When people think about a football club being saved, they usually imagine a wealthy owner stepping in with millions of pounds.
That wasn’t the case at Chorley Women.
Instead, one of England’s biggest football stars decided to help in a very different way.
Manchester United and Lionesses midfielder Ella Toone has joined Chorley Women as the club’s new Creative and Strategic Advisor, helping secure its future after it faced the very real possibility of folding. Rather than writing a cheque and walking away, Toone is bringing her ideas, her experience and her platform to help rebuild a club that has been part of the local community for more than 40 years.
It’s the kind of story that reminds you women’s football is still built on people willing to give back.
A club on the brink
Chorley Women was founded in 1983 and has spent decades growing the women’s game in Lancashire.
Like many clubs outside the top divisions, it has relied on volunteers, local businesses and community support to survive. There have never been huge budgets or famous owners; just people who genuinely love football and want girls and women to have a place to play.
Earlier this year, however, the club’s future became uncertain when its committee announced it would be stepping down. Without new leadership, Chorley Women faced the possibility of closing its doors.
It would have been a huge loss, not just for the players but for everyone connected to the club.
Then Ella Toone got involved.
More than just a famous name
Toone’s new role is much more than being the face of the club.
She will work with her ET7 Academy and creative agency, Amicizia Studios, to help grow Chorley Women’s profile, attract new partners and create opportunities for young girls to play football.
That means telling the club’s story through social media, creating new content, building stronger links with the local community and helping the club become more sustainable in the long term.
It’s a different type of investment.
Instead of focusing on expensive signings or promotion, the focus is on building a stronger foundation.
Why this matters
Women’s football has changed dramatically over the past few years.
The game is attracting bigger crowds, more sponsors and more television coverage than ever before. For smaller clubs, simply winning matches isn’t always enough to survive.
People want to feel connected to a club. They want to know the players, the volunteers and the community behind it.
That’s where storytelling becomes important.
Toone’s agency was created to help athletes and organisations share those stories in a genuine way. Now that same approach will be used to help Chorley Women reach more supporters and attract new opportunities.
For a community club, being seen can be just as valuable as winning.
Going back to her roots
For Toone, this project is also personal.
She grew up not far from Chorley and knows exactly how important grassroots football can be.
Long before she became a European champion with England or one of Manchester United’s biggest stars, she was just another young girl playing football at local clubs and dreaming of making it professionally. Those early opportunities shaped her career.
Now, she’s helping make sure the next generation has those same opportunities.
Grassroots clubs need support
The success of the Women’s Super League has been incredible to watch. International stars arriving every transfer window. New, record-breaking transfer deals.
But none of that would exist without grassroots football.
Every professional player started somewhere.
Usually, it was a small local club run by volunteers who gave up their evenings and weekends because they loved the game.
Those clubs often don’t have huge budgets. Many rely on fundraising events, sponsorship from local businesses and people giving up their free time. That makes stories like Chorley’s all too familiar.
Even after years of hard work, one difficult period can threaten everything.
A different way to help
The interesting thing about Toone’s involvement is that she isn’t trying to transform Chorley overnight.
There have been no promises of massive spending. Instead, the aim is much simpler.
Help the club grow. Create opportunities for girls. Build stronger connections with the community. Tell the club’s story.
Those things may not grab headlines in the same way as a big transfer, but they could have a much bigger impact in the long run.
Toone is part of a growing number of players using their success to help grow the game.
Women’s football has always been built on people helping each other, and many of today’s stars understand that they have the chance to leave the game in a better place than they found it which is exactly what Toone is trying to do.
What this could mean for women’s football
Chorley’s situation also shines a light on a part of women’s football that rarely makes headlines. While attention often focuses on the Women’s Super League and record-breaking transfers, hundreds of clubs lower down the pyramid continue to rely on volunteers, fundraising events and local businesses just to keep going. They are the clubs that develop players, provide opportunities for girls and keep football accessible within their communities. Losing one of them would mean far more than losing a team; it would mean losing a pathway into the game.
Not every club in financial trouble will find a wealthy owner. In fact, most won’t.
But Chorley’s story shows there are other ways to build a future. Whether that is through community partnerships, former players getting involved or stronger connections; they won’t solve every problem but can make a real difference.
It’s easy to look at this story and think it’s about one football club avoiding closure but it’s much bigger than that.
It’s about protecting opportunities for young girls.
For Ella Toone, helping Chorley Women won’t be remembered because she spent millions. It will be remembered because she chose to use her influence to help people who needed it most.
Text: Fleur Dias
