‘Being part of a football team is life-changing’
CAROL BATES 55, from West Sussex, founded the Crawley Old Girls (COGS) football team in 2015 and has played for them ever since.
‘I grew up with my dad playing football and was always dragged along to watch. As a teenager, I served the teas and pies in the clubhouse. When I had my sons, they played football, too. Football was part of my life, but the only thing I couldn’t do was play! Back then, I just accepted there were no teams for girls or women.
In 2015, I was involved in a charity event which had a football tournament. I was one of two women in a team. When I got on
