Issuu

thursday, august 29, 2024

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Welcome back, Angus.

All our staff and players have prepared themselves well for this evening’s fixture and are ready for the contest on home turf.

Good evening and welcome to Carrow Road for our FA WNL Cup Determining Round fixture against East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town.

This evening’s fixture will be a great test for our City team, but we are under no illusion as to the size of the test. In recent years Ipswich Town have gone from strength-to-strength most recently becoming a fully professional side operating in tier 3 of the women’s football pyramid. However, I can assure you that all our staff and players have prepared themselves well for this evening’s fixture and are ready for the contest on home turf.

It was brilliant to be back at The Nest last Sunday as we hosted Cambridge United and claimed a 2-0 victory. It was another proud moment for our player pathway and graduate Issy Moore, who after a successful spell with local tier 5 side Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers Women last season made her home league debut for our Women’s team aged 16 against Cambridge United. Issy is one of our emerging talents and hopefully is the first of many this season to be rewarded with their full debut.

I would like to take this moment to show appreciation and thanks to everyone at the Football Club who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes in the build up to this evening’s fixture.

As we turn our attentions back to this afternoon’s fixture with Ipswich Town, I would like to ask our fantastic supporters to bring your energy and passion and get behind our City team.

I hope you all enjoy today’s game, and we hope that many in attendance today will return to support the team at The Nest for the remainder of the season as we get back to league action on Sunday 1st September when we face London Seaward.

OTBC.

Andy Cook

I know the fans here back every team within the club and watch them so proudly

This week head coach Andy Cook focuses on the positives from the first home game and what tonight’s cup draw means for him and this squad.

Andy, a great win against a difficult Cambridge side, how pleased are you with that win on your first home game?

Yeah, we’re pleased but we haven’t achieved anything yet. We’ve done our job, played some good football. We now have four goal scorers and a clean sheet so we’re happy with our start to the season.

How important is not only the three points but the clean sheet for you and the team?

It’s everything. That’s the perfect game for me; a win and clean sheet. Come the end of any season, goals and clean sheets can be the difference maker, so we need to keep racking them up but it’s never about that. It’s how you approach the game and minutes within each one. If you focus on the end, you sometimes trip when you need to maintain your balance. We’re going to be consistent and just focus on the next step.

What do you know about Ipswich Town and their objectives for the season?

We know a lot once a team goes full-time, you hear about it and of course agents talk, people talk, coaches talk, players know what’s going on, so it’s no secret they are a very good side. Moving to a full-time programme has been a long time coming and one that all professional clubs should be striving towards for their women’s team.

You’ve played at a good few stadiums with good crowds, but how much are you and the team looking forward to playing at Carrow Road this week?

We’re excited for it. It’s fantastic stadium and for me it’s a stage we all want to play on. It’s a shame we won’t be at capacity, but I know the fans here back every team within the club and watch them so proudly every time they put on that famous yellow shirt.

Have you had to keep the girls fairly calm in the build-up to this game, with it being a derby and a lot of them being big Norwich fans, or are they pretty level-headed about it all?

No, not at all, they have been level-headed, and they’ve had to work all week before turning up at the stadium, so they’ll be excited to get going, to change from the work uniforms to the club kit and get ready to show the city what we are all about.

What is the one thing you hope we can take away from the game, regardless of result?

That people who have paid to come and watch these players in the famous yellow and green of Norwich respect and appreciate the amount of effort, grit and determination, dedication and passion that every single one of these players have. They have to work all week, every week, have their lives and families and friends away from their jobs and still put in 15/20 hours a week to train and play for this fantastic club. I am in awe of them, and I am of all the women’s teams who are not professional or even paid to play this game yet. I have the great privilege of working for them to help them play and if the people watching can see all of that and get behind them, we cannot ask for any more than that!

Norwich City Women 2 Cambridge United Women 0

City Women were victorious in the first home game of the Division One South East, thanks to a brace from forward Natasha Snelling.

A blustery first half saw few chances for either side but for long-range efforts from Issy Moore and Ellie Smith, with Shannon Shaw inches away from heading Norwich in front inside two minutes.

The breakthrough for Norwich came in the 21st minute via Snelling. Freya Symonds chopped on to her right foot from the left side and played a perfectly weighted pass to the edge of the area for the prolific centre-forward to fire home with a first-time finish into the bottom corner.

A late flurry of chances for the visitors saw Sarah Quantrill called into action at her near post with a good save. In the third minute of additional time, a goal-line clearance by Ella Powell following a Cambridge corner would ensure City took a 1-0 lead into the break.

City looked to reinforce their lead right out of the gate in the second half, but it would take until the hour mark for a fruitful attack to manifest.

Moore beat her opponent with a lovely flick of the ball before firing the ball into Snelling to double her and City’s tally.

The Canaries’ fresh legs off the bench all made impressive impacts respectively, with a highlight moment coming from Holly Kennard and Olivia Cook. Just two minutes after coming on, Kennard raced away from her marker with an impressive turn of pace, but Cook couldn’t keep the effort below the crossbar.

A late free-kick from Snelling in an attempt to secure the hat-trick would round off a second half that saw City ‘keeper Quantrill with little to do between the Norwich City sticks.

The Canaries next play on Thursday, August 29, when they host Ipswich Town at Carrow Road in the FAWNL Cup determining round.

Lara dEnsLEy

FrEya syMOnds

LaurEn tOMLInsOn

LaurEn haILEs

sIEnna bOOty

IsabELLE MOOrE

hOLLy kEnnard

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Lara dEnsLEy

Feature interview

Ellie Smith

This week’s feature interview is with Ellie Smith, our two-time Player of the Season, who has been with us now for ten years. The number nine talks in this interview about the win over Cambridge and what the East Anglian derby means to her.

Another three points in the bag Sunday and a great performance from yourself, how do you assess the win over Cambridge?

It’s always good to get three points and keep a clean sheet at the same time at The Nest, and it was a good performance all round. We know that there are still things to work on, as you would expect this early on in the season and with so many new players coming in and making such an impact, we’re going to take time to get used to each other’s playing styles, get used to the way Andy wants us to play, but I think we worked well as a team. Three points is three points and let’s keep that going!

We also managed to keep a clean sheet, which is really great for our goal difference as it’ll be tight up the top there this year. You don’t have to do an awful lot of work defensively but that must feel massive for the team and like another ‘win’?

Clean sheets are really important, it’s going to be very tight at the top this year as it was last season, I think it’s going to come down to that at certain stages. A clean sheet to a defender is like a goal to an attacker, so its massive for the whole team.

Andy’s subs really seemed to give us a whole new lease of life and we looked even more dangerous - is it nice to know once you’ve done your bit you can hand it over to the rest of the capable squad?

Yes 100%, the players on the bench could easily be starting the game, there is such competition for starting 11 positions which is such a great place to be in - I do not envy Andy with that one! But the subs are just as important as the 11, and like you say they make such an impact when they come on. It’s the strongest side I believe we have had and I’m really excited to see what this season holds!

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You always get so stuck into every game and are often involved in some really physical battles. How do you rest and recover and more importantly, manage to just get back up again?!

There are some physical battles for sure in this game, as I’m sitting talking to you about this I sit with two bandaged knees and very achy legs, which seems to happen every day after a game - maybe it’s an age thing! I like to get stuck in like everyone else, but I think it’s just something that has always been part of my game, I love playing for this club and fighting for the badge, so I love a tackle and trying hard. If you’re trying hard it reflects on everyone else. My rest and recovery contains a lot of baths and icing up when I can and just taking it easy when I can.

You got your Carrow Road goal last season in our 2-2 draw with QPR, just describe that feeling, running over to the fans?

Scoring at Carrow Road for the first time in the 2-2 draw was such an incredible feeling. It’s really hard to put it into words to be honest.

I’ve played for Norwich most of my career and scoring at the place Norwich fans call home was so cool, so to be able to do it in front of our loyal fans but also in front of my friends and family was amazing. It’s something that I will cherish when my career comes to an end.

The last time we faced Ipswich you actually won opposition player of the match and had just come straight from work. We lost 3-1 but scored the only goal of the second half, which you set up very well. Do you remember much from that game back in 2020?

Yeah, I do actually remember quite a bit from that game, which is surprising for my memory!! I remember coming to The Nest and playing on the grass pitch at the back of our home pitch now after having two hours sleep from a night shift, and being really happy with our team performance! It’s never nice losing but when you put in such a positive performance as a team, it only helps with the remainder of the season. And like you said a 1-0 win in the second half, eh!

As long as we all play our best and give it our all, that’s all that can be asked for!

We all say with games like these we just treat it like any other, but does it mean that little bit more to you, living in Norwich most of your life, being a Norwich supporter for life, playing in the East Anglian derby again?

You can say treat it like any other game but it’s the East Anglian Derby! Being a lifelong Norwich fan and it being at Carrow Road, it surely does feel a little bit different and one that you want to win. We will try and treat it like any other game which is obviously trying our best to win. They play a level above us and go in as the favourites, but who doesn’t love an underdog! It’s 90 minutes of football so let’s see what happens.

The last five times we’ve played at Carrow Road we’ve gone in as the team to beat, but that won’t be the case Thursday. How does it feel being , like you say, the underdogs for the first time in a while?

To be honest, I quite like being the underdog at times, it doesn’t feel as much pressure is on you compared to going in as the favourites. I remember that we played most of our games as underdogs until a couple of seasons ago, so I’m looking forward to that feeling again. We go in with no pressure, but hopefully come out with a good performance if nothing else!

Finally, what is one thing you want to take away from the game on Thursday, regardless of result?

I just want us to be proud of our performance, I want us to come out of the game knowing we gave it our all, and show how we want to be playing Tier 3 and hopefully show we are good enough to do that as well! As long as we all play our best and give it our all, that’s all that can be asked for! It will only help with the remainder of the season if we play our best and that’s what I’m hoping for.

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Opposition Overview: Ipswich Town

Tonight we welcome Ipswich Town to Carrow Road in the determining round of the FAWNL Cup for the first ever women’s East Anglian derby at the stadium.

Town have spent three seasons in the Southern Premier Division, with second place their best finish during the 2022/23 season. Joe Sheehan’s side had finished on the same points as promoted side Watford, missing out purely on goal difference.

The 2023/24 campaign ended in a fourth-place finish for the Blues, despite scoring five or more goals in six of their league fixtures throughout the season.

On the opening day of the 2024/25

season, Town picked up three points in a 3-0 win over Oxford United, the goals coming from Sophie Peskett (brace) and Lucy O’Brien.

Town made it all the way to the quarter final of last year’s FAWNL Cup, losing out in extra time to Portsmouth Women, who would go on to win the Southern Premier Division title.

The last time these two sides met was in the 2020/21 Covid-19 season, before the Tractor Girls were promoted to Tier 3.

The FA Cup match was played at The Nest and ended 3-1 to the visitors, with Keunna Dill for the Canaries the only goal scorer in the second half.

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Opposition Manager: Ipswich Town

Welcome to Carrow Road, Joe. It’s a hugely exciting fixture for both sides, how are you feeling ahead of tonight’s game?

We’re really excited for it. It’s not something we had spent too much time thinking about since the draw was made as we’ve had some important league games to focus on first but now we’ve managed to come through those we’re now looking forward to playing here in this cup tie.

City will understandably be the underdogs in the game, but will have the home crowd on their side, so would you say that makes it a fairly even contest?

I’m sure the home crowd will have a part to play in their backing for their team but we’re not new to playing in front of big crowds. Playing away at Manchester City in the FA Cup, and playing at Portman Road last season in front of over 10,000 has given us that experience and we know we will be wellbacked by a big travelling contingent which bodes well for a great atmosphere.

Have you ever visited Carrow Road before, can you tell us about any game you may have seen there?

I have on a few occasions. I’ve watched an England U21 game many years ago and most recently the men’s game that took place here in April.

You would have been in charge the last time these two sides met, which was in the FA Cup in 2020, how much has Ipswich Town changed since then?

The club has changed a lot, obviously a new ownership group have really driven the club on and off the pitch which has culminated in the men gaining promotion to the Premier League. The women’s department has always been well supported and we’ve evolved a lot

since 2020 which has seen our infrastructure develop as well as our playing squad.

Outside of the cup, what are Ipswich’s objectives and targets for the season, could this finally be the year out of Tier 3?

It’s something we are working really hard to achieve. The margin for error is so fine and we’re going to have to be really good and as consistent as possible over the course of the season. If we keep working hard and keep trying to improve our performances, then we will end up where we deserve to end up come May.

What has been a career highlight for you with Ipswich Town Women?

Probably reaching the quarter finals of the FA Cup two seasons ago, playing West Ham live on the BBC at a sold-out Felixstowe was a great occasion that is closely contested by our Portman Road fixture last season.

If one thing was to happen for certain on Thursday night regardless of the result, what do you hope that would be?

Hopefully an exciting, high-level game that the crowd enjoy. I am passionate about growing the women’s game in this region and for that to happen, both clubs have a responsibility to help grow and impact young children and our future players and supporters. We have to try and improve the product on the pitch, so the level is appealing and entertaining to watch to safeguard the future for aspiring children.

Get to know...

Freya Symonds Sienna Booty

Place of birth

18 26

Gorleston

Position

Left wing/right wing

Nickname

Simmo

First pair of boots

Grey CR7s

Favourite food

Spaghetti bolognese

Favourite drink

Dr Pepper

First choice of snack

Boost bar

Last thing you do in the dressing room before a match

High five the team

Pre-match song of choice

Jumping all over the world by Scooter

Who do you sit next to on the bus to away games

Liv Cook

Best football match you’ve ever watched

Norwich v Ipswich

Last holiday destination you visited

Rhodes

Place of birth

Norwich

Position

Centre-midfield

Nickname

First pair of boots

Adidas

Favourite food

Chinese takeaway

Favourite drink

Iced coffee

First choice of snack

Caramel Dairy Milk

Last thing you do in the dressing room before a match

Dance to whatever song is playing

Pre-match song of choice

Dancing Queen by ABBA

Who do you sit next to on the bus to away games

Issy and Charlotte

Best football match you’ve ever watched

England Men’s Euro semi-final

2024

Last holiday destination you visited

Majorca

FAVOURITE PLAYER: ELLIE SMITH HOBBIES: FOOTBALL

FAVOURITE PLAYER: ELLIE SMITH

HOBBIES: SWIMMING, FOOTBALL, BROWNIES

FAVOURITE PLAYER: SARAH QUANTRILL HOBBIES: FOOTBALL

3 1 4 Amelia emilia harrison sienna keeper’s mascot captain’s mascot

FAVOURITE PLAYER: NATASHA SNELLING

HOBBIES: PLAYING OUTDOORS, ANIMALS

Click here for more information on the women’s team experiences on offer at The Nest

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Finding your way in life is like unlocking the combination of a safe. You have to go forwards and backwards because life is not a direct march from A to B. The twists and turns are progress, not regression.

MILLIE davIss

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