see the Premier League and the FA continuing to invest money into the female game providing a pathway for girls like we see here today and making more opportunities available for them.

“After the incredible win that the Lionesses had at the recent Euro’s there are a lot more role models for these girls, and emerging talent centres like Gunnersbury Park along with tournaments like this give them the chance to show what they can do and see how far they can go in football.”

The tournament finished with AFC Wimbledon coming out as winners, and they were presented with their trophy on a Premier League podium.