The Sheffield & Hallamshire FA recently announced changes to its Women’s County Football League for the 2014/15 season – and this has of course impacted on AFC Unity as the pre-season period winds down.
With so many changes experienced by several clubs, it was revealed that rather than two tiers – and AFC Unity being entered into Division Two – there will instead be three, meaning that AFC Unity will be starting off in newly-created Division Three, now the bottom level. But AFC Unity’s manager doesn’t seem to mind.
“We thought our pre-season fixtures were against teams in our own division this coming season,” said Jay Baker. “Instead, only one of the three will be on our level, and while we lost to them, we’ve already drawn against a Division Two team as we go through this time of development, starting a team – and club – from scratch. In this sense, it bodes well, regardless of how we do against Second Division Sheffield Wednesday Development in our last friendly of pre-season on the 24th of August.”
Alongside AFC Unity, Division Three will now consist of Beighton Magpies, Brampton Rovers, New Bohemians, Rotherham United Development, and the team the manager referenced as having lost to – Hemsworth South.
While the season was originally scheduled to open on September 7th, AFC Unity’s game on that date is instead being rescheduled, meaning that the club’s first-ever league game will be at Brampton Rovers on September 14th. The following week, on September 21st, AFC Unity will hold their first-ever home game – at Hillsborough College – by hosting none other than Hemsworth South.
“That’s the one,” said Baker. “That’s the one we want as many people as possible to come to.”
The full fixtures will soon be listed on this website.