Vicky Park Rangers under-13s had a crunch game on Saturday. If the girls were going to top the league, it was a must-win fixture against last season’s champions.
Preparations for the game had been far from ideal. A week after starting training on the Stepney Green astroturf, the council told them their time slot – which they shared with four other teams at Vicky Park Rangers, a grassroots club for 120 girls in east London – had been reallocated to a boys’ club.