Players take to Twitter in bid to boost Women's Super League

Eight of England's top female footballers will take the unprecedented step of displaying their Twitter account name on their jerseys in an effort to increase interest in the women's game. The second Women's Super League season kicks off on Sunday and one player from each club will wear the social network handle on a shirt sleeve to encourage supporters to get in touch. Last year's World Cup final between the USA and Japan set a worldwide record for the number of tweets per second, convincing the Football Association that nominating eight "digital ambassadors" would be an ideal way of increasing the public's appetite for the women's professional game. The FA claims that female football is the third most popular team sport in England and England matches attract high attendances and television ratings during major tournaments. Officials are eager for that interest to translate into bigger crowds at domestic league games so that average WSL attendances will be counted in the thousands rather than the hundreds. The eight players are: Arsenal Stephanie Houghton @stephhoughton2 Birmingham Laura Bassett @laurabassett6 Bristol Academy Siobhan Chamberlain @Sio_Chamberlain Chelsea Claire Rafferty @clrafferty1 Doncaster Belles Julie-Ann Russell @Juuulie_Ann Everton Jill Scott @JillScott12 Lincoln Megan Harris @MegsHarris7 Liverpool Aroon Clansey @AroonClansey