Chorley Women FC welcomed a record of number of fans for a home fixture as the Premier League Trophy paid the club a visit for their recent FA Women's National League Division One North match against AFC Fylde.
Promotion-chasing Chorley Women FC are in the first season of a five-year groundshare at Euxton Villa's Jim Fowler Memorial Ground, which has been the subject of significant investment from the Premier League.
An all-weather 3G pitch opened at the ground last year, following a £750,000 grant from the Football Foundation, funded by the Premier League, The FA and UK Government.
The Premier League Stadium Fund also provided a further £210,000 towards the pitch and infrastructure upgrades including energy-efficient LED floodlights.
"Funding at grassroots level is essential, because without that level girls may never get the opportunity to play," said former England, Liverpool and Everton goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis, who was one of the special guests at the match.
"We've seen the upsurge in how many young girls are wanting to play football in the last 10 years and an absolutely colossal rise in the last five years.
"You've got thousands, if not, millions more people wanting to play football. You need more facilities so its fantastic to see a pathway for girls and an amazing facility that can host training sessions and matches at weekends, night-time or whenever you want!"
Fans at the fixture were able to take photos with the Premier League Trophy, a rare chance for an up-close look at the silverware which has been won by stars including Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, David Beckham and Sergio Aguero.
The match was also made extra special with 44 aspiring mascots accompanying both sides onto the pitch.
Young players from Euxton Girls academy and Astley & Buckshaw Juniors FC also took part in pre-game and half-time football activities, watched by Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock and Head of Women's Football at Burnley FC Lola Ogunbote.
"What a brilliant way to celebrate women's and girl's football," said Chorley Women Chair Jonny Slater. "It was a magic evening for us with the Premier League Trophy visiting our grassroots ground.
"We’re the most senior team in the local girls and women's pathway, so hopefully some of those girls will one day play for our first team.
"The 3G pitch offers a gorgeous surface, we can train on the same pitch we play on and that’s been great. We can play through winter and of the risk of matches being postponed is greatly reduced. For pretty much all of the club’s 40-year history, Chorley Women have been nomadic so it’s fantastic to have a home.
"We're buzzing to have set a new attendance record which is a real milestone and 325 fans beats our previous record of 258. CWFC is Chorley's best kept secret! Our team is fighting for promotion alongside Middlesbrough and are ahead of the women's teams for some really big clubs in Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Barnsley."
Over three years from 2022, the Premier League is investing £41m into women's and girls' football.
This includes £3m over three years for the FA Women's National League - funding the strategy to strengthen tiers three and four of the women's pyramid.
"The Premier League investment has been really significant in terms of our strategy [for the FA Women's National League] and what we want to do," said FA Women's National League board member Ogunbote.
"There's an absolute correlation between that funding and the growth of the game. We've been able to invest in a number of areas including coach development which has a wide-ranging impact."
The activity was part of the Premier League's 'More Than A Game' Trophy Tour, which is highlighting the positive impact of the League's unprecedented £1.6 billion investment into wider football, the grassroots game and communities between 2022 and 2025.