Liverpool Foundation launches Beyond the Goalposts to widen access to football

Liverpool's foundation is launching Beyond the Goalposts, a programme intended to widen access to football for black and marginalised girls and women in the city. Sessions begin on 1 October, according to reporting by the Guardian, with opportunities covering both participation on the pitch and careers elsewhere in the sport.

Watch the highlights:

The initiative will combine football sessions with educational support and mentoring. Its areas of focus include leadership, health and wellbeing, community engagement and advocacy. Players and experts will help deliver the sessions and support participants, while Premier League funding is contributing to the programme. Activities at Anfield on match days and a football festival are also planned.

Liverpool forward Aurélie Csillag, a 23-year-old Switzerland international, told the Guardian she contacted the foundation after learning about the project because she wanted to take part. She described the subject as personally important and said she hoped to provide younger players with the kind of role model she had lacked when growing up.

Csillag linked barriers to participation to limited access, a shortage of visible role models and difficulties with confidence. Recalling her own experience in a team of white girls, she said comparing her body with those of teammates had affected her confidence. She also pointed to greater representation in Switzerland's national team as an example of progress.

The foundation's ambitions extend beyond introducing participants to playing football. Liverpool says the project is intended to help people develop leadership skills, establish supportive relationships and gain the confidence and connections to influence their communities. The off-pitch element will explore routes into work in football, alongside the programme's sporting activities.

For now, the scheme is limited to people in Liverpool. The club told the Guardian it would like to expand the programme and is encouraging other sports organisations to develop similar initiatives. No timetable for that potential expansion was given in the report, so the confirmed initial delivery remains local.

People can register their interest at any time, according to the report. The first sessions on 1 October will begin a programme combining practical football activity with the educational and mentoring support set out by the foundation.