Sporting Icon nominee – Kath Tranter

Sporting Icon nominee – Kath Tranter

Kath Tranter has been involved in female football for more than 50 years. She started  playing football at the age of nine followed by more than 30 years supporting the development of the female game in various different roles off the pitch.

The 66-year-old, from Park Hall, helped to set up her own football club at the age of 16 due to the lack of female teams locally and she has never looked back.

Kath has been one of the leading champions of female football in Staffordshire for a number of decades now, providing support to various organisations during that time including Staffordshire FA and Stoke City, where Kath has taken a lead role in the development of the Stoke City Girls’ Centre of Excellence and the Stoke City Women’s Team.

As the female game has continued to develop rapidly in recent decades, Kath has provided invaluable support to both the Staffordshire FA locally and The FA nationally, particularly in the early years of the development of the County and Regional League structures, supporting the West Midlands Regional Women’s Football League as Fixture Secretary for many years and helping the with introduction of the Staffordshire County Women’s League.

Kath also set up representative teams and organised five-a-side tournaments for both girls and women’s teams to participate in for many years. She continues to play an active role in developing player pathways across the female game today.

Kath has been nominated as a Sporting Icon in the Your Heroes Awards by Gareth Thomas, Commercial and Partnerships Lead at Staffordshire FA.

Gareth said: “Kath has been a member of and positively contributed to many Staffordshire FA committees and working groups set-up over the years to develop and advocate the female game in the county, providing a voice for players, coaches, officials, volunteers and parents who have been involved in the development of the female game during a significant period of growth.

“Kath has also managed the Staffordshire County Under 16s and Women’s squads for many years.

“Kath’s contribution to the female game deserves great thanks from Staffordshire FA, The FA, Stoke City and the wider female football community in general who have benefitted from Kath’s passion and dedication to the female game in Staffordshire and beyond.”

Kath said: “I just love seeing all the kids coming through. I think about where I started and where it is now. To be part of that journey is really good.

“It’s very nice to be recognised in this way because you don’t always get that. People don’t see a lot of what you do in the background.”