YORK City Foundation have been chosen as one of 13 national elite centres responsible for the development of girls’ football.

As part of the FA’s new Regional Talent Club programme, tier one status has been granted at Bootham Crescent.

The club are the only National League outfit bestowed with this honour, with Arsenal, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Brighton, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City, Oxford United, Southampton and Sunderland the other to meet the highest level required for nurturing female talent.

Premier League clubs Chelsea, Everton and Stoke have only been granted tier two status and established neighbours Doncaster Rovers Bells can only offer tier-three standards.

Decisions were made following a six-month application process, which incorporated meeting the highest criteria in terms of facilities, workforce, coach and player development, performance service provision and number of age groups catered for.

Having received a three-year licence to deliver the best coaching and education for female footballers, the York centre will now receive FA funding aligned to its tier-one status.

Regional Talent Clubs have replaced the former Centre of Excellence model and are designed to improve the development of elite female players through the FA Girls’ England talent pathway.

As part of the changes, RTC age groups will run alongside the academic year, starting in September with girls’ under-10 and under-12 teams competing in Charter Standard youth leagues for the first time to enable players to further develop, both technically and physically.

Older age groups, meanwhile, will compete in FA-organised fixture programmes against other RTCs.

Brent Hills, head of the Elite Performance Unit, said: “The introduction of Regional Talent Clubs will really enhance the development of the best young female talent in this country and ensure that clubs and centres are better supported in working with them. We’d like to congratulate all of the clubs that have been successful.

“There were some excellent applications which bodes very well for the future of elite female football and the delivery of girls’ coaching. Ultimately we are committed to growing the women’s game and developing winning England teams across all age groups and we are confident that these changes will help us deliver just that.”

Paula Stainton, York City Foundation manager, added: “We are absolutely delighted to have been successful in this process. The Foundation is fully committed to the development of female football at all levels and are excited by the opportunity to develop elite female players.

“Our aim is to continue to build on the fantastic base already created in York by using the high-quality coaching staff from the former North Yorkshire Girls Centre of Excellence.”

Player trials for the York City RTC will begin in June, with details available on request via yorkrtc.ycfc@hotmail.com