Ladies First Team Awards Night!!
- coachwafc
- Jun 6
- 7 min read
The Ladies First Team celebrated a tough but rewarding season at their Presentation Night, giving a great opportunity to reflect on successes of the season collectively whilst recognising individuals!!
The ladies began the season with a very new looking team after transistion over the summer both on and off the field. The first pre season friendly against Gretna started with many players simply learning each others names and positions with so many new faces in the team. However the strong identity of the club and how the players are asked to play supported a great first outing as they claimed a 3-0 win and got lots of minutes in the legs.
A couple of weeks later the Ladies competed in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup against West Allotment Celtic Ladies from the North East. The ladies still not with many minutes together were as expected uncertain of how they’d find the game and just looked to perform well and let the result take care of itself. Infront of a packed crowd including Lionesses from our pathway as mascots, they were treated to an entertaining and hotly contested game, ending in a draw and going to penalties. The drama as expected on the shootout was there for all to see as the stakes were raised, but against all odds, the Whitehaven Ladies were able to win their first ever FA Cup game since reforming!!
The ladies would go onto play North East Women’s Regional Team Redcar Town Ladies. A very stern test ensued, but the ladies hard work and togetherness leveled the playing feild somewhat and even when they went 1-0 down they fought on to try and get back level. A penalty was awarded to the Whitehaven Ladies and Redcar went down to 10 players after a red card, however Redcar used their experience to kill off the game and see the 1-0 result out and progress.
For the league campaign in the Lancashire Women’s Premier League, all focus was on avoiding relegation and getting the players and team up to speed at this level. It was an early baptism of fire against who would be eventual lesgue runners up and be promoted to Regional level, Blackburn Community Ladies, losing 8-1, the heaviest defeat of the season in their first game.
The ladies however after a disrupted start of fixtures due to weather played their first Cumbrian Derby against an experienced Stanwix Ladies team away from home. This game built a lot of confidence in the squad, showing some of what the team was capable of and they could compete at this level with some outstanding football, to see the ladies win out 5-2.
The ladies would then see an extremely disrupted start of the season continue, at one stage having no games for 10 weeks, which didn’t allow the ladies continue to build on a good win, and instead had lots of tough away days and odd home game against Colne, Wigan, and others when fixtures did proceed. This period shaped the building of resilience and strong character in the team as they continued to push themselves in the face of tough games and results.
Into the second half of the season the ladies now started to build momentum and whilst results still alluded them, it was clear to see something was starting to click and the relationships on the pitch were starting to bare fruit from their hard work on the training pitch. A draw and penalty shoot out loss to Colne in the League Cup after previous two results had been 6-0 and 5-1 defeats saw promise in the team, followed up by a narrow loss away to Carlisle United and draw against Stanwix at home, with a win against our “A” Team in the County Cup kicked the ladies on to a very strong finish.
The ladies would reach the County Cup Final against the County’s best team, Penrith Ladies after defeating Abbeytown Ladies First Team on the third penalty shoot out of the season, after the best game of the season for pure drama, excitement and enthralling football as the game swung one way then the other. The ladies then got a huge win against an experienced and previously regional level team Penwortham, after falling 1-0 behind, the ladies would come back to win 3-2, this was then built on with a 4-0 win against Carlisle United midweek, in testing weather conditions as the ladies faced a fixture pile up of 9 games in 18 days.
The ladies finished the season in a respectable mid table position, winning their first FA Cup game, reaching the prestigious County Cup Final and laid great foundations to build on in the 26/27 season with lots of work already completed ahead of the new season!!
First Team Manager Rob Campbell commented on the season “I think it’s been one of the hardest yet rewarding seasons I’ve been involved in as a coach. I was under no illusion at the beginning of the season as my players weren’t that this would be an easy season, and we knew every goal, every tackle, every pass and point would have to be earned. However when you go on runs of defeats in a tough league as you try to build a team it can take it’s affect on a team if the right mentality and culture isn’t there. I’ve felt it’s been so rewarding as the players do have the right mentality and are supportive of a positive culture. I can’t express enough how proud I am of the lasses, every session I have looked forward to and seeing them forge a strong bond, and develop individually and collectively has been amazing and even in some of the defeats we have come away with real positives. I have been fortune enough to have teams who have won some of the biggest honours in the county but this season for me will go down as the biggest achievement and that’s down to the players and the great coaching team I have. To not only rebuild a First Team but also an “A” Team was a huge undertaking but one now we are reflecting can be very proud of.
We now have a real opportunity to kick on next season, as we retain our incredible players from this season whilst adding some real talent to the squad from both our Pathway and beyond, and the team is really excited as am I to get the new season started. I’d like to thank the players, coaches and club for their great work and support and it was brilliant to recognise some individuals for an incredible season”
17yr old Ava Greeson won both the Players Player of the Year and Player of the Year in an unprecedented season by the youngster. Tough tackling, dynamic in her play and a player who leaves it all on the pitch, she really rose to the challenge of the season with flying colours and can know she gave everything to the cause, often doing the dirty work that allows others to thrive!!
Young Player of the Year was awarded to full throttle midfielder Hannah Nicholson who grew into the season, after early dominance in a victory at Stanwix she worked hard throughout the season and finished unbelievably strong, pulling strings in midfield and scoring an absolute banger against Penwortham from around 30 yards out that caught the attention of the England FA and was posted on their social accounts!!
This year the club indroduced at Senior level for the first time, the “Captains” Award which was decided purely by the players leadership group. Recognised was goalkeeper Georgia Irving. Georgia, a real stalwart of club, after joining the very first summer league team around 8yrs ago really stood up during the season where she was tested more than ever, however it wasn’t just her performances that earned her the award, it was her leadership on and off the pitch, and how she has welcomed new and young players in the team and she has not only become one of the most respected players in the team but one of the most loved among players.
The Lioness Award was a really significant one this year, recognising the Club Woman of the year. Someone who puts team before themselves, supports the culture in the team, although the winner, took her responsibilities further by being on hand for both First & “A” Team, whilst also supporting behind the scenes and with the coaches to support the set up become stronger. Whilst a Captain does have extra responsibilities, Caitlin Irving went beyond this, without looking for plaudits, and defined her first season as Captain of the First Team in true style. Captaincy isn’t about giving leadership, it’s about confirming leadership and Caitlin has embodied this throughout the season.
There were two other new awards brought to the set up this year after trialling them in the Summer League, where we could recognise both defensive minded players as well as attacking ones. Women of Steel was brought in for those who have supported the dirtier side of the game, protecting our goal and putting body on the line whilst supporting attacks. Emmi Davidson was a clear winner here, boasting a 100% training atttendance throughout the year, earning Vice Captaincy as the season progressed and developing on and off the pitch as a player and person. She really supported the team, in particular difficult games against Wigan & Penrith, whilst also grabbing a great headed goal against Penwortham.
The second new award was Playmaker of the Year and this couldn’t of gone to anyone other than the clubs leading appearances and goalscorer of the club Ashleigh McAllister. Not only winning the Golden Boot by more than doubling her last years total as she moves towards the 100 Club, she was also devastating in her ability to bring others into play either directly getting assists or creating attacking situations that the team benefited from.
Our final award, but for the season and what we wanted for the team, improvement, meant the Most Improved Award held special significance and was a very difficult award to decide on as so many players had improved tremendously. However it was our speedster from the south of the county who travels around 3hrs every training session and game to be part of the club. A player who when joined was earmarked for the “A” Team however due to injuries and holidays meant she got a chance in the First Team and she never looked back. One of the most switched on lasses in the squad, she takes advice and info on board instantly and works immediately on that aspect of her game, be it holding the ball up better, playing different positions, linking play or simply doing what she does best, scoring important goals. An incredible first season for the 16yr old and a big future at the club is there for Phoebe Mullen.
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