Stronger Together
Helen Watson & Kate Smith, England
England Football and Goal Click are teaming up to tell the stories of grassroots football communities across England. Through the eyes of individuals within these communities, we will share stories that reveal how the game is lived, felt, and passed on to future generations. Their stories are shaped by the places they grew up, the pitches they played on, and the communities that raised them.
Helen Watson and Kate Smith are members of Workington St Joseph's Ladies Walking Football Club in West Cumbria, with Kate founding the club in 2024 and Helen joining after returning to the game. Together, they have helped create opportunities for women to play, volunteer and build lasting connections through football.
Kate: The reality is that we have had to rely on each other. When you do not have unlimited resources, facilities or opportunities, people become your greatest asset. Communities become closer, friendships become stronger, and you learn to work together to make things happen.
My name is Kate Smith. I am 45 years old and although I now call West Cumbria home, I am originally from Lancashire.
When I joined the RAF at 22, football remained a constant. Wherever I was stationed, it gave me an instant connection to people and community.
By the age of 44, I knew I needed something less physically demanding but was not ready to leave football behind. In 2024, I founded Workington St Joseph's Ladies Walking Football Club to create opportunities for women to keep playing, or to start playing for the very first time later in life.
Football has shaped every stage of my life. It has given me friendships, confidence, opportunities to travel and, above all, a deep appreciation for the power of community. Watching our club grow and seeing women discover a love of the game, often when they thought that opportunity had passed them by, has become one of my proudest achievements.
Helen: My name is Helen Watson, I am 37 years old and I live in Penrith, Cumbria. Professionally, I am a Clinical Operations Manager and MRI Radiographer, but outside of work, football is a huge part of my life.
Like many women of my generation, there were not many opportunities to play growing up. I loved sport and spent countless hours playing football with the boys on the school field, always as the only girl and always feeling like I had to prove myself. Looking back, that made me determined and resilient, but I am delighted that girls today have far more opportunities than I ever did.
A few years ago I discovered a local ladies' kickabout group, which reignited my love of playing. Before long I found walking football and realised I had found the perfect way to balance my love of the game with work and family life. I now play competitive walking football for Workington St Joseph's Ladies and help the club wherever I can, both on and off the pitch.
Football has given me confidence, lifelong friendships and a real sense of belonging. It has also shown my daughters what women can achieve in sport, and seeing them grow up in an environment where women are playing, coaching and leading is something I am incredibly proud of.
Rising Into View
Kate: For some, thinking of Workington might remind them of the sweeping harbour at Whitehaven. For others, it could be the coastline around Maryport, the wind turbines that dot the landscape, or even the sight of the Sellafield nuclear site stretching along the coast. These are all landmarks that are woven into everyday life in our part of the world.
For me, it is something much bigger.
The sight that instantly makes me think of home is coming back into West Cumbria after being away elsewhere in the country. After a long journey, there’s a moment on the A66 when the mountains begin to appear on the horizon. Every single time, it takes my breath away.
The landscape suddenly opens up and the fells rise into view. It feels almost magical. The scenery is so dramatic that it reminds me of something from The Lord of the Rings. No matter how many times I have seen it, that first glimpse of the mountains still gives me the feeling that I am nearly home.
One thing people outside Workington and West Cumbria often do not fully appreciate is just how vast, rural and isolated this part of the country can be.
Because our population is relatively small and spread across a large area, we do not always have access to the same opportunities, facilities and infrastructure that people in larger towns and cities might take for granted. We do not have endless leagues to join, huge player pools to draw from or multi-sport complexes on every corner. Funding can be harder to secure, and opportunities often require significant travel.
These challenges do not weaken us. They make us stronger.
A New Chapter
Helen: Women from different towns, backgrounds and stages of life come together because of a shared love of the game. Many of us would never have met without football. We live in different places, work in different professions and have very different lives, yet football has created a community that connects us all.
Community means knowing that somebody will notice if you do not turn up. It means having people to celebrate with when things are going well and people to support you when life is difficult. It means belonging. For many of us, that sense of belonging is every bit as important as the football itself.
It has been really special to see our team members become confident players and watch women who thought their football journey was over discover a whole new chapter through walking football.
Kate: Workington St Joseph’s Ladies Walking Football Club is about far more than football. Football is what brings us together, but community is what keeps us together.
Walking football removes a lot of the barriers people associate with the game and creates a welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong.
Living in West Cumbria has so many positives, but it can also be quite isolating. We are geographically remote, our communities are spread out, and people can sometimes feel disconnected or alone. For many women, coming along to walking football is about much more than exercise. It is a chance to get out of the house, meet new people, build friendships and spend time with others who share similar interests and experiences.
One of the things I am most proud of is seeing friendships form between women who otherwise would never have met. Those connections do not end when the session finishes; they continue throughout the week and often become lasting friendships.
People often join us thinking they are signing up for a football team. What they usually discover is something much bigger. They find friendship, belonging and a support network. That is why we always say we are more than a football club - we are a family.
It is the smallest moments that capture the spirit of football in our community best. Our team laughs constantly. Whether training, travelling, competing or socialising, there is always laughter.
One of my favourite moments happens almost every Friday. We finish training after an hour of hard work, exercise and plenty of encouragement, feeling physically tired but mentally refreshed. Then we head across the road to our pub, sit down together and spend time reflecting on the session. We share stories from the week, laugh about things that happened in training, and simply enjoy each other’s company.
That Old Astro Pitch
Kate: The place that means the most to our club is the astro pitch at Workington St Joseph’s School.
It is where we established the team, where we have trained since day one and where so many friendships and memories have been created.
It is an old first-generation astro pitch - hard, worn and has seen better days. We do not have the latest 4G surfaces, state-of-the-art facilities or the resources that some clubs in larger towns and cities enjoy. But what we do have is our people.
The pitch has become special because of what happens on it. Every week, come rain or shine, we turn up. We do not cancel sessions and we are always there for the women who want to play.
People know that whenever they are ready to come along, whether they missed a few weeks because of work, childcare, caring responsibilities or life simply getting in the way, we will be there waiting for them.
That old astro pitch represents everything our club stands for: resilience, commitment, community and showing up for one another week after week. For us, it is much more than a football pitch. It is home.
Unsung Heroes
Helen: What people do not always see is everything that happens behind the scenes to make these opportunities possible. Kate has dedicated countless hours to creating opportunities for women to play football in Cumbria. Through her work with Workington St Joseph's Ladies and Cumbria Ladies Walking Football, she has brought together women from across the county and created communities that simply did not exist before.
She organises sessions, enters teams into competitions, arranges travel, supports players, promotes opportunities and constantly looks for ways to help women's football grow. Most of that work happens quietly in the background.
What makes her contribution special is that it is not just about football. She has created environments where women feel welcome, valued and supported. When people talk about successful clubs, they often focus on what happens on the pitch. In reality, people like Kate are the reason those clubs exist in the first place.
Kate: The management team are absolutely the unsung heroes of this football club. We do not do it for recognition, awards or praise. We do it because we love football, we love our community and, most of all, we love this team. Seeing the friendships that have been created, the confidence that has been built and the opportunities that have been given to women who may never have thought they could be part of football is all the reward we need.
The truth is that people might see the players as the face of the club, but behind every training session, every tournament, every trip and every success is a group of people quietly working away because they care. That is what keeps this club moving forward.
The Heart Of The Club
Helen: I hope Workington never loses its sense of community. It is truly all about the people. Through football, I have seen how much volunteers, coaches, organisers and players care about creating opportunities for others and bringing people together.
I hope future generations continue to have those opportunities and that the strong community spirit remains at the heart of the town. I hope that sense of belonging and connection never disappears.
Kate: When I think about the future of Workington St Joseph’s Ladies Walking Football Club, I hope that everything which makes us unique today remains at the heart of the club for years to come.
I hope we continue to grow. I hope we enter more competitions, attract more players and perhaps even create more teams. Success and growth are exciting, and I would love to see the club continue to develop and provide opportunities for even more women across West Cumbria.
But more than anything, I hope we never lose what made us special in the first place and that the club becomes something that lasts for generations.
I would love to see the children of our current players eventually pulling on the shirt themselves. I love to imagine a future where some of us who founded the club in 2024 are still turning up 20 years from now, still playing football, still laughing together and still part of the same community.
