Carlton’s Visy female football ambassador Lauren Arnell was overcome with emotion at the news the Blues would be fielding a women’s side in 2017.

Despite being a driving force behind the successful bid, Arnell said it was a "whole-of-club" approach that delivered the Blues a landmark inaugural women’s licence.

“I’ve just felt honoured to be a part of it (the bid process) at a club like Carlton,” Arnell said.

“Hopefully I’ve been able to be strategic and pull our submission in a direction from a coaching and a playing perspective."

Following Wednesday’s historic announcement, Carlton CEO Steven Trigg said it was a significant outcome for the Club.

“It will make us a more balanced and complete club,” Trigg said on the Brownlow’s Blues podcast.

“We want to be a more inclusive club and we want to be leaders in equality. The decision by the AFL to afford us an inaugural women’s licence is one big step forward in that.

“It’s a great day for us. I think in simple terms you’d call it progress.” 

Arnell, an eight-time Darebin premiership player, joined Carlton’s administration earlier this year and strongly shaped and supported the Blues’ bid for an inaugural women’s team licence. 

“The environment that we’ve created here for what’s going to be a squad of female athletes playing AFL footy in the Carlton colours is going to be the best environment in the country, so I’m very excited about that,” Arnell said.

“As a 17-year-old I didn’t know that I could play football … I could only imagine being 13 or 14 and seeing today’s newspapers and knowing that those opportunities were there for me.

To females of all ages wanting to play football, Arnell says, “the time is now, just go and do it”.