GCWFL in partnership with the Gloucestershire FA is launching a new Player Pool to support clubs and teams to fulfil 11v11 fixtures during the 2016-2017 season.

The Player Pool concept was developed following feedback from several Clubs who were repeatedly struggling to field a full team week on week, particularly within Division 2 of the Women’s County League, and it was felt that having a pool of players from which teams can select from would boost team numbers and also support the recruitment of new and returning players to the game.

With support from the GCWFL Member Clubs and Committee, Gloucestershire FA will recruit players to the Player Pool. Clubs will then have the opportunity to contact individuals as and when necessary if they know they are going to be short of players for a game that weekend or on the actual match day itself.

Alexis Lunn-Gadd (Football Development Officer Women’s and Girls’) who has created the idea said ‘The Gloucestershire FA is keen to support the league to trial this. The logic is that it will support clubs and importantly allow games to be played 11v11 rather than being cancelled or a team having a distinct dis-advantage having to compete with less than 11 players. At the League AGM there was lots of discussion around the Player Pool and the initial idea was that it would be piloted in Division 2, however the Clubs voted for it to be used across the whole league, which I feel will be a real benefit to those clubs that wish to use it’.

The GCWFL and GFA hope that this will in turn create less work for league volunteers as it should mean less administration associated with cancelled games and subsequent re-arrangements and ultimately teams may end up signing additional players to increase their squad sizes as a result of the Player Pool players they have called upon.

Females aged 16+ who are not registered with any other team in a league at Step 5 or above of the Women’s pyramid are eligible to register on the Player Pool.

Girls and Women aged 16+ who may want to test the water in Women’s Football before committing themselves to a team, players who play in the GFA U18 Girls League along with any female who just wants to try the game for the first time or return to the game in an informal way with no commitment can register on the Player Pool and it is totally free to do so.

Gloucestershire FA are particularly keen to work with the Bristol Women’s Football Casual League who have over 100 women registered and who play once a month in a 7v7 league but many of these players do want to play more often without having to fully commit to a Club.

To ensure the Player Pool is used fairly, there is a ruling that GCWFL Clubs must adhere to when using the Player Pool, this alludes to how many players can be used from the pool each week and how many times an individual can represent the same club in a calendar month. Gloucestershire FA has also worked with Bluefin Sport to ensure that Pool Players are covered under the Clubs insurance when representing that team.

Any players who meet the criteria and would like to register themselves on the Player Pool can do so by contacting Alexis Lunn-Gadd at Gloucestershire on 01454-615888 or by e-mail Alexis.Lunn-Gadd@GloucestershireFA.com

A full list of the teams participating in the Gloucestershire County Women’s Football League in the 2016-17 season can be found on the FA Full-Time website.