"It’s massive to make sure women feel part of the game"

Christian Walton gave up his time to meet participants at a Community Trust PDC goalkeepers session on Thursday afternoon.

The Town shot-stopper gave advice during training drills in the snow on the Portman Road practice pitch before asking questions that the youngsters had and signing programmes for them to take away.

Two girls were amongst the participants on Thursday evening, something that Christian found pleasing to see.

"It was really good to get to get out there and see the development goalkeepers because that was me when I was younger," he told the Club website.

"The weather wasn’t the best but it was good to get out there to see them taking part and enjoying themselves. 

"It’s good to see girls participating in development sessions like that and feeling part of it. W omen’s football is really talked about and is going in the right direction. The coverage that women’s football gets now is really good. There are some really entertaining games and it’s really good to see."

This weekend is dedicated to #HerGameToo, with the men's team hosting Cambridge at Portman Road on Saturday before Town Women face title rivals Southampton at the Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe on Sunday afternoon.

At both games, there will be a focus on supporting the #HerGameToo campaign, which aims for women and girls of all ages to feel confident and safe sharing their opinion about football online and in real life without fear of sexist abuse.

Christian, who attended the Tractor Girls' recent FA Cup quarter-final defeat against West Ham alongside Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin, George Edmundson, Kane Vincent-Young and CEO Mark Ashton, spoke about his positive experience at the Goldstar Ground and the importance of #HerGameToo.

"We’ll definitely be showing our support," Christian continued.

"We’ll be wearing t-shirts in the warm-up on Saturday and doing our bit for the campaign. It’s massive to make sure women feel part of the game. I’ve seen it first hand when I went to watch the women the other week. The Ipswich supporters not just coming to watch us on a Saturday but also going there on Sunday in their numbers was really good to see. 

"I hadn’t actually watched a competitive women’s game live before, obviously I had seen it on TV though. It was really good to get out there and show our support just like they show their support to us. They were unlucky not to get the win but it was a great achievement for them this year. I’ve followed them quite closely this year and their group seems to be really together and they’re going in the right direction."

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