Arsenal now work with 18 different grassroots football clubs as part of the FA Women’s Super League Sister Club programme, and they’re looking for more.

The Gunners are trying to extend their support as widely as possible to get more girls into football. They write that their programme is one of the biggest in the country. One of their sister clubs, Watling FC, had this to say about their connection to Arsenal:

“Our relationship is very new with Arsenal Women but something we hope to grow over the coming seasons and use this to benefit our clubs involvement in Girls football.”

Watling hold training sessions on Tuesdays from 8pm at the Bedfordshire FA 3G facility.

It’s good to see the Gunners getting involved in growing the game from a grassroots level.

Any club can go out and buy the best players in Europe if they have enough money. Reinvesting in youth is a more admirable use of funding, for me. To really elevate the level of the sport you have to get more people playing it.

It’s something the club are clearly passionate about. Earlier this week Lisa Evans talked about her new vlog series, aimed at getting young women into football.

Of course, another great way to get young people excited about sport is by showing them what you can achieve on the pitch.

The Arsenal Women have done that for years with many trophy successes, but hopefully they can manage a few more in the near future.