Eight new journalism jobs have been created as part of a publisher’s new team covering women’s football.

Reach plc has recruited women’s football writers for London, Manchester, Merseyside, the Midlands and Wales as part of its commitment to ensuring every English Women’s Super League is covered.

HTFP reported in August that seven new jobs were set to be created as part of the venture, launched after England won the European Women’s Football Championship the previous month.

Reach has now revealed the team will comprise a total of eight journalists, headed by women’s football content editor Natasha Henry.

The new Reach women’s football team

Natasha has been a freelance journalist for more than a decade and has previously undertaken work for Reach, as well as the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Talksport and the BBC, among others.

Former Coventry Telegraph journalist Laura Hartley, who previously opened up about how sexist discrimination deterred her from achieving her dream of working in sports journalism, will serve as social media editor, while Jack Lacey-Hatton becomes the unit’s chief reporter.

Danyal Khan joins as London reporter after working as a trainee football writer at Reach’s Football.London website and Louise Wilkes has moved from BBC Radio Stoke to cover Manchester.

Liverpool Echo district reporter Beth Lindop has taken the Merseyside beat, while University of Gloucestershire sports journalism graduate Hannah Pinnock will be responsible for the Midlands.

Megan Feringa, who has worked as a national sport content editor for Reach since January, completes the team as Wales reporter.

In a post announcing the team on LinkedIn, Reach said it had received an “avalanche of applications, making these our most applied-for roles on record”.

Manchester Evening News head of football Alice McKeegan, who led the project’s launch, said: “The success of the women’s Euros and the packed stadiums for recent WSL games have highlighted the mass appeal that women’s football has and we were overwhelmed by the number of applications for our new roles.

“The standard of applicants was really high across the board and candidates’ passion for women’s football and helping the game to grow shone through.

“Our new team can’t wait to start reporting on the incredible stories in the women’s game.”