September 2016 Issue 01

September 2016 Issue 01

Pre-season has seen big changes player-wise, some that we decided, and some unexpected. After the decision to discontinue the reserve side, we had to trim the squad and so made the difficult decision to release 14 players, including 7 players from our Liverpool County Championship winning squad. We wish them all the very best. Shortly before the season ended Sarah Cunningham also decided it was time to leave and Sami Fretwell was asked to join the backroom team. This will be a big learning curve for Sami as she initially observes the coaching, whilst also acting as the important link between the ladies and Reg, Lee, and myself. We headed back to pre-season in June with 18 players from last season, and a clear intention to improve the squad. We had some interest from players who have seen the set-up and ambition of the club and we were optimistic we could sign two or three that would improve the squad significantly. It has since been a whirlwind! Job offers abroad, university placements and other personal reasons have resulted in us saying goodbye to Devon Riley, Tessa Littler, Ellisha Busby, Meghan Westerside and Rachel Miranda. I would like to thank these players for all of their efforts at the club, we will miss all your characters around the place! We also have a long-term injury to Danielle Flynn. So we were left with 12 players from last season s squad. We have strengthened this group significantly through the capture of Jade Thomas from Liverpool Feds; Stacey McMahon, Sheree Thompson, Holly Parkinson, Kaisha Sohl, Sophie Perry, and Paige Whitehead all from Mossley Hill. The players that have come will provide a fresh impetus on what we want to achieve. With the experience they bring coming from as high as the Women s Premier League, we have seen the bar raised for all the players. The effort and focus of the squad pre-season has highlighted just how far on this team has come. I know the view is often that preseason games do not mean anything, but watching the work on the training ground taken out onto the pitch in games against really tough opposition, and it working, makes everything that we do that more satisfying. And seeing the results, with wins against Southport Shoreline (5-0), Crewe Alexandra Res (8-2), Silsden AFC (5-1), Blackburn Community (6-2), Blackpool Ladies (2-1), Everton Res (3-2) - I write this before Wallasey Wanderers and Llandudno Ladies - makes pre-season look even more impressive. I am really looking forward to the season and I want to especially thank Reg Standish and Lee Austin for all the hard work they have put in, getting the team ready for Stockport County on 4 th September. The teamwork that we have behind the scenes with the management team here is second to none in my time in football. Wins breed confidence and if we can start the way we would like, and continue our pre-season form, then I am hopeful of a successful season. I hope to see you all over the course of the season supporting us, I promise you will not be disappointed with the football on display! Thanks Dave Miley

Reserves Player's Player Danielle Flynn Fan s Player Jessie Hindley First Team Player's Player Tessa Littler Golden Boot Jessie Hindley (23 goals) Player of the Season Jess Muirhead Club Woman Ruth Thomas

The team have been preparing for the new 2016/2017 season for just over two months now. It has been an intense programme, including a team building weekend away to Skipton which was a great success, and culminated with a match against local side Silsden. A great run of results left the team unbeaten and included some very notable scalps, with a win over the Everton development squad being the highlight. Friendlies are not the same as competitive matches, but the spirit, skill and tactics shown by the team has generated a lot of confidence ahead of the league kick off. Pre-season Friendly Results Merseyrail Bootle 5-0 Southport Athletic Crewe Alexandra 2-8 Merseyrail Bootle Silsden 1-5 Merseyrail Bootle Merseyrail Bootle 6-2 Blackburn Community Merseyrail Bootle 3-2 Everton Ladies Development Merseyrail Bootle 8-1 Wallasey Merseyrail Bootle 3-3 Llandudno

It is always sad to see player leave and with amateur football, where the sport is secondary to the day job and other aspects of life, it is all too frequent. Also, as a club progresses through the league, as we have, unfortunately not all players can make the step up required. Last season we released several players and others chose to end their Merseyrail Bootle career. Notably, several player who had been with us from the start moved on, and we should mark their contribution with a huge thank-you. We could not have done it without them! Thank-you to those who have moved on, your efforts and contribution are appreciated! *List below shows players who left at the end of or during the 2014/15 campaign who made more than 10 appearances for the first team. Danielle Flynn (long term injury) Emily Swindells (released) Georgia Mills (released) App Goals Leanne Cunningham 45 22 Emily Swindells 45 22 Georgia Mills 43 17 Danielle Flynn 43 - Danielle Riley 41 - Amanda Parker 38 - Kathryn Bradley 35 3 Olivia Patterson 18 6 Ellisha Adams 17 - Rachel Miranda 11 6

We bid good-bye to two players who have been first team regulars right from the beginning. Devon Riley joined us at the very first training session, and brought several of her team mates from the recently disbanded Bleak Hill with her. Without Devon we may have struggled to field a strong team in those first few fixture of the 2013 / 14 season, and we owe her a debt of gratitude for giving us that kick start. An explosive full back, Devon was often seen on mazy runs, taking the ball down the wing, skipping past several defenders. On occasions, she provided great attacking opportunities for the team and scored 2 goals herself in her 57 appearances. Defensively, Devon s pace often told as she got back to clear or to make a last ditch tackle a trademark she shared with her twin sister Danielle. All at the club are delighted that Devon has a great opportunity to teach for a year in an ex-pat school in exotic Tashkent. We wish her all the best in this adventure and the career that spans from it. Perhaps we may see Devon back at the club once the placement is over. Another foundation of the club has also chosen to take a break. Tessa Littler has hung up her boots, at least for the time being. Tessa was appointed club captain ahead of the 2014 / 15 season and led throughout that league winning campaign, earning promotion from the County League. With 66 appearances she has played more matches for the team than any other player and her tough tackling and energy will be missed in the centre of midfield. Both on and off the pitch she was the perfect role model, contributing through the Committee and occasionally representing the club at awards and networking events. Last season Tessa won the most prestigious of the annual awards, Players Player, which was testament to her huge popularity within the squad. All the best to all the ladies leaving us! Thank-you for playing your part and we sincerely hope your futures are bright and full of happiness.

2015 / 2016 Season Appearances: Top Goalscorers: Most Assists: Tessa Littler 22 Jessie Hindley 23 Siobhan Cliff 11 Lauren Williams 22 Alice Whorton 20 Alice Whorton 6 Alice Whorton 21 Rachel Atherton 9 Tessa Littler 4 Jessie Hindley 21 Alicia Hardacre 9 Gemma Lancaster 4 Rachel Atherton 20 Tessa Littler 7 Jess Muirhead 20 Player of Match Awards: Discipline: Tessa Littler 5 Yellow Cards Jessie Hindley 3 Lauren Williams 3 Gemma Lancaster 2 Jessie Hindley 2 Jade Collins 2 Jess Muirhead 1 Jess Muirhead 2 Alice Whorton 1 All Time Appearances: Top Goalscorers: Most Assists: Tessa Littler 66 Alice Whorton 46 Siobhan Cliff 29 Lauren Williams 65 Siobhan Cliff 38 Tessa Littler 19 Rachel Atherton 64 Tessa Littler 31 Rachel Atherton 17 Siobhan Cliff 62 Rachel Atherton 30 Leanne Cunningham 15 Devon Riley 57 Alicia Hardacre 25 Alice Whorton 13 Jessie Hindley 23 Player of Match Awards: Discipline: Tessa Littler 11 Red Rachel Atherton 9 Lauren Williams 1 Alicia Hardacre 6 Yellow Siobhan Cliff 4 Lauren Williams 10 Lauren Williams 4 Leanne Cunningham 4 Jessie Hindley 2 Photo: Alice Whorton v FC United Alice has scored an incredible 46 goals in 41 matches.

After a close run 2015/16 season, the North West League One (South) is expected to be equally tight. Obviously, promoted Woolton will not be around, but the teams that finished a close second and third, FC United and Warrington Wolves, will be there to provide an equally tough test for fourth place Merseyrail Bootle. Bootle have strengthened pre-season, and we can expect the same from these rivals, with FC United in particular parading new signings over their Twitter account during the summer. Northwich Vixens and Curzon Ashton were relegated from the higher Premier league last season after managing only three win in forty-four league campaign matches between them. We are sure both will be looking to bounce straight back, but how big is the difference between the two leagues in reality? This will surely be a factor in how successful each is this season. If they have retained their best players and added, both could well be challenging. Stockport County Blues played in the Northern half of the league last season, finishing a credible fifth with ten wins from the season. The transition to the Southern section should not prove troublesome as both leagues are similar in strength, so it will be a case of whether they have improved from next season and can challenge for honours. Other newcomers are promoted Chorltonians and Egerton. Egerton finished runners up in the Cheshire County league last season to Runcorn Linnets, who passed over the opportunity to step up. Egerton had a strong campaign winning 14 of their 20 matches. Chorltonians secured promotion by winning the Manchester County league. They remained unbeaten for the season, with thirteen wins from a possible fifteen. Both teams are likely to find the step up challenging, but it remains to be seen how either has strengthened and we know from our own experiences following promotion in 2014/15 often a promoted team can carry on that winning mentality at the higher level. Of the other teams still in the league, it will be interesting to note if Ellesmere are able to find the form that saw them near the top at the start of last season. As a reserves side, Liverpool Fed Reserves performance is likely to depend on the strength of their first team, and the quality of the players who drop down to this league. Altrincham and Liverpool City both struggled last year, finishing in the bottom two spots and keeping their places as a result of there being no relegation from the league. Hopefully both will have developed their teams across the summer, and be more in the mix this time round. It is set to be an interesting campaign! We would certainly hope to be fighting towards the top of the league, but we cannot underestimate the other teams, especially those who will have strengthened pre-season. We are expecting a stiff test from FC United and Warrington, with Stockport and Curzon the other teams to watch. Bring it on! Pre-season favourites? FC United of Manchester & Warrington Wolverines

Date Time Competition Venue Opponent 04/09/2016 14:00 League A Stockport County Blues 07/09/2016 19:45 League H Egerton 11/09/2016 14:00 League A Ellesmere Port 18/09/2016 14:00 FA Cup TBC TBC 25/09/2016 14:00 County Cup H Liverpool City Ladies Community FC 02/10/2016 14:00 League H Liverpool Marshall Feds Reserves 09/10/2016 14:00 League A Warrington Wolves 16/10/2016 14:00 League A Northwich Vixens 30/10/2016 14:00 League A Chorltonians 06/11/2016 14:00 League H Curzon Ashton FC (Tameside) Women 13/11/2016 14:00 League A Curzon Ashton FC (Tameside) Women 20/11/2016 14:00 League H Stockport County Blues 27/11/2016 14:00 League A Egerton 04/12/2016 14:00 League H Ellesmere Port 11/12/2016 14:00 League A FC United of Manchester 18/12/2016 14:00 League H Liverpool City Ladies Community FC 08/01/2017 14:00 League A Liverpool Marshall Feds Reserves 15/01/2017 14:00 League H Warrington Wolverines 22/01/2017 14:00 League H Northwich Vixens 29/01/2017 14:00 League A Altrincham Ladies 05/02/2017 14:00 League H Chorltonians Fixtures to be arranged: League H Altincham Ladies League A Liverpool City Ladies Community FC League H FC United of Manchester

We want our great form to continue and to show our opponents we are the team to beat. The build up to the new season has been phenomenal. The girls and coaches have worked tirelessly on developing our fitness and game play in training and this has shown throughout our tough unbeaten pre-season run. The commitment from the coaches and players has been impeccable and with the addition of quality players to our already thriving side; we are stronger than ever. The girls and I are eager to get started with the new season. We want our great form to continue and to show our opponents we are the team to beat. With this comes a lot of expectations but we are confident these are achievable. The calibre of players and the quality of our coaches and the support behind us makes not only the season ahead exciting but the future of this club. Gemma Lancaster Club Captain

Merseyrail Bootle youth teams started in 2014 with an open day to attract players to a new youth team. On that day we had 9 girls come along and from there we launched an U10s, entering the Liverpool county FA girls league. After a difficult first season for the girls we split them into 2 teams; U10 and U11. The 2015/16 season was a great success with our U10s finishing 5 th that season in a 12 team league. They were also runners up in the end of season cup final losing a 5 goal thriller to Liverpool Feds. The U11s had a fantastic season. They finished 2nd in the league losing out by just 2 points, and were also runners up in the cup losing the final to Brazil U12s team on pens 3-2. Pre-season, both teams entered the summer tournaments with the U10s losing in a semi final to our U11s team. The U11s team went on to win both the Wigan Athletic tournament and the Glenavon tournament. For 2016 / 2017 we have added a new team and are delighted that senior team players, Jess Muirhead and Ruth Thomas have taken on the challenging of coaching this new U10s development squad. We are always looking for players to join any of the teams, so please get in touch if your daughter, niece, grand-daughter, cousin, sister, friend, next door neighbour is interested! Tommy & Steve Youth Team Coaches

Put simply, the state of the women s game in the UK could not be better, and probably never has been. A simple comparison to the man s game might suggest that s a crazy statement, but consider the facts. With participation continuing to grow at quite a pace, faster than any other female sport, Super League crowds swelling, and more money and sponsorship coming into the game, the future looks bright. BT Sport show WSL league matches, the BBC publish the results of the top three leagues and often feature in radio broadcasts, as well as screening the FA Cup, and many of the top players are becoming household names. We can say thank-you to a successful 2015 world cup campaign and the bigger men s clubs investing in the women s game. Probably the most significant event in recent years is the addition of rich Manchester City, who have taken their media profile to a level not experienced before by a female sports team. It is a great time to be involved in this sport, and there has never been a better time to be on the up either, as we most certainly are! The league system in England operates over ten official FA tiers, with the Women s Super Leagues (WSL) One and Two at the top. Below that, at tier three, you have the Women s Premier League (WPL) Northern and Southern Premier Leagues, and associated Division Ones at tier four. Regional and then county leagues sit below that, and how many tiers depends on the area, with only the major metropolitan areas of London, West Midlands and West and South Yorkshire going down to nine or ten tiers. The Liverpool County league sits at the seventh tier, and that is where we started four seasons ago. Promotion since now sees us in the North West League Division One and our immediate aspirations are to secure another promotion in the next two seasons (hopefully this one!) and progress to the fifth tier. We have an excellent set up and our partnership with Bootle FC provides us with fantastic facilities. The future is in our hands. Fran Kirby, Lucy Bronze and Toni Duggan are amongst a cluster of players who have become known to many new fans through their success internationally and in the domestic leagues.

It is our intention to publish periodic e-newsletters such as this throughout the season. To make sure you receive the next, and to keep up to date as the season progresses, please follow us on some or all of the channels below. Like: Merseyrail Bootle https://www.facebook.com/merseyrail-bootle Follow: @Mersey_lfc Follow: merseyrail_bootle And please visit and register at our website for regular match reports, photos, and news. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/merseyrailbootleladiesfc