Girls' football is the fastest growing sport on the planet and youngsters coming into the game today can legitimately dream of a career in the sport.

We went to see the under 12 teams the Redlands Rebels and Redlands Bandits get stuck into their match.

Weymouth parent Charlotte Abberley sees the transformation in her daughter Sophie when she starts to play.

She said: "You really notice it. At first when the photographer arrived they were worried about their shirts and how they would look in their football shirts and there is an element of the young teenager coming out, but the minute the whistle blows they forget about how they look and just love playing football."

Women's and girls' football is now the number one female team sport, with 1.38 million girls and women playing various forms of the game across England.

The England women caught the nation's attention in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, finishing in third place and showing up their male counterparts, who failed to qualify for the knock-out stages in their own World Cup a year earlier.

Such is the popularity of the sport in Weymouth the under 12s have managed to bring together enough young female football fans to put two teams into the Dorset FA league for the 2016-2017 season.

There are also under 8,10 and 14 teams girls can play in.

Tammy Riley is the manageress of the Redlands Bandits Girls U12s. She became involved in the sport because there was no opportunity for her to play when she was growing up, she said.

"As an 11 year old girl, I really wanted to play football but couldn’t as there were no girls' teams to play in, so I helped to start the first girls' football team in Weymouth and we were lucky in that my parents sponsored the kit (Griffins was in the Colwell Centre).

"I then went on to run a very successful boys' team, followed by my son's team, but that was over 10 years ago and I thought my manager days were over, well that was until my daughter decided she wanted to join a team."

Tammy said when she first took her daughter along to Redlands Community Sports Hub in Weymouth she was delighted to see that the girls were serious about the sport.

"They were all really keen to play in a team and participate in league matches, I remembered exactly how I felt all those years ago wanting to play in a team and so I decided to step in.

"I’m now loving being the manageress, they are a great bunch of girls. History is repeating itself as my daughter Lucetta has her kit also sponsored by her parents as well. SCR Drainage & Pest Control have kindly sponsored Redlands Bandits Girls U12s."

The Rebels and the Bandits train one evening a week and play matches at the weekend. Tim Davis is the manager of the Redlands Rebels. The 7-a-side matches are 30 minutes each half and the 9-a-side matches are 35 minutes per half.

Sophie Abberley, Charlotte's daughter, 10, said she loves playing football: "I love it, the training and the matches. It's fun, energetic, and I've made loads of new friends."

Charlotte said she would like to encourage as many girls as possible to take up the sport.

"It seems to be growing in popularity but we would love as many girls as possible to come and join us.

"The female version of the sport is much less aggressive than the male version. It wasn't really known as an option when I was a girl.

"The England women's football team has changed things and raised a lot of awareness. A lot of the girls who have played it have been made to drop it once they have gone to secondary school.

"Hopefully with our girls they will continue to play as they grow older. We've got girls in the team who come from a variety of schools across Weymouth and it's a good way of them having friendship with girls they wouldn't normally associate with.

"The affection they show for each other is incredible, when one of them is hurt they all go over and check she's okay.

"Sophie absolutely loves her football and is always desperate to play every Saturday morning and is keen to go and train on freezing cold pitches. She's extended her time in the swimming pool so she can improve her fitness for football."

There is much support for the Redlands teams with parents keen to cheer on the touchline and provide help at training.

*Charlotte said she would love to hear from any girls who wish to join the teams or find out more about the sport and also from parents who would like to offer their skills and enthusiasm. All abilities are welcome.

Email tim_wfc@live.co.uk or see the Redlands FC Facebook page for more information.