A PROGRAMME to get more girls involved with football received extra funding yesterday after exceeding its target for the year.

42,462 new girls have been attracted to the sport since the FA Women’s and Girls’ Programme was set up in 2013 thanks to help from the Football Association, Sport England, the Premier League and Football League Trust.

Its initial target was to have 40,000 girls playing football by August 2015 and after hitting that goal, the plan now is to have a further 21,000 participants over the next 12 months with an extra £3.7 million

“This event is one part of the Premier League Girls Football Programme that provides a variety of opportunities for girls to get involved in community sport initiatives run by our clubs,” Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore said.

“In the last year alone this programme has resulted in a 47 per cent increase in the number of girls taking part in Premier League club community projects, and the new funding will help our clubs further grow sports participation amongst women and girls.”

FA football participation and development director Kelly Simmons said that it was important to keep the girls playing the sport once they joined.

She said: “One of the biggest challenges we face with teenage girls and young women is not just getting them to play, but keeping them playing.

“This initiative has addressed this and it’s great to see so many young women playing regularly as a result.”

Director of Sport England Phil Smith echoed Simmons’s point, saying: “It’s not just about going out on the pitch once and having a kickabout.

“We want them to have a quality experience so that they can continue to enjoy football for as long as they want to. That is why this partnership is so important.”

The sessions run for 30 weeks of the year, through 87 Premier League and Football League clubs.