In 2019, Barclays and The Football Association (The FA) launched the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships (BGFSP) with a clear mission: give girls’ equal access to football in schools.
It was part of the biggest investment in UK women’s sport by a brand, ever.
A clear mission but with a tight deadline: drive real tangible change by 2024. Last year the campaign influenced actual government policy change, but this year we saw how all our activity over the past five years had come to fruition and the scale of the impact from the BGFSP.
Thanks to the partnership, 2.5 million girls now have equal access to football in their PE lessons. 20,000 schools are now registered to the BGFSP, enabling football in schools to girls, a 566% increase from 2019.
That hasn’t happened by accident. In March the annual #LetGirlsPlay Biggest Ever Football Session was, well, the biggest ever. 465,000 girls across England played football on one day.
But this isn’t just about getting girls playing football. It’s about giving girls the same opportunities as boys and recognising the benefits football brings on setting them up for success in life. We underpinned this with our new brand purpose: Here for every goal, launched with a new multi-channel campaign demonstrating how Barclays support football at every level.
And we’re not done yet. In 2024 we also extended our partnership with The FA until 2028, deepening our focus to secondary schools, helping girls stay in football and transition into future opportunities.
