A brief History. Our preparation European Championships 2020

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1 A brief History In 2011 it was announced that there would be an inaugural European Police Ladies Football Championships being held place in Copenhagen, Denmark in the summer of Most forces have a regional ladies team however there had never been a national team so trials were held to select the best players from the 45 forces from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A squad of 18 were selected to compete against teams from across Europe including France, German and Swedish police teams. Despite not achieving any great success at the tournament the experience gave everyone a desire to return to the next Championships, in four years time. The 2016 Championships were held in Prague, Czech Republic and due to the demand for places; a qualifying system was introduced. This involved GB Police making a flying visit to Budapest to play the Hungarian Police Ladies team. Despite going a goal behind, GB Police rallied and won the game 5-1 ensuring a place in the finals. June 2016 saw the team travel to Prague with high expectations and whilst there were significant improvements from Copenhagen, we are still some way behind the levels achieved by some of our European counterparts such as France and Germany who have contested the final for the second tournament in a row. These teams have semi-professional footballers and training camps authorised during working time it s not difficult to see why! Our preparation European Championships 2020 Outside of the tournaments we have had successful fixtures against the RAF, National Prison Service, FC United, Man City reserves, and Worcester and Manchester Universities as well as Internationals against Swedish and Belgian National Police teams. In 2017 we held a recruitment drive where we have seen a number of new players joining the team including full internationals. The competition for places is really stepping up as we head towards the European championships; our results in 2018 have been fantastic against tough opposition. There are 18 different police forces represented by the current squad, which will hopefully give me the right kind of headache when it comes to selecting the best team! In 2019 there is a likelihood of a further European Qualifier; currently the preparation is under way for an extensive build up to the Europeans to give us every chance of success. The team is run on a voluntary basis with players and staff giving up a lot of time/annual leave and personal finances as well as juggling full time jobs as police officers to make Training camps. We are always looking for sponsorship opportunities, so if you would like any further information please get in touch. We can be found on Twitter (@GBCopsLadiesFooty) and Instagram (uk_ladies_police_football).

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4 Latest training Camp Manchester 2018 Day 1 - Fitness testing and Coaching. RESULTS: Manchester Metropolitan University - 0 V British Police Ladies-10 Scorers: Shannon Osman, Alison Smyth x 3, Susan Fairlie, Paris Smith x 4, and OG. National Prison Service-0 V British Police ladies-10 Scorers: Sarah Danby x2, Elly Maggs, Tanya Dickinson, Nyci Thorns x4, Susan Fairlie and Sammy Hare

5 Michelle Gregory National Police Team Manager