IT was a heart-breaking moment but nonetheless an empowering one which helped elevate the kudos of women’s football.

When England’s women’s team, the Lionesses, bowed out of the Fifa Women’s World Cup final in third place after an own goal, the tears rolled.

As the final whistle blew the centre half was engulfed by team mates desperate to offer the culprit, Laura Bassett, a consolatory hug.

But that defining moment four years ago led to optimism, not just for the national team.

Women and girls have been since taking to grass roots football in their thousands – and showing they mean business.

Colchester United Football in the Community, the charitable arm of Colchester United, launched a Female Development Centre in 2017.

This is an invitation-only player development programme for girls’ Under 8s and Under 9s age groups.

Players are assessed by the coaches in their weekly training sessions and also have the opportunity to participate in fixtures against other professional football clubs, alongside their Sunday club games.

Sienna Carr, nine, was selected for the centre after previously joining another U’s programme aged six.

Carla Dickinson, Women and Girls' lead, said: “In the time she has been with the Development Centre, her progress has been evident and she has been a key player in our team.

"Her technique and knowledge of the game has developed massively, preparing her nicely for the next step on the performance ladder into Essex Regional Talent Club.”

The FA’s Girls’ England Talent Pathway aims to produce elite English female players to compete on the world stage.

Football in the Community also launched a Premier League Girls' programme.

Every week a team works with at least 80 girls and women aged 12 to 35-years-old.

It runs four sessions a week in secondary schools and a walking football session for women new to or returning to the game.

And it’s not just Colchester United that is doing its bit to encourage girls and women into football.

Steve Addington has launched the Dragonesses girls’ football team for girls in years five and six at primary school, at Wivenhoe Town Football Club.

Year four girls are also welcome to join if they have some football experience and are enthusiastic.

Mr Addington said: “The motivation for starting up a girls’ team under the Wivenhoe Town umbrella came from a desire to grow the women’s game so that my daughter and other girls like her are able to experience the same diverse mix of football competition that the boys enjoy.

“There are some amazing girls’ teams in Essex, but they are thinly spread, meaning that girls’ teams sometimes have to travel long distances for a game.”

Girls can play in boys teams but Mr Addington said some are either unable or unwilling to compete with boys on a physical level – or worse, that boys sometimes don’t include them in the game.

Over at Stanway Rovers, girls' football is also thriving, thanks to founder and dad Leo King.

After his daughter Gabby expressed an interest in playing football like her two brothers, he set about providing football coaching for girls.

"I always felt it was something she should be able to do as well," said Mr King, who lives in Prettygate.

"There was no facility for it at Stanway Rovers at the time and not really any other clubs doing it."

Mr King handed out leaflets at schools to garner interest.

"I had a couple of dads literally laugh in my face," he remembers.

But that was in 2016 and soon interest steam rolled and Mr King gained the support of a female coach.

"Now we have got five teams which we are hoping to increase next season, a whole load of coaches and a committee."

The girls' section has its own chairman, Ross Turver and there are Under 12s, Under 10s and Under 9s teams.

Mr King added: "It is not just about kicking a football, it is about friendship and fun and I am keeping it that way."

Of course, winning does matter, and the idea is to nurture talent with girls encouraged to understand the importance of training commitment.

Earlier this month a £500,000 sports pitch aiming to encourage 100 more girls and women to play football was unveiled at Philip Morant School and College in Colchester.

It was made possible thanks to a £498,959 grant from the Football Foundation charity and has been more than a year in the making.

Stanway Rovers is a partner club and will focus on establishing three new girls’ teams within the first year of the pitch being in operation, growing to five teams by year five.

This will contribute to 98 girls and women starting to play competitive football in Essex, which is one of the county FA’s key focuses.

The FA's campaign, The Gameplan for Growth, plans to double women’s participation by 2020 and increase the number of girls’ and women’s teams from 6,000 to 12,000.

If Colchester's enthusiasm is anything to go by, the appetite for girls' and women's football, has got off to a roaring start.

And as for the Lionesses', they have done nothing but look forward since that own goal in 2015, having qualified for the women's World Cup this year.