North West Football Awards Player Focus: Chester’s Best (Jamie-Lee McDowell)

Among nominees for the North West Women’s Player of the Year who include Lucy Bronze and Caroline Weir, one name came as a surprise to everyone including its owner. Jamie-Lee McDowell is nineteen and in only her second season of open-age football with Chester FC Women, a side in its third season backed by the men’s club and MBNA funding, and she admits to being shocked at being nominated at all. She describes herself as fast, athletic and able to break from defence, and honest about what she needs: leadership and reading the game. Football sits alongside four days a week coaching gymnastics and a full-time course, with a teaching degree planned, and Chester have started the season unbeaten.