Barclays Focuses on the Power of Chances to Inspire the Next Generation of Female Players

Barclays has today launched their latest campaign as part of their commitment to giving girls in England equal access to football: ‘It All Starts With A Chance’. Historically, girls have had fewer opportunities to engage with the sport; 76% of men said they played football in PE lessons at school, yet only 19% of women said they had the chance to play[i].  That is something Barclays aims to change.

Earlier this season Barclays announced a £30m investment in women’s football through title sponsorships of the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship, following a pledge to ensure girls have the same access to football as boys by 2024 through their support of the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships (BGFSP), and this campaign is a demonstration of this commitment to the game.

As well as the BGFSP, Barclays also became lead partner of Barclays Game On in 2020, a programme developed by the Youth Sport Trust that uses football as the tool to develop and teach key life skills to young girls, and this year will be opening up the Barclays Community Football Fund to help give chances to disadvantaged and under-represented communities through football.

These initiatives are essential in not only inspiring more girls to play football, but in developing skills away from the pitch, with research finding that 80% of girls show more confident behaviour having played football.

Tom Corbett, Barclays group head of sponsorship and media said; “This campaign demonstrates our commitment to ensuring girls are given every chance to play football. As part of our long-term commitment to football in England, by 2024 we want to make sure that every girl in England has the same opportunities to play football as boys. This is incredibly important, as being given the chance to play football doesn’t just benefit your skills on the pitch, it opens up a whole new range of possibilities and life skills off it. We look forward to continuing our work, alongside our partners, to implement initiatives such as the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships and Barclays Community Football Fund in the future to help grow the game of football in this country”.

The campaign launches with a film – The Chance - a 30-second story that explores the dreams of a young girl at school, visualising herself in a variety of situations that a professional footballer would face, including a press conference, an interview with Ian Wright, and signing autographs for young fans.

Created by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and M&C Saatchi London, the film will run across TV, social, and VOD from today.