🟢Forward Press | Formation #3🟢
Welcome to the third edition of Forward Press, FORMATION’s publication dedicated to off-pitch careers in women’s football, highlighting stories and insights driving the game behind the scenes.
As the central theme across this issue, we focus on volunteering - often the first step into football, and a powerful pathway into long-term careers across the wider sporting industry.
Volunteering is discussed in Seen Unseen at the heart of the women’s grassroots game, its motivations and barriers, and how it shapes experiences, opens doors, and supports what comes next, with valuable insights from Steph Powell of The FA and Beth Edwards of BUCS.
The Replay turns to Leicestershire CFA’s grassroots scene, where volunteer- and founder-led stories show how the women’s game has been sustained and developed across generations, forming the foundations of today’s landscape.
In No Wrong Path, Varsha Patel opens up with her volunteering journey, showing how getting involved can evolve into a coaching pathway built on experience, confidence, and community. In Focus Points, she breaks down three key lessons for anyone ready to take that first step.
Let’s take a look.
Seen Unseen #3
An editorial viewpoint on the women’s football landscape, focused on recruitment, career pathways, and the dynamics shaping opportunities for clubs and candidates alike.
From the Sidelines to the Industry: What Volunteering Offers
by Francesca G Russell, Editor, Forward Press | Head of Talent & Partnerships, Formation
There is no denying that women’s football is growing faster than ever. The signs are everywhere, across leagues, communities, with more professionalised teams and competitions, bigger crowds, greater visibility, and stronger investment.
Within that momentum sits an important support system that is often underemphasised: volunteers.
Behind every training session, matchday, and grassroots team is a network of volunteers - many quietly taking their first steps into the women’s football scene, driven by passion and a shared commitment to the game.
Through my own experience as a volunteer in a range of roles and environments (both within and outside football), working in the women’s football industry, as a parent to children playing the game surrounded by volunteers, and speaking to those operating at different levels, my understanding of it has changed over time. I have come to realise its massive impact across football communities and the wider game.
This edition of Seen Unseen is guided by my recent conversations with Steph Powell, The Football Association’s National Development Manager for Volunteering, and Beth Edwards, National Football Development Officer at the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS). Here we explore how volunteering shapes the people within it, influences career pathways, and contributes to both the current and future landscapes of the women’s game.
No Wrong Path #3
Q&A with a featured face of the women’s game, celebrating the decision-makers, creators, coaches, and changemakers shaping football in their own way, and proving that there is no single blueprint for success.
Saying yes to volunteering set Varsha Patel on her football path, now Head Coach of FC Evolution’s U11 Girls, while balancing her career, family life, and creating opportunities for women and girls.
On How Volunteering Can Pave a Pathway into Coaching
For Varsha Patel, a career in football didn’t begin with playing on the pitch, it started by supporting her daughters and encouraging sport to become part of their everyday lives.
With over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications across sectors including healthcare, education, local government, and construction, Varsha has built a career centred around storytelling, community engagement, and creating impact. Alongside this, she has developed a parallel journey in grassroots football, progressing from being a volunteer at her local club to becoming a Head Coach of the U11 girls’ team at FC Evolution, while currently preparing for her UEFA B licence.
What began with volunteering has grown into a coaching pathway, supported by continued development as a participant in programmes like The Powerhouse Project. Alongside a full-time career and family life, Varsha is helping create opportunities for young girls, while navigating and challenging traditionally male-dominated spaces.
In this edition of No Wrong Path, she shares how volunteering opened doors, the realities of balancing it all, and why taking that first step matters.
The Replay #3
Videos, headlines, interviews, or news articles worth pausing on — shared or retold with added context, insight, and intention.
The Passionate People Behind Leicestershire’s Girls’ and Women’s Game
In this edition of Forward Press’s The Replay, we highlight two video features produced by Leicestershire & Rutland County FA on their YouTube channel, shared during International Women’s Day.
A common thread emerges in these interviews: the growth of the women’s game has been created, sustained, and continually reshaped decade after decade by a committed volunteer workforce at grassroots level.
From established community clubs to founder-led initiatives creating new pathways, these stories show progress, built by the people behind it, those who stepped in, stayed committed, and those who continue to shape the game today.
Leicestershire CFA’s interviews with founders and volunteers like Sharon Reason (Asfordby Amateurs Ladies, Girls & Inclusive FC), and Sue Foulkes and Anita Robertson (Leicester City Ladies FC) offer valuable insights into how the game has evolved and where it is heading.
Video courtesy of Leicestershire & Rutland County FA | YouTube
Video courtesy of Leicestershire & Rutland County FA | YouTube
Read the full article with key takeaways here.
Focus Points #3
Insights for professionals and organisations working in and around women’s football — from career navigation and leadership lessons to strategies that strengthen the structures behind sustainable growth.
Varsha Patel’s three lessons from volunteering show us what truly sustains and shapes the journey: passion to keep going, confidence to trust your own approach, and a willingness to learn from those around you.
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