We Believe! (Editor’s Letter)
Column / Opinion p.3
Jen O'Neill reports back from the inaugural SheBelieves Cup in the United States, a trip made harder by an airline and then a hotel losing her luggage for good, and says she is already…
Issue
She Kicks issue 34
April 2016 43 articles indexed
Read She Kicks issue 34 in full
News
News pp.4–6
April's news opens with Nicola Sturgeon becoming official Patron of the Scotland women's team and the Irish FA appointing Gail Macklin as Women's Domestic Manager. Doncaster's Ashleigh Mills leaves her playing role after a…
SheBelieves Cup Matchday 1: United States 1-0 England
Match report pp.8–9
England open the inaugural SheBelieves Cup with a narrow defeat to the world champions in Tampa, beaten by Crystal Dunn's seventy-second minute strike off the bench in front of 13,027. Mark Sampson concedes his…
SheBelieves Cup Matchday 2: England 1-2 Germany
Match report pp.10–11
England lead in Nashville through Toni Duggan's seventh-minute goal but lose to a Gill Flaherty own goal and a Babett Peter penalty in front of 25,363. Mark Sampson argues that if those are the…
SheBelieves Cup Matchday 3: England 0-0 France, and the tournament concluded
Match report pp.12–13
England close the tournament with a goalless draw against France in Boca Raton to finish third on goal difference, the United States winning all three matches to take the trophy. Mark Sampson calls it…
Fara Williams #150 (full-page poster)
Poster p.14
A full-page commemorative poster marking Fara Williams' 150th appearance for England, won against Germany at the SheBelieves Cup in Nashville on 6 March 2016. The caption gives the milestone, the fixture, the venue and…
Eniola Aluko Joins the #100Club
News p.15
Coming on as a second-half substitute in England's goalless draw with France at the SheBelieves Cup on 9 March 2016, Eniola Aluko became the tenth England women's international to reach one hundred caps. She…
International Action: Scotland 1-1 Spain
Match report p.16
Scotland draw one-all with Spain at Falkirk on 8 March, Virginia Torrecilla's very late equaliser cancelling out Arsenal defender Emma Mitchell's opener and preserving Jorge Vilda's unbeaten record as Spain head coach. The report…
International Action: Wales at the 2016 Cyprus Cup
Match report p.17
Wales finish the eight-team Cyprus Cup without a win, drawing with Finland through goals from Kayleigh Green and Chloe Chivers and with Poland through a Helen Ward strike, losing one-nil to the Czech Republic…
View From The Field: Ward’s Words (Helen Ward column)
Column / Opinion p.18
Helen Ward uses her column to make a point about how far the game has moved: Manchester City went to Abu Dhabi, Liverpool to South Africa and Arsenal to Spain for pre-season, trips that…
Reds On Tour: Siobhan Chamberlain’s South Africa Tour Diary
Column / Opinion pp.19–20
England goalkeeper and new Liverpool number one Siobhan Chamberlain keeps a day-by-day diary of the club's pre-season tour to South Africa. Greeted by singing supporters in Johannesburg after twenty-four hours of travel, the squad…
#SheTweets: Bradders Is Back (Sophie Bradley-Auckland interview)
Interview p.21
Notts County and England centre-back Sophie Bradley-Auckland answers ten questions by tweet after more than eighteen months out injured. Being back on the pitch where she belongs, she says, is the best feeling; she…
Continental Cup Success Has Given Arsenal Wings (Marta Corredera interview)
Interview pp.22–23
Arsenal's Spain midfielder Marta Corredera, signed from Barcelona in July 2015, reflects on her first season in North London. English football is far more intense and physical, she says, but she adapted much faster…
Mannion Believes Blues Will Surprise Again this Season (Aoife Mannion interview)
Interview pp.24–25
With many tipping Birmingham City for relegation, defender Aoife Mannion insists the word has never been mentioned inside the club. She points to a gritty performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round,…
Lucy Back With Black Cats (Lucy Staniforth interview)
Interview p.27
Back at Sunderland, where her career began, Lucy Staniforth talks about rebuilding after cruciate ligament injuries to both knees cost her two years. She is frank that she did not reach her own standards…
Ross on Why She Joined City (Jane Ross interview)
Interview pp.28–29
Signed on a two-year deal in November after three seasons and twenty-eight league goals in sixty-six games at Vittsjo, Jane Ross explains what took her to Manchester City: the facilities, the philosophy, daily training…
Looking Ahead: FA WSL 1 Season Preview
Run-of-page feature pp.30–31
Three WSL 1 players and two supporters preview the new season. Liverpool's Kate Longhurst acknowledges her side have been tipped for relegation after a big turnover of players but rates the squad brought in,…
Looking Ahead: FA WSL 2 Season Preview
Run-of-page feature pp.32–33
Three WSL 2 players look ahead. Durham's Northern Ireland international Sarah McFadden, newly arrived from Sunderland, expects a top-four finish at worst and rates Bristol and Everton as the teams to beat, tipping team-mate…
FA WSL 1 & 2 Gallery, 23-28 March 2016
Other pp.34–35
A double-page photographic gallery covering the opening week of the 2016 FA WSL 1 and 2 seasons, from 23 to 28 March. The images are captioned only with hashtags rather than names, in the…
Toni Duggan Scores v Germany (double-page poster)
Poster pp.36–37
A double-page poster of Toni Duggan's goal celebration against Germany at the SheBelieves Cup in Nashville on 6 March 2016, photographed by Brad Smith. Duggan, in the England number 19 shirt, is caught mid-celebration…
Alex Morgan (full-page poster)
Poster p.38
A full-page poster of Alex Morgan of the United States, winner of both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball at the 2016 SheBelieves Cup with two goals. The page carries her own account…
Foreign Kicks: Italian Jobs (Lana Clelland, Rachel Harrison and Paige Williams)
Run-of-page feature pp.39–41
Chris Brookes tracks three British players in the Italian top flight. Perth-born striker Lana Clelland, contacted by an Italian agent through social media in 2014, joined a struggling Bari, scored eleven league goals and…
Other British Players Who Have Played in Italy, 1970s-1990s (boxed reference panel)
Other p.40
A boxed reference panel inside the Foreign Kicks feature, listing by decade the British players who preceded the current three in Italian football. The 1970s entries are Rose Reilly, at Milan and Jolly Cutispoti…
Evans Aiming High with Bayern and Scotland (Lisa Evans interview)
Interview pp.42–43
Perth-born winger Lisa Evans, ten points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and two goals from three appearances into Scotland's perfect Euro 2017 qualifying start, describes life abroad after three…
They Kick: Five FA Women’s Premier League Fans
Run-of-page feature pp.45–47
Five FA Women's Premier League supporters explain what keeps them coming. Young Gillingham fan Bethany Wallbank, who has been to every home game and made cards for the squad, was mascot alongside captain Charlie…
FAWPL Premier League Update and Hotshots
News p.48
Wilf Frith's end-of-March round-up finds Preston clear at the top of the Northern Division but catchable by five clubs with games in hand. Brighton lead the Southern and will be champions if they win…
Wimbledon Regain Premier League Place (Libby Suchley interview)
Interview p.48
Vice-captain Libby Suchley, coaxed out of retirement two years ago, describes sealing the London and South East league title with a win over Carshalton, having beaten the same side in the Surrey Cup semi-final…
Unbeaten Brighouse ‘Banging on the Door’ (Kayleigh Bamforth interview)
Interview p.49
Brighouse Town right-back Kayleigh Bamforth describes a different kind of pressure this season: after a bedding-in year as an unknown quantity, promotion to the FA Women's Premier League is now in the club's own…
FAWPL Cup, Plate and Reserves Cup Finalists
News p.49
The FA Women's Premier League cup competitions reach their finals. Tottenham win one-nil at Nottingham Forest to reach the Premier League Cup final, where they will meet Cardiff City, who eliminated Blackburn three-nil. In…
Thir(s)ty for Success (Claire Ford, Enfield Town, interview)
Interview p.50
Enfield Town have reached their first ever national final, in the FA Women's Premier League Plate, beating two higher-division sides on the way. Veteran Claire Ford puts it down to belief, togetherness, attitude and…
Snaps and Snapshots from around the Leagues and Cups
Other p.51
A single-page gallery of nine captioned photographs. Aberystwyth's Emily Thomas is held off by Swansea's Katie Davies in the Welsh Women's Premier League at Park Avenue; Newcastle United meet Gillingham in the FAWPL and…
She Kicks Goal Getter: The Gulls’ Goal Getter (Danni Wyatt interview)
Interview pp.52–53
Torquay-born striker Danni Wyatt, twenty-two, joined her home-town club midway through last season after an approach from the manager, having played for Plainmoor Ladies in a development league and wanted a greater challenge. She…
Haley Is Hoopful of Progress (David Haley, Celtic, interview)
Interview p.54
Celtic manager David Haley sets modest, precise aims after a third-place SWPL finish: not necessarily a higher position, but closing an eighteen-point gap. He judges Hibernian within reach, having lost to them by a…
Around the Counties: Growing the Game in Nottinghamshire
News p.55
Nottinghamshire FA reports growth in both participation and the workforce supporting it. The county's Girls and Ladies League, formed in 2002, now covers 107 teams from senior adults down to new Under-9 and Under-10…
NWSL Ready for Kick Off: 2016 Season Preview
Run-of-page feature pp.56–57
The Women's Soccer Zone podcast previews all ten NWSL clubs ahead of the league's fourth season, noting that half have British head coaches. Matt Beard inherits a bottom-placed Boston Breakers and has brought Libby…
We Kick: Riga’s Cosmopolitan Revolution (Justin Whalley interview)
Interview p.58
Riga United head coach Justin Whalley recounts how a single 2014 enquiry from Norwegian player Marit Gjerde produced, within an hour, a training session that more than twenty women attended. With backing from Nina…
Born Kicking: Ellie Luscombe
Other p.59
Nine-year-old midfielder Ellie Luscombe, of the Surrey FA Development Centre Under-11s and Colne Valley Girls Under-11s, answers the Born Kicking questionnaire. A Chelsea Ladies season-ticket holder, she plays in midfield because it puts her…
She Kicks a Beat: Natze’s Got a Brand New Flow (Nadine Angerer interview)
Interview pp.60–61
Nadine Angerer, the only goalkeeper of either sex to be named FIFA World Player of the Year, talks music and career after retiring with 146 Germany caps, two World Cups and five European Championships.…
The She Kicks Locker Room: The Before & After with Vero Boquete
Interview pp.62–63
Bayern Munich and Spain playmaker Vero Boquete, a Champions League winner with Frankfurt in 2015 and a runner-up with Tyreso the year before, describes her pre- and post-match habits. With two o'clock kick-offs she…
The She Kicks Locker Room: Car Quiz with Emma Lyons
Interview p.63
Stirling University player Emma Lyons, who also works as a Teaching Fellow at the university, takes the Car Quiz. She drives a black VW Beetle, simply called Beetle, and reckons that as a footballer…
The She Kicks Locker Room: Kit Check with Faye Baker
Interview p.64
Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper Faye Baker answers the Kit Check. Her first boots were Adidas Predators, bought because she was a David Beckham fan and always got new boots with her name on…
The She Kicks Locker Room: Captain’s Chat with Kirsty McGee
Interview p.65
Reading captain Kirsty McGee discusses leading a side into its first top-flight season. She describes herself as leading by example, setting standards she expects of herself and every team-mate, and says her style is…
Official Kicks: Laura Griffiths
Interview p.66
Laura Griffiths, twenty-two, from Bangor in North Wales and a former Llandudno Junction Ladies player, took up refereeing on a team-mate's suggestion after a knee injury. She works as a Reablement Support Worker for…