Issue
February 2017 32 articles indexed
Read She Kicks Special Edition in full
Column / Opinion p.3
She Kicks introduces a free guide to a competition that would be played only once. The editor explains that with the women's game switching back into line with the winter pyramid from September 2017,…
Interview pp.4–7
Oxford United's striker arrived from Portsmouth in February 2016 with her then manager Les Taylor predicting she would be a handful for defenders; thirteen goals in nineteen games made that an understatement, and she…
Other p.8
A settled and competitive Villa squad go into the Spring Series looking to turn performances into results. The page records a 2016 campaign of seven wins, three draws and eight defeats, sixth in WSL…
Interview pp.9–10
Joe Hunt reports a quick turnaround into pre-season, with Villa back in training on 3 January after a good spell before Christmas, competitive friendlies against Durham and Sheffield, and an FA Cup win over…
Other p.11
Two Villa supporters explain what keeps them coming. Carl Arrowsmith supports the women's game in general and says Villa is in his blood; Mark Antony McLachlan started in April 2015 out of curiosity after…
Other p.12
The Seagulls arrive in the WSL as champions of the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division and winners of the play-off final, a season of twenty-two league games that ran to seventeen wins. Charlotte…
Interview pp.13–14
Brighton-born and a Republic of Ireland international, Sophie Perry spent seven years at Chelsea and a spell at Reading, but reaching the top league with her home town club beats all of it. She…
Other p.15
Gary Symonds started going to Brighton women's matches to fill a spare Sunday and was held by one game full of goals and a friendly atmosphere. He now tries to make every fixture home…
Other p.16
A bruising 2016 left the Belles bottom of WSL 1 and relegated, having changed management early, lost key players to injury and gone winless until the final game. The page records the scale of…
Interview p.17
The Belles defender takes the positives from a season she calls a physical and emotional rollercoaster. Relegation was tough to take and she rejects the idea that seeing it coming softened the blow: regardless…
Interview p.18
Emma Coates says a full pre-season has been genuinely valuable, giving her coaching staff time over Christmas to embed a club philosophy and playing framework the players have now been exposed to in training…
Other p.19
Sarah Maye's connection to the Belles began ten years ago when her daughter joined the junior section, and she describes a Belles Family that supported her while she was battling cancer. She does not…
Other p.21
Relative minnows when they joined the WSL in 2014, Durham are now among the division's hardest teams to play, built on established players who grew with the club and additions from neighbouring Sunderland. The…
Interview p.22
Durham's captain refuses to trade on a season that surprised everyone. Last year, she says, does not mean anything now: other clubs in the division are signing heavily and Durham have to step up…
Other pp.23–24
Two Durham supporters who also watch Sunderland explain why the Wildcats have their loyalty. Connor Lamb went for a change in the club's first WSL season and never stopped, praising a club that does…
Other p.26
Everton missed a return to WSL 1 by five points and go into the Spring Series as one of its likelier winners. The page records ten wins, four draws and four defeats in 2016,…
Interview pp.27–28
Andy Spence calls missing promotion a bitter pill but insists it will make his players better. The page reconstructs how it slipped away: fourteen points from the opening eighteen, then a single point between…
Other p.29
Lynsey Alexander followed the men's side first and says the women's team was the obvious choice when she started six years ago. Her match of 2016 is Durham away, for Lauren Davies' second-half strike,…
Other p.32
Long-time strugglers, the Bees have recruited and are benefitting from a closer relationship with Barnet. The page records six wins, four draws and eight defeats in 2016, seventh on 22 points, with Jo Wilson…
Interview pp.33–34
Dave Edmondson describes a club transformed. The Bees are still semi-professional and train twice a week where Bristol and Melbourne Victory managed three or four, but he stresses they are a whole club now,…
Other p.35
Sylvain Jamet follows the Bees for their locality, the approachability of players and staff, and the number of former Arsenal players in the squad. His match of the season is the penalty-shootout Continental Cup…
Other p.36
After what the page calls a rollercoaster year, the Lionesses are raring to roar. Their 2015-16 Southern Division form ran to three wins, seven draws and eight defeats, eighth on 16 points. Ashlee Hincks…
Interview pp.37–38
Millwall's top scorer and their player of the year talk about a season of eleven winless league games, player and managerial change, and a finish under Lee Burch that gave them hope. Ashlee Hincks,…
Other p.39
Two Millwall supporters. Dion Farnes has championed the Lionesses' underdog fighting spirit for years and missed only one game in 2016; Harry Cooper was brought up on Millwall by his father and came to…
Other p.40
A struggle at times in 2016, but the page frames the Spring Series as a fresh start under a new manager. Oxford won four, drew one and lost thirteen, ninth on thirteen points, with…
Interview p.41
Oxford's new first team coach welcomes a competition without promotion or relegation as room to challenge the club's young players and gauge where they sit on the pathway to WSL 2 in September, while…
Other p.42
The world's first football club settled quickly into the WSL and the page expects further consolidation and a few big scalps. Sheffield won seven, drew five and lost six in 2016, fifth on 26…
Interview pp.43–44
Sheffield's captain is blunter about the debut WSL season than outsiders were: the players and the manager were massively disappointed, however good fifth place looked. An experienced squad found the step up from the…
Other p.45
A Sheffield supporter and a seven-year-old fan give their view. Steve Cox started following the club when his daughter signed and stayed for the history - the world's first football club - and for…
Other p.46
Doubts had circled about whether Watford would field a WSL side at all until Keith Boanas arrived days before kick-off. The page records a 2016 of two wins, one draw and fifteen defeats, bottom…
Interview pp.47–48
Watford's captain calls the Spring Series a completely new chapter: brand new coach, brand new pitch, no excuses after two poor seasons and a period linked to Berkhamsted. The squad were shocked but delighted…
Other pp.50–51
The complete schedule for a competition played once. Nine rounds run from Saturday 11 February to Sunday 21 May 2017, five matches in each, with London Bees against Brighton & Hove Albion the opening…
