Crawley Wasps are looking to mark their 25th anniversary with a strong showing from their first team in the London & South East League.
Founded in 1991, Crawley Wasps have been instrumental in the successful development of girls’ football in the Crawley area. From the early days of playing seven-a-side on full size pitches in the Sussex Girls League, the club have expanded to more than 100 playing members in teams at all levels from Under-11s to seniors.
Wasps have helped pioneer the development of ladies’ and girls’ football in Sussex. Previously playing in various Surrey leagues, Wasps were a founding member of the Sussex County Women’s and Girls’ Football League in 2002-03.
The first team, formed in 2003, have been promoted four times and currently play in the London and South East League, while the Reserves play in the South East Counties League.
In the 2015-16 season, the first team, Reserves and U-14s all reached their respective County Cup finals.
Looking ahead to the new season, Manager Paul Walker has challenged Crawley Wasps to hit the ground running when their new season begins this weekend.
Wasps host Camden Town at Oakwood FC’s ground on Sunday (2pm kick-off) as the new London and South East Premier Division campaign gets under way.
Walker’s team play six of their first eight league games at their new ground and he is keen to make the most of home comforts.
“The aim is to get off to a strong start at home,” he said.
“The games we’ve got first – against Camden and Carshalton – are winnable if we take on board what we’ve learned in some of the pre-season campaign.
“We put together a demanding pre-season schedule against some strong sides, including Brighton, Gillingham and Lewes, and we have been challenged in a lot of those games.
“It’s important we learn from playing these games because that’s where we aspire to be.”
Walker’s key recruits this summer have come off the pitch, with former Lewes Ladies assistant manager Dave Cole and former England Under-18 goalkeeper Tom Betts added to the backroom staff, while Wasps announced a major sponsorship deal with locally-based firm Thales in June.
They are also hoping to bolster the squad as they look to improve on a season which saw them finish eighth and reach the Sussex County Cup final, where they were beaten by a Brighton side now in the WSL.
Walker is backing Leyton Orient and London Corinthians to challenge for the London & South East title, but is confident his own team can be up there.
“Our aspiration this year is to be in the top three or four,” he said.
“If we can achieve that it will be good progression from last season.”
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