After 20 league matches in Division 3 of the Gloucestershire County Women’s Football League, Bradley Stoke Ladies FC (BSLFC) have finished in first place, securing the title for 2021/22.
A couple of slip-ups towards the end of the season against Downend Reserves (draw) and Whitchurch (loss) meant Bradley Stoke dropped to second place for the first time since Christmas, and title hopes took a huge blow. A convincing 5-0 win against Mitcheldean in the penultimate game of the season meant that now first-placed Whitchurch had to draw or lose against Southmead in their last game to give Bradley Stoke any chance of still finishing first. Southmead beat Whitchurch 2-0, with Bradley Stoke lined up to also play Southmead in their final game of the season just a week later…
The final game
Whilst the nerves were racking up for the ladies, the whole team was up for the match and ready to go out and battle for 90 minutes for the win. A draw or loss for them would have been no good due to Whitchurch being 2 points ahead – it had to be a win. Manager Martin Lee gave the ladies a great team talk before the match to ease the pressure.
Bradley Stoke started the game strongly and after 11 minutes captain Natalie Lewis put a corner into a dangerous area in the box, with centre back Alex Thomson ready to volley the ball into the back of the net; 1-0 to Bradley Stoke! Top goal scorer Hollie Shone also threatened the opposition goal many times but could not find a way in. Southmead had chances and pressurised Bradley Stoke’s goal throughout the match, with goalkeeper Abbie Pickett making a few vital saves to keep BSLFC in the game.
The second half nerves kicked in whilst Bradley Stoke defended their 1-0 lead, with every player giving 100 percent for the final 45 minutes. After what felt like an eternity, referee Mo Santali finally blew the whistle, meaning Bradley Stoke had secured the 3 points and would be crowned champions! The celebrations began immediately after, albeit with some dodgy champagne.
Season’s statistics
The statistics for the season make great reading: Played 20 matches, lost 3, drew 1 and won 16. Goals scored 80 (highest in all of the Divisions); conceded just 16 (second best across all the divisions), goal difference of 64 (best across all the Divisions).
Out of the top ten goal scorers in Division 3, four of those players were from BSLFC. Hollie Shone (26 goals), Chloe Brown (17 goals), Emily Jacklin (14 goals) and Natalie Lewis (10 goals). Hollie was also third-highest goal scorer across all the divisions.
Manager Martin Lee commented:
“The season did not get off to the best of starts on 5th September 2021 when we suffered a 1-0 loss. We then went on an eight-match winning streak until mid-November when we went down 1-0 again. But we bounced back by going on a seven-match winning streak until March 2022 when we were held to a 0-0 draw. We lost once more before closing the season with two wins to gain the title by just one point.”
Martin’s philosophy at BSLFC is to take 16 players to each match and then roll the substitutes on after 22.5 mins of each half, thereby giving many players a chance to play per match. “Mind you it is manic rolling five players on and off the pitch at one time. But it worked!” said Martin.
A welcoming club
The players’ age range at the club is 17 to 39 years old, with a total of 35 players registered to play. Martin said:
“This highlights the growth in female football over the years and shows there is a high demand for female football in the area. We are a club that welcomes new players as every year you will get a turnover of players as some go off to university, some move out of the area, some move on with their careers and some want to spend more time with their family. So it is great to be linked with the girls section of BSYFC which can provide a good feeder of players as they finish with youth football. In fact we already have some young players from the U16 squad training with us so they can experience adult football.”
“We always try to have fun and friendship at the club. After every match we have ‘Player of the Match’ and ‘Donkey of the Day’ awards, ‘guess the number of sweets in the jar’ and our famous ‘free raffle’.”
“Thanks to all the supporters who came and watched our matches throughout the season. The big turn out for our final match was great and helped us to get across the finishing line.”
“And a big ‘thank you’ to our sponsors: LSI Workplace (main kit), DNRG (matchday jackets) and Baileys Court Inn (post-match hospitality).”
Interested in joining your local FA Charter Standard Community Club? To find out more about Bradley Stoke Ladies FC, visit www.bradleystokeladiesfc.co.uk
This article originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 14).