We spoke with captain Claire Stancliffe about the team’s achievement and her reflections on the trip to Italy.
SK: Tell us about your Bronze medal match? What were your preparations like? What was the mood like before?
CS: After losing to Russia, we only had 17 hours rest before we had to play the bronze match against Poland (crazy!!!). We were all shattered physically and emotionally after the game against Russia. Temperatures reached 30 degrees and we gave everything we had. As you can imagine, we were all upset for the rest of the day but we got together in the pool for recovery and played a game to lift our spirits and to focus on the bronze.
The morning of the match, everyone was feeling very positive and confident about the game. The starting eleven was announced in the morning to allow us time to go through tactics with each other. Before the match, you could see the focus and concentration each player had. There was so much determination in them. We did our usual pre match ritual at the Eboli Stadium. Just before we line up in the tunnel to walk out onto the pitch, I get the squad together in a huddle. The tunnel is fairly long and echoey, so we did our usual ‘1,2,3 GB’ shout which sent shivers up our spines. Due to how loud it was, the Polish players felt the vibrations and turned heads to see what we did. We wanted to be heard and seen as confident.
SK: How did the game go?
CS:The game kicked off at 3pm and it was scorchingly hot. First half I felt was fairly even, although we had the edge and it was 0-0 at half time. Second half we edged it again, although Poland had a few chances that they could of scored. Then in the last 20 minutes, we found the extra burst of energy and drove forward to score two goals.
SK: When did you start to think, ‘we have done this’?
CS: As soon as we scored that first goal, I just knew that we had done it. The second goal just secured it and you could see we were dominating. Every single player was fighting through pain to ensure they [Poland] didn’t score.
SK: What were the celebrations like?
CS: The second goal set me off, we only had about 5 minutes left and I was able to keep my focus. As soon as that final whistle went, all that hard work with funding and training had paid off. A huge weight was taken off my shoulders. Emotionally I was all over the place with the disappointment the day before being turned into pride. I can’t express how proud I am of this squad for sticking together when times were tough, especially when we were told we couldn’t go to the World Cup because of money
SK: Who or what has been your own and the team’s motivation/inspiration through this journey?
CS: Personally, it’s been a difficult 6 months as I lost my granddad in January and I wanted to do something to make my family proud. Also, I hate being told that we can’t go to a tournament just because of funding. For the last 9 years I have been continuously finding funds and I refuse to just give up. Life’s too short and I want to experience as much as I can. The team have been inspired and motivated by so many people. All the donations have left us gobsmacked and made us realise that people actually do support us. We are also motivated by playing against strong opposition. We are a competitive bunch of course and want to compete against the best.
SK: What did you think of the final?
CS: Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the final due to poor organisation of transport. But USA won 3-0 which was thoroughly deserved. Huge respect to them.
SK: What will be your favourite memory from the trip?
CS: For me, it has to be leading the team as captain and winning the bronze, although we know we could of done better. Nine years ago, no-one would of thought I would be in the starting eleven, let alone be captain.
SK: What is next for you and the team?
CS: We have qualified for the Deaflympics 2017, so we are awaiting confirmation we are definitely attending and then the next fundraising campaign will begin. Personally I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. The last 6 months have been incredibly hard with a tiring fundraising campaign, as well as working and training. I would love to carry on but time will tell.
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
