We’re delighted to announce that Patrick McLaughlin has been appointed Clapton CFC women’s team head coach.

The standard of applications was extraordinary but McLaughlin – who has a FA Level 2 badge and a BSc in Sports Performance – was the choice of the players.

He previously coached the Bath University women’s team and the Foxes FC youth team and is currently also an AFC Wimbledon schools coach.

He took charge of the first friendly of pre-season, the 5-2 win over Santacruzense on Saturday.

McLaughlin, who has been coaching for seven years, told us: “I’m extremely proud to be given the opportunity to be CCFC’s first women’s team coach. I’m thrilled to be joining at such an exciting time for the club.

“We trained twice last week and everyone put a fantastic effort in against Santacruzense, so that was very positive. The match was something else – the most enjoyable game I’ve coached.

“The fans were unbelievable with their support and, other than a couple of small mistakes, I thought the team played very well.”

At the start of the season, it’s obligatory to ask the manager… what are your targets?

“After promotion last year as Stoke Newington, first and foremost our target is to stay up. Beyond that we’re going to try and win every game we play. So who knows?”

The team has a big early test facing Margate in the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, September 1st with the Greater London Women’s Football League starting later that month. Fixtures to follow.