Representatives of the ten clubs, together with various dignitaries and guests, joined together at the Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff on Saturday evening to reflect upon and celebrate another successful season for the Orchard Welsh Premier Women’s League. In addition to the individual awards, Swansea City were commended for a superb season that culminated with Ian Owen’s side winning the WPWL title, and with it qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, reports welshpremierwomensleague.co.uk.
Former champions Cardiff Met were also congratulated on lifting both the League Cup and Welsh Cup as Dr Kerry Harris’ side finished in second place behind the newly-crowned champions.
Davies Gets Golden Boot
With the team awards decided well in advance of the evening, the focus quickly turned to the individual awards, and it was 28-goal Lyndsey Davies of Abergavenny who was presented with the Golden Boot. Earlier in the season, Davies had made headlines by becoming the first ever player to score 100 WPWL goals.
Griffiths Wins Young Player Award
The congratulations continued as Alice Griffiths of Cyncoed was presented with the WPWL Young Player of the Year award after an impressive campaign. Chelsea Herbert of Port Talbot Town and Lauryn Lyons of Cardiff City FC were also nominated for the award, which emphasised that the young talent emerging in the league is not just confined to the leading clubs.
Throughout Wales more and more young girls are becoming involved with their local teams in order to play competitive football in a safe and structured environment, and the WPWL will hope to build on the recent success of Wales hosting the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Cardiff.
French To The Fore
The main award of the evening went to Abergavenny’s Katrina French who was voted the WPWL Player of the Year ahead of Shannon Evans of Cardiff City FC and Jodie Passmore of Swansea City. Abergavenny finished the season in fourth place, behind Cardiff City on goal difference, but the side managed by Richie Jeremiah also reached the final of the League Cup and will now look to build upon their individual and team success next season.
Reporter Robert Rewarded
The WPWL unsung hero award was presented to reporter Robert Clement. For a number of years Robert has voluntarily reported on the WPWL in order to provide regular match reports and stories for the official website, and is a familiar face to everyone involved in the league.
Pictured – Katrina French and Lyndsey Davies
