The 2021/22 season was a record-breaking year for our women’s and girls programme, highlighted by two record stadium attendances, the best FA Cup run in the club’s history (3rd Round), the Northants FA County Cup success and a well-deserved promotion as champions of the East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League.
While the progress and strength of the first team (managed by Lou Barry and Josh Oldfield) is evident through the results and their promotion to the Women’s National League, credit must be given to the overall programme which allows girls to filter through the ranks, striving for first team action.
Our development team were also promoted, crowned League Cup and the NTFA Women’s Cup winners in recent months as well as various grassroot junior sides claiming trophies and showing that the future is bright for women’s football at Northampton Town.
None of the hard work and accomplishments this season would have been possible without the funding and support from our sponsors, one of which have been involved with the club for over 10 years, namely dbfb.
dbfb, a communications provider specialising in flexible connectivity, IT & telephone solutions for businesses are the main front of shirt sponsor for both the Women’s and now Academy sides. They are passionate about investing in the development of female players with the drive to see women’s football continue to grow. By seeing the progress of local players, not just on the pitch, but their confidence in general is what has encouraged their continued investment over the last 2 years.
Simon Pickering, Managing Director of dbfb has said:
“Women’s football is fast becoming part of the mainstream football fixtures with its popularity growing exponentially – this was shown by the recent record sales of tickets for a women’s game. We hope that by supporting with the club with funding, the club’s profile will continue to be raised, and as a sponsor that means our profile will too
“By showing our support, we hope it will encourage other businesses in the area to show their support too by further funding the women’s team. By helping to promote the game within the community we hope it encourages more young girls and women to play football.”
Charlene Ward-Greef, Women’s & Girls Coordinator at the Northampton Town FC Community Trust stated: “The support we have from sponsors such as dbfb is invaluable to our Women’s team and the overall development of the female game here at NTFC Community Trust. The more we develop and the further up the leagues we go, the higher the level of opposition on the field and the level of expectancy and professionalism required off it.
“I’m so proud of the programme as a whole and where it is going, but we can’t do this without some of the great support from volunteers, partners and sponsors. We are all thankful for what support we have for the female game here and hope to continue to raise the profile of female football using the NTFC badge and the great work that goes in by so many here representing us.”
Due to the growth and the success of the programme in recent years we are looking for additional funding partners across our programme who share dbfb’s passion for local women’s football.
If your business would like to help support the growth of women’s football across Northamptonshire, there are several partnership and sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Charlene Ward-Greef at charlene.wardgreef@ntfc.co.uk to find out more.
For more information or if you would like to get involved in our women and girls projects, please visit ntfccommunity.co.uk