Experience and excitement: what’s changed for LCFC Women this summer?
After a startling, but ultimately successful, first season in the Women’s Super League, Leicester City know a bit more about what to expect ahead of the delayed big kickoff. A key new contract, a raft of fresh faces and the boost given by England’s Euros success have built the anticipation.
In the hotseat
Leicester’s most important business of the summer may prove to be the extension of manager Lydia Bedford’s contract until 2024. The upturn in fortunes last season under Bedford was marked, with 8 successive defeats before her appointment being followed by 4 wins and a draw from 14 games to secure survival.
‘It's my opportunity to really put my stamp on it,’ Bedford told BBC East Midlands Today after committing her future to the club.
‘I've worked in a structure that we played to an England DNA and were producing players for our seniors. Now I'm producing players that are going to get results every Sunday and recruiting players that will add to that.
‘For us, the aim definitely is to consolidate our place in the WSL and to show the league that, with the preparation we have got, we can compete with almost every team that is front of us.
‘There is a real focus in pre-season to physically prepare the players to be able to compete for 90 minutes. Tactically, it is about being in position to have some flexibility over how we want to play, but also make sure the players are really clear on how we will see out games or get back into them.
‘Those two things, along with our group becoming more united and close together, are our main focuses.’
Wily Foxes
Examining Leicester’s recruitment so far, it’s clear where the emphasis has been placed. Experience and leadership has arrived in the shape of former Tottenham midfielder Josie Green, ex-Brighton and Hove Albion forward Aileen Whelan and former West Ham defender Erin Simon, recruited from Racing Louisville in the United States.
All three know what the WSL is all about, and Bedford is confident they will make a big impression on a young squad.
Current Welsh international Green spent six years at Tottenham, captaining the club and becoming a fans’ favourite. Her release this summer was part of a larger refresh which saw manager Rehanne Skinner pay a glowing tribute: ‘The players leaving us have been instrumental to our journey and Spurs Women would not be where we are today without their efforts. They are exceptional people on and off the pitch.’
Interestingly, the two players FBref has denoted Green as sharing most similarities with will be lining up alongside her this season. One, Sam Tierney, is firmly established as a Leicester crowd favourite. The other is Aileen Whelan.
Whelan, more of an attacking player, was an effective goal poacher for Brighton and will bring valuable knowledge of the WSL.
Her strengths appear to lie in the penalty area, showing good movement to get a shot on goal and winning vital aerial duels.
As with the players released by Spurs, Brighton manager Hope Powell had warm words for Whelan and others leaving the club this summer, saying: ‘Not only have they been great pros for Brighton, they are also wonderful human beings. We will miss not having them around the squad but I’m sure they will be successful in whatever they do in the future. We wish them every success and they will always be welcome back at Brighton.’
In search of the lowdown on Erin Simon, we tracked down Bekki Morgan - co-host of the marvellously-named Butchertown Rundown, a podcast about Simon’s previous club Racing Louisville.
‘In Simon's year with Racing Louisville, it was clear she's a reliable wing defender who's willing to put in the work every match,’ Bekki told us.
‘Unlike a lot of American players who rely more strongly on physicality, Simon is a more technical player. She also doesn't get up as high as many modern full backs do, but she's still more than capable of making good runs and has a lot of speed. She's made a couple of strong sliding tackles that saved Louisville's skin more than once. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to help the team.
‘Off the pitch, I've never heard a bad word spoken about her. She's always smiling, always chatting with fans and teammates, and is just an all-around good presence, from everything I've heard.
‘As an example of the kind of person she is, once, during a match, she deflected a ball out of bounds that went into the crowd and hit a spectator. As soon as the game was finished, she went straight over to the fan that was hit and apologised, made sure they were okay and had a good chat with them. She absolutely didn't have to do that because that's just part of the game, but she still took the time to go that extra step and be a good person.’
Loan star
Particularly given that Leicester were unable to bring Aston Villa winger Freya Gregory back for a second loan period, there is excitement at the arrival of teenage midfielder Carrie Jones on a season-long loan.
Jones was picked out by The Guardian’s Sophie Downey in her preview of Leicester’s WSL season: ‘Jones may not quite qualify for highest-profile signing (yet), but she is certainly Leicester’s most exciting. The young midfielder is highly rated by her parent club, Manchester United, and Wales.’
Coming fresh from a huge milestone in helping her national team to qualify for the play-offs leading to a World Cup, Jones will be looking to replicate the kind of form that saw her follow up a first international goal in the 1-0 win in Greece with a Player of the Match award in the vital 0-0 draw with Slovenia four days later. It was clear in both games that even at such a young age, Jones’s team-mates trust her both to keep the ball and make things happen.
In the Slovenia game, Jones played wide on the left and cut in on her right foot, showing clearly why she is so highly-rated with some impressive runs with the ball.
Jones won her first Wales cap at the age of just 15 - the route from her first kick of a ball to stepping out in her nation’s colours is an interesting one.
Although not as experienced as her fellow recruits, it’s been noted that Jones has already made an impact on her new team-mates.
‘I feel like I’ve signed ten players,’ said Lydia Bedford prior to deadline day, ‘because those four players [Green, Whelan, Simon and Jones] contributed to a massive shift in our culture.’
Deadline day and beyond
England youth international Ellen Jones, previously of Bristol City and American side Colorado Buffaloes, was an intriguing deadline day addition - perhaps a sign that Lydia Bedford’s FA connections can bear fruit for the Foxes.
Jones made five league appearances before moving across the Atlantic and she’s excited to return, telling the official website: ‘I was 17 when I last played in the WSL with Bristol City before going out to America, and I think getting that WSL exposure at that age will only help me.’
More in keeping with the aim to add experience, Northern Ireland international left-back Demi Vance has signed after leaving Glasgow Rangers to bolster a backline in need of some extra help.
Vance arrives fresh from winning the Scottish Women’s Premier League title with Rangers and her capture appears to be widely viewed as a coup.
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, journalist Stuart McKinley said: ‘Vance impressed during the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals in the summer as one of Northern Ireland’s top performers, and those displays saw her come under the microscope of a number of clubs, including others in the WSL, and Leicester made their move before the recent international break.’
Vance’s manager at international level, Kenny Shiels, has been even more effusive in his praise, picking out her passing and set piece ability.
‘I look at Demi Vance and I see so many qualities, both as a player and a person and in her playing ability and mentally too,’ said Shiels.
‘She has been outstanding for me. She is strong defensively and is an important part of how we want to play with the ball because of her passing ability and we have all seen what her set piece delivery is like as well.
‘You look at the free-kick she scored against Austria when we drew 2-2 with them. It was amazing strike. That’s what she is capable of.
‘I believe that in Demi we will have one of the best players in the tournament in her position.’
Interestingly, when asked last year about her most difficult opponent to date, Vance picked out then Wolfsburg and Netherlands winger Shanice van de Sanden, who joined newly-promoted WSL side Liverpool in the summer.
Vance will have a few months to prepare - Leicester travel to Liverpool in early December - and plenty of other tricky wingers to deal with in the meantime.
Breaking records
We couldn’t end a WSL preview without a reference to the success of the Lionesses at Euro 2022.
Women’s football has exploded in popularity since the landmark tournament - it’s already been more than a week since Arsenal announced ticket sales for their North London derby against Tottenham had passed 40,000 and clubs across the WSL are reporting record-breaking numbers of season tickets have been sold.
Leicester are no different. The club have shifted more than 1,000 season tickets - more than double last season’s total - as interest continues to grow.
‘Home games are a very enjoyable matchday experience,’ says James Harlow, chair of the LCFC Women Supporter’s Club. ‘With tickets so reasonably priced it’s a great day out and a good introduction to LCFC Women and women’s football in general.
‘Our squad is shaping up to be better than last season and I feel the new additions will cement our place in the WSL.
‘The team showed a real togetherness last season. They stick together and help each other out. It reminds of when the men won the Premier League - there’s a real sense they work for each other. I feel if we convert more chances then we have every possibility of finishing mid-table.’