View From The Field: Ward’s Words (Helen Ward column)

Helen Ward played in the Grenfell charity match and credits the councillor who drove it, then turns to a pre-season that looks different now Watford are in the third tier: fewer team sessions, more of her own conditioning, and a weekly structure she has learned to manage after enough years to call herself ancient. Ahead of it all sits Wales against England in Newport, and she takes on the criticism of the venue directly. A bigger stadium would have meant a bigger crowd, but that is not the priority now; the players and staff feel Newport is the right place for this particular game, and filling the Liberty or Cardiff City Stadium is something success will earn rather than something to reach for first.