With the SSE Women’s FA Cup 1st Rd Proper set for Sunday afternoon, teams are dreaming of victory as they get ready to challenge themselves against tough opponents…
Fixty-six sides will take to the field (if the weather plays ball) on Sunday to compete for a place in the 2nd Round of the SSE Women’s FA Cup and two sides that are getting into the mood of the ‘romance of the cup’ fancy their chances against opposition from higher divisions are Southampton WFC and Sheffield Wednesday.
We checked in with Southampton skipper Kirsty Bell to ask if she and her team from the Southern League Premier Division (having won the First Div last season) are up for the cup?
SK: Hi Kirst, so are you? Are you ‘UP for the CUP’?
KB: Yes, absolutely up for the cup. We are all looking forward to the game and to testing ourselves against a team two leagues above.
(Kirsty Bell, pictured right)
SK: You are two tiers below Swindon Town (who play in FAWPL Southern Division after being promoted last season), do you think you can cause a ‘cupset’? Why?
KB: As a squad we do believe we can cause an upset. We know it will a really difficult game but that’s why you enter these cups. You can’t go into these games believing you will lose. It’s whoever is best on the day.
SK: What are the best things about your team?
KB: We have a great team spirit, we work hard for each other and always have a laugh. Someone is always joking or putting money in the fine pot for the end of season drinks!
SK: Is Sheree Bell-Jack still banging in the goals?
KB: Yes! Jack is consistently scoring goals and is always there or there abouts for league top scorer. We are lucky that we also have a few players in the team that contribute to the goals.
(Coach, Simon Parker, pictured left)
SK: Do you have a team huddle or speak in the changing room beforehand – what will you say?
KB: The manager and coaches speak in the changing room and I speak in the team huddle out on the pitch. I just give a few reminders of our jobs and make sure we are all on it.
SK: Swindon had a pretty impressive season last season, how much do you know about your opposition?
KB: We know they are a well organised team and difficult to break down. We do a bit of research on any opposition we face but we are mainly focusing on ourselves and preparing how we normally do.
SK: How will you celebrate if you make it through to the next round?
KB: Obviously it would be massive for us if we won and we would all be really happy but there won’t be any big celebrations. As a club we would be excited to see who we got in the next round but we’ve got to get there first. The league is still our main priority.
Southampton WFC Images: Bilcliff Photography/@BilcliffPhotography
Fancy going along?
_&_Bex_Vickers_(Steel_City).jpg)
While there are two tiers of the women’s pyramid the teams, Radcliffe play in FA Women’s Premier League Midlands Division One and are firmly established at that level (including in the former Midlands Combination), Wednesday are currently in their fourth season in the North East Regional Women’s League Southern Division
Radcliffe Olympic were 5-1 up before two late home goals in last Sunday’s 5-3 FA Women’s Premier League Midlands Division One fixture at Steel City Wanderers, one of the teams Wednesday have knocked out of the Women’s Cup already this season, so along with their also “upsetting the odds at Wallsend”, it is a tie Wednesday will go into as underdogs, but not without realistic hope of making it a hat trick if upsets.
Wednesday manager Dave Higgins accepts that his charges are the underdogs for the tie at Radcliffe and that Wednesday will have to be at their best to win through, but he will draw encouragement from their run in this season’s competition which has seen them beat Brighouse Athletic (home, 4-0, Jade Rabjohn 2, Kathryn Mudge (pen) and Michelle Wakelin), Steel City Wanderers (away, 4-1, Kathryn Mudge, Emma Otley, Anna Cairns and ellis Ridge) and Wallsend Boys Club (away, 2-1, Channy Rymer 2).
Reaching the first round proper is a new best for Wednesday Ladies in their current “format”. In something, best likened to the Wimbledon/MK Dons/AFC Wimbledon scenario in the men’s game, the initial Wednesday Ladies did in fact reach a much later stage of the competition, and so, too, did Wednesday Women following the open age (which forged a new identity) and junior sections separating. The current Sheffield Wednesday Ladies are very much a female equivalent of AFC Wimbledon in having had to start at the bottom and work their way up.
(Pictured: Sheffield Wednesday’s Kathryn Mudge (yellow) & Bex Vickers (Steel City), by Julian Barker)
