Beard praises Ladies youth setup
Liverpool Ladies manager Matt Beard has lavished praise on the youth setup currently in place at the club, highlighting the tremendous work of the Reds' Centre of Excellence.
The Ladies currently have an impressive 15 players that are involved with an international team having developed through the CoE.
First-team player Ashley Hodson is currently involved with England U23s, whilst the likes of Mollie Green and Jess Davenport are part of the Three Lions' U19 setup.
Another example of the great work being done with the CoE is the recent full call up of Emilie Revitt to the Wales senior squad having previously represented the U19s.
Reds boss Beard believes developing players through the youth system is an area of the club that has dramatically improved since he joined in 2012 and has praised the work of coaches throughout the Liverpool Ladies setup.
Beard said: "We are lucky to have such an excellent youth setup in place at Liverpool Ladies. Since joining the club in 2012 we have had a number of players developing through the youth system and making the grade with the first team, such as the likes of Ashley Hodson and Hannah Dale.
"The amount of youth internationals we currently have on our books is tremendous and is testament to the great work being done by the coaches from all of our youth teams.
"We are fortunate to have some extremely talented coaches throughout the youth teams who help to push the girls to improve their game."
Beard also spoke of the importance of developing younger players, adding: "It is crucial for any club to develop players through their youth setup as it is vital to have that local feel to the side.
"Supporters take great pride in seeing local players make the step up to the first team and at Liverpool Ladies the message is that if you are good enough, then you will get an opportunity to prove yourself at first-team level.
"This pre-season we have used no less than 10 players for the first team. We also ensure that we have development squad players training with the first team as often as possible to ensure that they are not overawed when they are eventually called up for first team."
Players involved or previously involved in international setups:
Emilie Revitt - Wales senior squad
Ashley Hodson - England U23s
Hannah Dale - former England U19s
Jess Davenport - England U19s
Mollie Green - England U19s
Olivia Fuller - Wales U19s
Mayumi Pacheco - England U17s
Kess Elmore - England U17s
Hayley Taylor - England U17s camp
Jess Carberry - England goalkeeping camp
Niamh Charles- England U16s
Mia Parry - England U15s
Jenny Myler - England U15s
Lauren Thomas - England U15s camp
Missy Bo Kearns - England U15s camp
Annabel Blanchard - England U15s camp
Aimee Kelly - England U15s camp
Evie Gordon - England U15s camp
Meesha Dudley Jones - Wales U15s
Cassia Pike - Wales U15s