The first-ever West Lothian Girls’ Football Festival proved to be a huge success with over 130 budding footballers taking part.

The event, held at New Murrayfield Park in Blackburn was open to West Lothian schoolgirls between Primary 5 and 7 and was the idea of Livingston Village Primary School teacher Lesley Taylor, who is also a coach at Blackburn United.

The festival was organised in partnership with Lesley, West Lothian Youth Foundation’s Football Development Officer David Baird and West Lothian Active Schools Coordinator Stewart Livingston.

The girls took part in a number of fun drills and activities during the course of the day with the aim of the festival being to give all girls in West Lothian the opportunity to play football in a fun and safe environment.

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A spokesperson said: “Due to the fantastic achievement of the Scottish Women’s National Team in qualifying for this year’s World Cup, the festival used this achievement to hopefully motivate and inspire the next generation of girls to imagine that they could play for Scotland.

“The aim was to give the girls the chance to play football in an environment that was designed to develop both an interest in the sport but challenge those who already play the game.”

The Festival was supported by Nike community outreach Livingston, senior pupils from Inveralmond Community High School, Armadale Academy and Bathgate Academy as well as Blackburn United.