A thorough review of Altrincham FC women's team is underway with the aim of raising its profile and strengthening the pathway towards the senior squad for young homegrown talent.

As ever, the club are determined to keep striving for excellence in all areas and want to forge a vibrant women's team to build on our flourishing and inclusive junior section for girls and fantastic community set-up.

With that in mind, changes are being formulated that are aimed at increasing the flow of emerging talent from juniors to seniors and arming the women's squad with the quantity and quality of players required to compete further up the pyramid.

The women's team currently operate under the auspices of Altrincham FC Community Sports, but the intention is that they will return to the ownership of the football club, where every effort will be made to build on the way several girls have already made a successful transition to senior status in recent times.

The emphasis on producing and nurturing potential is for obvious reasons. For supporters and officials alike, there is nothing quite so rewarding as seeing local homegrown youngsters emerge from the ranks and make the grade at first-team level, and the added bonus is that it can only enhance the prospects of proven talent from elsewhere being attracted to the club.

As an organisation, we are extremely proud of the opportunities currently provided across the three pillars of our club, with our junior section having one of the largest girls' sections in our region and the community company providing opportunities such as women’s recreational football and girls' football fun weeks.

The next step is to provide the girls currently playing in the older age groups of our junior teams with an improved and streamlined pathway to senior level that will ensure we have a sustainable and competitive model in place to support our ambitious plans for Altrincham FC Women.

The team are presently in the sixth tier of their pyramid, but it is hoped that, with a new structure in place, they will begin to climb the leagues and establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in what is, on a nationwide scale, an expanding and thriving women's game.

A working group has been established involving all relevant stakeholders in and around the club and we look forward to sharing more detail of our plans in the near future.