Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Chloe Morgan and former referee Rebecca Welch were the special guests at the National Football Museum this week for a Premier League Changemakers event to mark International Women's Day on 8 March.
The celebration involved them donating shirts to the museum's iconic Football Heritage Collection in recognition of their inspiring contribution to the game.
Morgan's 2017 Tottenham Hotspur shirt was signed by 12-to-15-year-olds from 27 professional football club charities taking part in the Premier League Changemakers programme, a leadership activity for girls and young women participating on the Premier League Kicks and Premier League Inspires programmes.
Welch's shirt was the one she wore in the match between Fulham and Burnley in December 2023 when making history as the first woman to referee a Premier League fixture.
Here, Morgan and Welch reflect on a memorable day.
Chloe Morgan
"This is part of Premier League Changemakers, an incredible project geared towards assisting young women and girls, giving them the space to grow their confidence to become leaders and future leaders within the world of football. It's been absolutely amazing.
"I was part of the Premier League Changemakers event that took place early last year, and I was able to speak to some of the young people about their experiences in football, what they want to achieve in football, their ambitions, and it was amazing to see so much confidence.
"I feel very safe and secure in the knowledge that a lot of them are going to go on to become absolutely incredible people within this space and to have some of them sign my shirt as well it's unreal for me.
"There are so many signatures on that shirt and a lot of those are from people who will be leaders in the space, whether that's leaders on the pitch, leaders off the pitch, leaders in boardrooms, leaders in communities, leaders in grassroots football, and I think we're going to see a lot of those names starting to come to the forefront in the future.
"It's really lovely that those are all on one shirt as a legacy piece and we'll see where their journeys take them in the next 10-15 years. I feel very honoured that they've signed the shirt. It's a collaboration of my history in the game and their future history going forward.
"There are so many role models that exist in football, and that's both on and off the pitch. I could name at least four or five people in this room who have been a part of my journey, who have helped to support and grow me as a person, and I hope I've done the same for them.
"When you see the young people who are gearing towards different types of careers within this space, it's always amazing to have people who have existed in football who can teach them the ways to go, the barriers and challenges that exist, but also the positivity of having a career in some of these spaces and growing the diversity. It's been an incredible day.
"I feel super proud but I also think I've got a little bit of imposter syndrome. I sat next to Rebecca Welch, someone who is such an icon, who has pushed the referee agenda so far forward with so many incredible history making things. And to have one of my shirts in a museum like this, that will form part of the collection feels very surreal, I've been texting my mum and dad about it all day! I feel really, really happy and very honoured."
Rebecca Welch
"It's really important to celebrate women's success in football because when I was growing up, if someone had asked who my role model was I would have really struggled to have picked one out, especially in the sporting sector. Whereas now we've seen some incredible women in football come through, players, referees and people behind the scenes.
"The shirt is the one I wore as the first female to be appointed to a Premier League game, so it was a really difficult one to part with. However, I know that it's in good hands at the National Football Museum. It's going to be displayed here for the foreseeable future. It's part of history so this is rightly the place it should be.
"It feels a bit strange to be called a trailblazer because I was always a little bit embarrassed. I am quite a humble person, so I never really used to attach that title to myself. As time has gone on, I get more comfortable with it because I've seen what effect it can have on other young women and even in boys coming through in the sport.
"If you've got visibility, people see it and say, 'if they can do it, I can do it.' That's probably what people do with me. I have a lot of refs coming through in the Select Group Women's Professional Game who I manage now and because I've been in the Championship, UEFA and FIFA, they want to follow.
"Premier League Changemakers was a programme that was brought in when I worked for the Premier League Charitable Fund. It supports and empowers young women to come in and be leaders and it's absolutely fantastic. If I had had something like this when I was younger, I probably would have thrived a lot more.
"You see some of the girls here, they come and speak to you and they have that air of confidence. You can see that we are going to make some really good leaders out of this programme.
"A 15-year-old Rebecca never thought she would be stood here today. It's unbelievable. Time has gone by so fast. I had a big passion for football growing up. Through refereeing I've been able to see some of the biggest crowds in the world, ref some of the best players in the world. Teenager Rebecca would've never believed that was possible."
