Leeds Ladies Chairman Gary Cooper recently revealed to www.weallloveleeds.co.uk his thoughts on his first 12 months at the club, their amazing achievements and his hopes for the future…
If you had asked me twelve months ago, what I thought the next year held in store for what was Leeds United Ladies before they were so cruelly cast aside by LUFC and disbanded by the LUFC Foundation, my answer would have been “God only knows” such was the disbelief in the ambitions of the club’s parent body. Despite the rumours and the uncertainty even if the club had carried on as ‘United’ in name, behind the scenes united was the last word that could be used to describe the scenario and so perhaps the best thing that could have happened did happen – during the first week of July 2014 the Foundation announced it was to disband the Ladies team. Step forward the people without whom a football club of any size or stature can neither exist nor thrive, its supporters and most fundamental stake holder, the people who love it.
Having mobilised and constituted as a supporters club two months earlier, the players, parents, sponsors and fans had already met and discussed how they could help the club progress and move forward from the relegation they had suffered but the events of July and the disbandment meant actions had to happen and had to happen fast. It was my privilege on 14th July 2014 to be nominated and elected to the position of club chairman as the newly formed and constituted Leeds Ladies FC was born thanks to the amazing work of the newly elected committee, Jim and Nicola Bright, the supporters club and the sponsors who all rallied to make it happen. With the support of the West Riding County FA and the FAWPL, the club was allowed to continue the historic affiliation and pick up from where the disbanded Leeds United Ladies had left off, in WPL Northern Division 1.
With only three weeks to put together a team, the players responded in similar committed fashion coming together at rushed meetings and training sessions at Leeds Sports Centre and forming first team and development team squads short on numbers but full of passion, pride and dedication with the desire to play in the traditional white, yellow and blue colours of their home city club. As chairman, I set only two challenges to the players and manager, the son I never had Jak Oldroyd – who committed his time and his heart from second one – finish second bottom and enjoy your football again with smiles on your faces. My challenges fell someway short of what we actually achieved, I am very pleased to say.
Our first game came and falling 2-0 down at home to Stockport was not what we had all hoped for, especially as only 12 minutes of the first half had past. But the final score line of 4-2 to Leeds told only a small part of the story but it set the tone for the entire season. Finishing third and fourth (on goal difference for the development team) respectively, both teams secured convincing wins against the eventual league winners and set the standards that saw the women’s football world take notice. Leeds once more had a club that could not only compete but proved it could challenge when others had left it to fail.
Off the pitch in December 2014 the committee was joined by Mike Farnan in a consultancy role, who quickly secured a three year deal with Macron as technical sponsors and reunited with his former gaffer at Leeds United Ladies Reserves, Gaz Lee returned to the dugout as first team manager to complete my #DreamTeam management pairing with Jak, who had rightfully earned the nickname ‘The Special One’ by the fans.
County Cup glory saw the club reach the semi-final without conceding a single goal until losing to Bradford a whole division above us. Club records were set as first Shelbey Morris and then Bianca Ross scored four goals in a game, the club secured the first of two seven game winning streaks and reflected back on an amazing season at its awards night in May, celebrating unbelievable achievements with the many fans, parents sponsors and LUFC fans who recognised the pride and passion the girls had returned to a proud footballing city.
In truth this was nothing short of a miracle, a miracle we managed to put a club together at all in the time given, a miracle that we managed so much more than a second bottom finish, a miracle that the wider Leeds family had rallied so quickly and so passionately to help us with the finances needed during August and September and a miracle that so many people could share a dream and watch it unfold before them truly marching on together. A truly amazing story, but that’s only the beginning …
Season two: As chairman my expectations and my ambitions have risen, as a club we showed we have nothing to fear and are capable of beating the best, the challenge now is to finish our second season as champions and to win promotion back to the WPL proper. We set ourselves an ambitious 3 to 5 year plan, in year 2 we are targeting moving our ambitions on a full year ahead of schedule. Are we stretching our ambitions too far? No I don’t think so, we have the players, the coaches, the management, the committee and the fans to make it happen. Player sponsors came forward in numbers in season 1 and I hope they will again in season 2 but now we need more, more on the pitch, more off it to put together a successful challenge for the WSL.
We move back to Leeds next season too although our Development team will play at Knaresborough. Garforth AFC is to be our home for at least three seasons.
To discover more about Leeds Ladies, visit www.leedsladiesfc.co.uk, tune into to PhoenixrisesFM Ustream channel and check out match highlights and interviews plus all the latest news on our YouTube channel ‘Leeds Ladies FC’, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. #PHOENIXRISES.
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