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Aston Villa Ladies are gearing up to face a new-look league and a brand new Manchester United Women’s side this weekend.
Words by Adam Nunn (@AdamReapa)
Edited by Regan Foy (@FindFoy)
It’s now only a few days until the Aston Villa Ladies welcome Manchester United Women to Boldmere as they begin their season in the rebranded Women’s Championship.
With a new look league and a number of new teams entering, being dropped to a lower level or moving into the upper echelons of the Women’s Premier League, it’s bound to be an exciting time for the Aston Villa Ladies. The Manchester United women are a new side in the league.
Alongside the new sides, the new league brand and a new ground for the upcoming season, the Aston Villa Ladies are also welcoming a new management team in Gemma Davies, who we had the opportunity to interview, Carly Davies and Cozza Mitchell. We’re aware of Carly and Cozza from their great work with the development and first team squad last season, and they’ll be eager to work hard with new manager Gemma to try and improve a young and upcoming squad.
The Aston Villa Ladies squad of 19 players consists of 15 players that the side had managed to keep hold of during the summer and four new additions in Hollie Gibson, Sophie Haywood, Nadine Hanssen and Alison Hall, who have all looked strong in pre-season.
During pre-season, the Ladies picked up four victories against Brighton, Stoke, Coventry and an unknown side. Their performance against Stoke truly stood out, with the Aston Villa Ladies pushing Stoke to their limits and coming away with a 3-0 win.
With Chloe Jones retiring, Katy Moran joining Coventry and Beth Merrick moving to Sheffield United, the Ladies’ three former captains had come and gone and it was time for a change of the guard. Under this new regime, experienced Kerri Welsh has become club captain, Jade Richards has become captain and ever-improving Elisha N’Dow is vice-captain.
With the Aston Villa Ladies moving back to Birmingham rather than playing in areas such at Stratford and Tamworth, hopefully more Aston Villa fans will take the trip to see games and get behind the girls. They’ve already played their first game at Boldmere in a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United, in front of a crowd of 251 on a late Saturday night kick-off.
The next five fixtures are as follows:
- (H) – Manchester United Women – 9th September (3pm)
- (A) – Leicester City Women – 16th September (2pm)
- (A) – Charlton Athletic Women – 19th September (7.45pm)
- (A) – Sheffield United Women – 30th September (2pm)
- (H) – Durham Women – 14th October (12pm)
