An all-girls junior football team has been declared champion of a boys’ league, going undefeated on their way to the title.
The under-12 girls’ team of SB Frankfort, a club based in Plymouth, won the Devon Junior and Minor league with two matches left to play in the season.
They have won 14 of their 17 games, drawing the other three, and scored 75 goals - more than four per match.
It is thought it could be the first time an all-girls team has won a boys’ football league in Britain, although the Football Association (FA), which governs the sport in England, said the claim was impossible to verify because of the number of junior leagues across the country.
Elite junior girls’ teams have been allowed to compete in boys’ leagues since May 2016, when the FA changed its elite pathway for girls’ football.
SB Frankfort head coach James Brown-Tunnell said his team's title win was “a fantastic achievement for the whole squad".
"Everyone has played their part this season," he added. “This has been four years in the making and I couldn't be happier.
“The main aim by joining the boys’ league was for the girls to be challenged, so it’s amazing to end up league winners.
“Our aim is to stay undefeated and then move on to the league cup final on 12 May.”
Assistant coach John Preston said: “It has been a great season and we have had great games against some fantastic teams who have praised the girls both on and off the pitch.
“We have been told many times that the girls can’t, but this proves our girls definitely can.”
