Wolves Women - Up for the cup!
So as 2022 comes to an end we look ahead to a big day in the diary for Wolves Women…. The FA Cup 4th Round brings West Ham United of the Women’s Super League (WSL - the top-flight of Women’s football) to the New Bucks Head on Sunday 29th January (Kick-off at 14:00). This will be the biggest game in Wolves’ season and probably since the second Covid-impacted season where we hosted Blackburn Rovers at a similar stage of the FA Cup.
This isn’t the same fixture as Wolves vs West Ham in the Men’s game; there are a couple of significant differences:
West Ham United (who are 5th in the WSL) are professional footballers (including many international footballers); whereas Wolves players give up their free time to train and play for our club while also holding day jobs (for example, Captain Anna Price is a teacher).
Whilst this is the furthest Wolves have got in the FA Cup since the 1999/2000 season (where Wolves got to the last 8), West Ham United were runners up in season 2018/19 losing 3-0 to Manchester City (when future Lionesses stars Kiera Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp were the goal scorers).
As a Supporters’ Trust, we have urged the club to put as much support as possible into the game and make this as big a day as possible for the club, fans, and players, so that it is a special occasion for all involved. There is a chance that we might not win on the pitch, but this is a real opportunity for the club to win off the pitch by really promoting the Women’s team across all their social media platforms and the local media to really get behind the girls, utilising the triumph of the Lionesses last summer.
What can we do as fans?
We need you all to get down to the New Bucks Head Stadium on the 29th January, get behind the girls and really sing your hearts out…. Let’s get the New Bucks Head rocking…. Let’s make a noise that West Ham won’t be used to and give the girls a boost and a real home advantage!! Afterwards, we need to sustain the momentum by continually getting to the games, to help cheer them on for the rest of the season (they have scored over 80 goals so far this season). Before all this, they have a League Cup Quarter Final against Huddersfield on the 22nd January, which will act as a good warm up to the FA Cup game.
If this is your first visit to Wolves Women and the New Bucks Head, here are a few players to look out for:
Anna Morphet: Left Centre Back; Morph has a wand of a left leg and is the Wolves penalty kick taker – few things in life are more certain than Morph scoring a penalty…. She also got three assists in the first half from corners in a recent game.
Tammi George: Wolves through & through and as tough as nails… She helps run the Wolves midfield with Summer Holmes & Helen Dermody. In the last round of the FA Cup Tammi broke her wrist helping to set up Beth Merrick’s second goal. Tammi also loves to score long-range ‘worldies’!
Up front we have Amber Hughes and Maz Gauntlet: Amber has scored 17 goals in 18 games so far this season & Maz whilst “only” scoring 7 goals so far this season, can find space to score some very special goals (like in the County Cup Final last season against W*A).
It is also worth noting that many of the players are Wolves fans and have come through the ranks of the club’s development including Katie Johnson, the Cross twins, and Beth Merrick among them.
This is a great opportunity for your children to attend a Wolves game; make sure you bring sharpie pens as the players are always willing to sign autographs and have photos taken with their young (and not so young) fans.
Remember - keep your eyes peeled on the Wolves Women social media official outlets and also the “Wolves Women Podcast” – the only Wolves Women focused podcast run by fans.