Women's football hits big time

Not so long ago, Parminder Nagra could hardly kick a football - but now the young actress can deliver free-kicks with the bullet-like precision of a professional, thanks to her starring role in Bend It Like Beckham, which premieres tonight.

Along with her co-stars Keira Knightley, soon on our television screens in Dr Zhivago, and former All Saint Shaznay Lewis, Nagra is being tipped to kick-start a surge of popularity in women's football.

A mixture of East Is East and Billy Elliot in boots, Bend It Like Beckham follows the fortunes of an English-Indian girl named Jess Bhamra - played by Nagra - who is spotted by Knightley's character Jules kicking a ball, with Beckham-like accuracy, in a Hounslow park.

Jess's skills prompt Knightley's character to sign her up to her football

team - despite pressure from Jess's family to give up the game for good.

In real life, women's football is Britain's fastest-growing sport, and the Football Association is investing £11 million to encourage the women's game.

But, despite the growing popularity, only one team in this country is paid to play, Mohammed Fayed's Fulham. The squad are paid between £15,000 and £20,000 a year - and other teams from the women's Premier League are set to go professional in two years' time.

Head of Fulham Ladies Football, Vicky Brown, said: "We're hopeful now that we are a professional outfit it will be taken seriously - and bring the rewards."

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