We’ll shortly be wrapping up another season as Clapton CFC women’s first team, and what a season it’s been. 

We started pre-season in July 2023 with some challenging hurdles. Our long-standing goalkeeper Polly Adams had departed, and Claudio Gomes,head coach for 3 years had also announced he was moving back to Portugal to continue to grow the women’s game. 

The women’s first team committee rallied a number of player volunteers to help outreach to coaches, players and goalkeepers to make sure we started the season on the front-foot.

We had a very successful trial period for both first team and development teams, with many new players keen to join this fantastic club. Players from a variety of experiences and positions, we were most certainly equipped for a starting 10. However, a head coach and keeper were still lacking, so some intense graft was put in across the team to help bring everything together just in time for the start of the season.

We welcomed a number of new players into the squad, including Daisy, Lily, Paula, Lesley, Siena and Egle – all of whom have contributed a huge amount to the team. We also welcomed back Chelsie Sparks and Alice Sharpe (formerly Nutman), as well as bringing up Sophie, Taiyah and Moz from our Women’s Development team across this season.

The start of the season was turbulent, as we adjusted to new players, goalkeeper and new coach alike. By the end of November, we’d played 11 games: winning 5, drawing 1, and losing 5. We had also been knocked out in the qualifying stages of the FA Cup, which inevitably cut deeper given our history in the tournament. 

We weren’t happy with our performance, and acknowledged some changes needed to be made. We made the decision to part ways with our head coach Koral and made the group decision to continue under self-management until we found the right person for us. 

Across December, we had three comfortable wins and one narrow loss (5-4, home to Denham in the Cup), and it felt like the team was truly back where we needed to be, even without the guidance of a head coach. Brian Bramble was also a big help to the team across this time, stepping in on match days to support.

A huge amount of work was put into finding our next head coach across December, but we were eventually in the position to bring Jay Murray into the fold as well as coach Sunny Hunjan, with Brian also staying on.. 

From the January restart, we knew things were back in a good place and since then, we’ve played 10 games, winning 7 and losing just 3. Jay brings a wealth of experience in the women’s game, and I strongly encourage any fan to approach him for a chat because he’s an absolutely lovely guy. 

And there’s more things to shout about this year: although the season isn’t quite finished, we’ve scored 68 goals vs our 54 last year, with three games remaining. Teju Callisto tops the goal scoring tally, closely followed by Maria Mendonca and Marta Casanovas, then Emily Link, followed by our midfield engines Egle Trezzi and Lucy Spours.

Next, to sadder news, our never-ending injury list. In my five seasons at Clapton, I have never seen so many fallen soldiers in one season. Quite appropriate, given all the noise around research needed in the women’s game. 

Firstly Lesley Macgowan, who after a very successful trial won player of the match in her debut at the start of the season, but has since been out with an ankle injury. Then Annie Lyons, our vice-captain and my fellow centre back, who broke her ankle in the warm up of our home game vs Hackney in October. Then in December Lily Smith, our new left back, suffered a re-ruptured ACL. Ana Holmes, our number 10, also experienced hamstring injuries across the season eventually counting herself out in early 2024. Chelsie Sparks, who tore her calf in January away to Whyteleafe, meaning Teju had a quick (and uneventful, thankfully) stint in goal. And finally, our midfield ‘rock’ Li Steiner, who suffered an injury to her shin bone in the home game vs Denham, which will rule her out for the last three games of the season. 

We are truly limping through to the end with the bare bones of our squad, and we thank all of the women’s development team players who have stepped up to help. We wish all our injured players a speedy recovery.

We were hopeful but realistic at our chances of promotion this season. With all the injuries and changes in key players and coaches, our original hopes were to simply stay in this division. However, as we finish up the season it’s been a remarkable turnaround, with the opportunity of beating last year’s final position of 4th in the table and (more importantly) surpassing our London rivals Dulwich Hamlet Reserves. 

And honestly, I have to give credit to the players for this. They have been the model of consistency the whole season, and it has truly been a team effort. Pulling together during turbulent times to support each other and play for each other. Welcoming new players in even when no coach was in place, and these players sticking around through love of the team and the club despite the circumstances – not many clubs can say that!

However, as with everything in life, all good things come to an end. Our team has been generally unchanged for the last four seasons with several players hitting/very close to 100 caps including: Lucy Spours, Lenny Holmes, Emily Link, Li Steiner, Maria Mendonca and myself! Seasons end and times change, and ultimately players do move on. Now, it’s my time to do the same. Five seasons of amazing highs, nail-biting draws, and bitterly disappointing lows, administrative challenges that felt like a second day-job, and hangovers from wins that resulted in neglecting my day job! 

It’s been a whirlwind, and memories that I will treasure forever. I can’t wait to continue to support this team from the sidelines and watch them flourish under a fantastic coaching group. I have no doubt promotion and another FA Cup run could well be on the cards for this squad, regardless of who comes and goes. The spirit of the club runs through the women’s team, with a real sense of comradery, acceptance, and empowering of each other to do their best. The fans give it to us, and we subsequently give it to each other.

So thanks to you, Clapton fans, for all your support across another brilliant season. I can’t wait to celebrate with you all at our final home game – bring it on.