News from the bet365 Stadium ahead of Stoke City Women’s Northern Premier Division match against West Bromwich Albion
After achieving one of their greatest finishes of the year, Stoke City Women are returning to the bet365 Stadium this weekend in the hopes that this will mark the beginning of the next phase of a lengthy journey.
Since Stoke announced that the women’s team will be going semi-pro a little over a year ago, there have been numerous personnel changes, including the addition of head coach Marie Hourihan and a large number of new players to the squad.
They now feel more and more confident that they are headed in the correct direction as they enter their final three games of the Northern Premier Division season. Though Stoke recently defeated Burnley for second place and are now in second position, Newcastle United has easily won the title.
“We spoke as a group coming off the back of Christmas that when we play the top two or three teams in the league, if we want to establish ourselves into the group of clubs we have to beat them,” said Hourihan, who hosts West Brom on Sunday at 2 p.m. We must be able to implement the capacity to enter games with a certain amount of expectation. Despite putting up an incredible show when we played Burnley three weeks ago, we were still defeated 2-1.
“I said before the game at the weekend that this needs to be a turning point for us now when we can go and defeat one of these teams, put a marker down to show what we can do and going forward we go into these games with that expectation.”
She added: “Last season we finished 10th, at the moment we’re sitting fifth so that’s a jump up half the league in a season. You’re looking at steps, you’re looking at measurable markers and making a step forward.
“We know next season it’s going to get harder with the level of investment in the women’s game and the amount of clubs that are fully invested, we have to keep apace with that but also the strides we’ve made this year we have to back up again, probably to another level. That’s the challenge we face. The group we’ve got together really embrace it and want to go with that challenge.
“It’s really exciting times for us and a great character test.”
Heidi Logan, on a season-long loan from Charlton, has hit the net 14 times to put herself up with the division’s leading scorers while Saffron Jordan has eight.
There were 13 new signings last summer but the idea is that was almost a one off, a platform has been laid to build on and there won’t be a need for anything like the same kind of rebuild going forward.
“I hope not!” said Hourihan. “There’s been a lot of change. In terms of where we are now and the foundations that we’ve got in place, it’s just about adding small parts to it and growing what we have already. We’ve got some fantastic people at the football club and when teams play against us they can see that in terms of our spirit, in terms of our morale, in terms of how we interact with each other.
“It’s just going to be about adding the right people into that mix to help us grow and help us progress. I think we are in a really good place at the moment.”
A game at the bet365 Stadium is a chance to showcase the team to a wider audience – and there is still that added responsibility to sell women’s football to the wider public.
Hourihan said: “We’ve said that these girls are role models. It’s not just obviously about the here and now, it’s inspiring that next generation of girls in the Stoke-on-Trent area to want to play for the Stoke women’s team. So it’s about being visual, it’s about being present, it’s about giving those girls something to aspire to be.
“And I think with the group of players that we have, we’ve got some fantastic role models and to have that platform now for them to showcase themselves is wonderful and it will inspire six, seven, eight and nine-year-old girls growing up in Stoke-on-Trent to go, ‘You know I want to go and play for Stoke.’
She added: “I think the biggest thing to tell Stoke fans is to come and enjoy a game. You’ll enjoy how we play, how we try to play, the pride that the players have in wearing the shirt and the effort and the commitment levels you can’t not want to buy into this team. We just implore them to come and support us, show that level of support.
“We’ve seen the difference with the men’s team in the last two or three weeks in terms of especially the away games. It’s unbelievable support that they get and we’re just saying come and do the same for us and the girls certainly won’t let you down.
“You’ll see that commitment level, you’ll see that passion and ultimately, I think you’ll enjoy what they can produce in terms of football.”
West Brom, who have won three of their last four, are two points and two places behind Stoke having played one game more.
“I think it will be a fantastic game,” said Hourihan. “West Brom have been on a great run recently and they’re right behind us in the table. They’ve always been close, competitive games and they’ve got a lot of young players that are capable of good moments so it should be a fantastic footballing game and one I hope that we come out on top in. In terms of a spectacle, it should be a really good game.”
Stoke season card holders can get in free while non–season card holders can buy tickets for £3 or £1 concessions. Season card holders will need to reserve their free ticket, which can be printed at home or uploaded onto their card. That can be done via Stoke’s online ticket website.
