Teenager Charley Docherty steps up at Sheffield United Women

The Blades travel to London City Lionesses on Sunday afternoon for their opening game of the FA Women's Championship season and Neil Redfearn's first competitive game in charge of the club.

Docherty comes up from the club’s RTC team where she has spent the past three years in the under 14 and under 16 squads before progressing to the women's development team.

Docherty started playing football aged seven in 2010 with Sheffield Wednesday Ladies.

During her time at the Owls she was then offered a place to attend the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA Players Development Centre and was signposted by the Blades current RTC coach Eva Eggington to the Sheffield United RTC with the opportunity to train with the under 14s for several weeks before being offered a contract for the following season.

Richard Meek, RTC Technical Director at Sheffield United, told the club website: "Charley has shown great potential during her time at the RTC, working really hard to improve her overall game. Charley is an athletic forward player who can play wide or more centrally as a number 10.

"In her final RTC season, Charley scored and assisted a lot of goals for the team. She has worked really hard, showing the dedication required and our Development Team Coaches, Lois Daniels and Shaun Hird, were able to give Charley opportunities throughout her first season to train and play with the Women's first-team squad. This is a testament to her desire to constantly improve and progress her football pathway.”

On her promotion to the first team, Docherty added: "Being in such a great environment and around fantastic people at Sheffield United, I am thrilled to be offered a place in the Sheffield United Women's squad for the new season and I am driven to play for the first team."

The youngster could be set to make her senior debut on Sunday when the Blades visit Princes Park for a 2pm kick off.