SOCCER-mad girls will be able to bend it like Beckham thanks to a £30,000 grant from the Football Foundation.

The money will extend opportunities for girls aged ten to 14 and will target clubs and more than 140 schools across Lancashire.

Lancashire Sports Partnership, the beneficiaries, hope that eventually more than 1,000 new players will regularly attend county soccer festivals and professional coaching sessions.

It is hoped the money will produce future England stars like Rachel Brown, 23, of Burnley, who started playing at the age of eight. The former pupil of St Christopher's High School, Accrington, has won scholarships to play in America and now keeps goal for Everton FC.

A particular emphasis will also be placed on creating further opportunities for girls with disabilities, from ethnic minorities and from areas of deprivation.

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game.

Funded by the FA Premier League, The Football Association, Sport England and the Government, the foundation is the nation's largest sports charity with a £53m budget.

Mandy Ayres, director of community development at the Foundation, said: "Football is now the most popular sport played by females in this country."

Joanne Moss, of Lancashire Sports Partnership, led by the county council, said: "By 2005, with the support of all our partners, including the Football Foundation, we aim to have established a clear pathway though which girls can move from playing for fun at school to performing at the highest level."

Lee Boyer, Hyndburn Council's sports development, said the girls' game was developing strongly: "In Blackburn Lammack Juniors FC have just won FA Charter Standard and are looking to develop into a community club.

"In Burnley Borrowdale United have a successful girls' section and are aiming for Charter Standard. And in Hyndburn Accrington Girls are in the process of forging closer links with Accrington Stanley Ladies."