BRADFORD City Women will be celebrating Women’s Football Weekend tomorrow.

The first team will be travelling to Greater Manchester for the Women’s FA Cup where they will face Cheadle Town Stingers in a first round clash.

Meanwhile, the Under-23s will be at home for their FA Women's National League Reserve Plate preliminary round match against Barnsley Women’s Reserves.

This Women’s Football Weekend is about celebrating all forms of women’s football at City, from the clubs’ junior teams to the first team.

The Bantams are lucky to have an established junior set-up for girls’ football, with ages ranging from Under-10s to Under-18s.

As the players advance, the club will often take them through to the first team and the Under-23s.

Recently, Crystal Knapton and Jess Hayes debuted for the first team, with the former playing 70 minutes in last weekend’s FA Women's National League Plate game against Boldmere St Michaels, which the Bantams lost on penalties.

Many of the current Under-23s have come from the City junior set-up, and last weekend they were celebrating wins all around, with the Under-10s, Under-15s and Under-18s all victorious.

Last Tuesday, both the first team and Under-23s were working hard in preparation for their matches this weekend, but they still had time to share their excitement for Women’s Football Weekend.

Anaayah Charles started in the junior set-up when she was just nine years old and was also the captain during that time.

She said: “It was a massive responsibility, but it was so rewarding as well.

“It’s been a difficult season so far for me as I’ve picked up a couple of injuries, but just getting to know a new group of girls has been great.”

Charles also had some great advice for any girls wanting to get involved in football, saying: “When I played in primary school there was one girl who was always better than me, but no matter what anyone says you’ve got to keep going.”

Striker Valeria Martin has already had a great season with the club, scoring goals in recent games against Middlesbrough, Queensbury, and Huddersfield.

She joined the junior set-up at Under-15s level after a teacher at her school noticed her skills.

She explained: “He gave me a leaflet for trials at Bradford, so I thought I’d give a go, and since then I’ve been here.”

Martin also has great memories from playing at junior level, saying: “Winning the league the same year I started was amazing.

“It was our first year together as a team and we won it fairly easily.”

ABOVE: Anaayah Charles and Valeria Martin share their memories of playing in Bradford City's junior set-up.

Coach Qasim Akhtar is looking forward to this weekend’s matches and is eager to prove the talents of the junior set-up at City.

He said: “I’m feeling confident for both matches, we speak a lot about trusting the process and there is a leap from girls’ football to women’s football, but it is a good step up for the players.

“The Under-23s are a young group and I trust the coaches with leading them.”

While you may not be able to get down to see the first team at Cheadle, you can still head down to Woodhouse Grove School to watch the Under-23s battle it out tomorrow.