HAMPSHIRE FA chief executive Laurence Jones has declared himself "absolutely delighted" at the role his association has played in the continuing rise of women's and girls' football.

New figures released show the ever-increasing popularity of girls' football in this country.

In 2001/02 football became the top female sport in England for the first time, boasting 2,200 girls' teams.

But that figure rose to more than 4,200 in 2002/03.

In 12 months, the overall number of female players has jumped 38 per cent.

There are now 85,000 girls and women playing in FA-affiliated league and cup competitions.

A decade ago, before the FA took over the running of the women's game, there were only 11,000 players and just 80 girls' teams.

Only last week the Hants FA held their first ever Festival of Girls' football for Under-12s and

Under-14s at Christchurch, and attracted almost 300 players.

Plans are already under way to add extra age categories for 2004 and to possibly run the enlarged tournament over two days.

"The new figures just show how many females want to play football," said Jones.

"Three or five years ago we would have struggled to have run a tournament like the Christchurch one.

"It's all about raising the visibility of the female game.

"The FA have worked very hard, and the county associations have worked very hard and are increasing the profile of football in schools.

"The FA have spent about £6m on taking the game into the primary schools. A few years

ago there was a concern that football was disappearing off the curriculum, but that's not the case any more. It's well and truly back on the curriculum.

"Football is a lot more appealing to females nowadays.

"Part of it is down to the stadia - the standard of stadiums has never been better, they're all a lot more family-friendly than they used to be.

"Look at pictures of crowds back in the 1930s - all groups of men huddled together smoking and with no cover above them - that doesn't paint a very attractive picture.

"The success locally of Saints and Pompey and Cherries has a knock-on effect, and in Southampton Saints and Portsmouth Ladies we have two very successful role models."