Author: afcunity

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity’s steep learning curve showed with their 4-5 victory at Hemsworth – the place where they lost 7-0 in their first ever game there in a pre-season friendly this past summer.

Hemsworth took the lead each time, with AFC Unity playing catch-up: Hemsworth scored first, and the red stars equalised, before the blues again took the lead to make it 2-1, only for the first half to end 2-2.

In the second half, a ten minute holding period took place, with Unity looking likely, until Hemsworth again went ahead, making it 3-2, only for another quick response to break even yet again. Hemsworth would go in front one last time to make it 4-3.

“I never had any doubt,” said manager Jay Baker. “We have the belief and the passion to come back in games every time, and I knew if we could keep coming back, we’d eventually play all our cards and then get the win.”

Coaches Jonny Hodgson and Olivia Murray shared similar sentiments.

“The team showed complete belief in one another; they’re not willing to let each other down,” said Hodgson. “This is a team with a real passion.”

“The reason we won,” added Murray, “was due to the fact that everybody gave one hundred percent right up until the last minute, and played with the belief that we were going to win despite going behind.”

AFC Unity did indeed pull another back to make it 4-4, before the winning goal was scored in the 85th minute.

“Cor blimey,” enthused Hodgson, “with 40-yard strikes being scored, we have some serious class.”

“There was some absolutely quality finishing today,” agreed Murray. “It was a brilliant team effort.”

“Hemsworth showed us great hospitality and have an excellent set-up,” added Baker. “To go there and win 5-4 is a real achievement, and again another testament to the spirit in the team, the quality coaching, and the culture of the club as a whole.”

AFC Unity goals were provided by Nathalie Silver (2), Shanie Griffith, Lucy Strutt, and Lena Reitzle.

AFC Unity again showed the spirit of the underdog after battling away at Brampton Rovers to gain a 3-4 victory.

The win turns around their goal difference and gives them six points from just three games, leaving them third in the Division Three table, just above next week’s opponents, Hemsworth South.

“As a brand-new club and an incomplete squad, we were already the underdogs,” explained manager Jay Baker. “But after the first game, I think everyone wrote us off, and the beauty of that was that there was no pressure any more – and to be fair, I’d been the one putting the pressure on by hoping for promotion. But the leagues are a strange animal with so many newly-entered clubs, and you get a real mix in this feeling-out period – there are teams in Division Two we believe we can beat, whereas Division Three has a steep drop-off from the top team to the rest of us.”

“We have our eyes up there,” Baker added, “regardless of being the underdogs expected to finish at the bottom – I want us to aim high, even if we come up short.”

Brampton Rovers and AFC Unity seemed fairly matched, and went into half time drawing 2-2. “After a loss and a win already, I suppose I’d have been content with a draw,” said Baker. “But at half time, I took a gamble and changed things up a bit, and I think those changes paid off when we went 4-2 up.”

Brampton were able to get a goal back, making the dying minutes of the game a real nail-biter.

“Yes, our coaches on the side were joking about having heart attacks,” Baker laughed. “But our players were able to dig deep and dig out another victory – they’re incredible people.”

In the end, it remained 3-4, with AFC Unity goals coming from Jane Watkinson, Shanie Griffith, Sophie Mills, and Lucy Strutt.

AFC Unity immediately got back on track this week, winning 2-7 at the New Bohemians in their second Third Division fixture.

“It was back to playing football, like we enjoy doing,” said manager Jay Baker. “The whole ethos and atmosphere for the game was sportsmanlike; Richard (Slattery, New Bohemians manager) has a great outlook, and it has the effect on his team, who were welcoming, fair, sporting, and play some really nice football.”

However, Baker added, that’s also what AFC Unity are about.

“As in the pre-season, we play our best football when we’re against footballing sides,” he explained. “Last week’s experience, aside from the unsavoury aspects, was like going against Don Revie’s Leeds – what I like to call smash-mouth football – but that’s not our way. Jonny (Hodgson, AFC Unity’s coach) and I have encouraged the ethos of the club itself into the team, where fair play and passing football is important.”

AFC Unity’s “passing football” only increased tempo as the game progressed, leading 1-3 at half-time, and refusing to drop deep, with full-backs pushing up to further maintain momentum.

“I don’t like the cynicism of dropping deep and defending when you’re in the lead,” Baker said. “And what we did well when conceding the two goals was respond to each of them instantly with a goal of our own. Each and every one of our players put a good performance in, and we’re starting to gel and retain the discipline of the training sessions.”

However, Baker urges people not to rule out New Bohemians.

“They’re a fantastic club, really professional, and the women’s team is still playing with a small squad, to be fair – we had three substitutes and kept rolling, whereas they only had their eleven players on the day, and that takes it out of a team as well. As they develop and grow, that kind of football is going to scalp some sides – I just hope it’s not us!”

AFC Unity goals came from Lucy Strutt (3), Jane Watkinson (2), Nathalie Silver and Lena Reitzle.

AFC Unity’s quest to promote fair play that was enjoyed through pre-season friendlies was tragically jeopardised in an opening league game that saw them almost immediately go down to ten players and lose 0-7 to top-of-table Beighton Magpies.

The sending-off has resulted in the guilty player being removed from the first team entirely.

“The game was overshadowed by so many things,” said manager Jay Baker. “Obviously, it was always going to be a tough game. At 0-2 we had a player get sent off about twenty minutes in for something stupid and unforgivable, and then we were 0-3 down by half-time. In the second half, all you can hope to do is hold it together, and we let four more in when they were naturally playing keep-ball to wear us out. Again, we showed guts to battle like that, especially with the injuries we incurred and the abuse we were having to face.”

Baker is planning to take action to the County FA following the incidents in the game. “If a player does something wrong, we take action – and we’ve done that,” he said, referring to the removal of the player who was sent off, having violated the club’s written Respect Code that she signed. “But several of my players were so deeply upset by the language and bullying behaviour they were subjected to, and I’d hope others deal with that, too. I can’t say any more at this time, but suffice to say I will need reassurances that it won’t happen again because I personally refuse to subject my players to that in the future.”

“Life’s too short,” he added, “and we just want to play soccer and promote decency, and with these decisions we’ve made, we’re proving we’ll do just that. We’re only going to grow and get better as a team and as a club.”

AFC Unity were very fortunate to receive a £500.00 grant from Neil Hudgell Trust to help with the purchase of equipment and resources invaluable for the club’s long-term sustainability.

The grant enabled AFC Unity to put logos onto their home shirts and numbers onto their away shirts alongside the club purchasing new training materials such as cones, football bibs, footballs, an agility ladder and even some rain capes for those upcoming winter matches.

AFC Unity are immensely grateful to Neil Hudgell Trust for helping the team’s first season in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women’s County League be a fun and well resourced one alongside furthering the ongoing sustainability of the informal training sessions that women are able to attend when wanting to get involved in football for the first time, develop their skills or gradually get back involved in the game (see here for more).

AFC Unity started back in February this year with the help of the FA’s Just Play funding that enabled the club to run ten 1 hour training sessions at Sheffield’s U-Mix Centre, engaging a total of 23 women with a core of 16 players, with most registering for AFC Unity’s first ever season in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women’s County Football League, Division 3, that starts this Sunday at Hillsborough College against Hemsworth South, 2pm kick off. 

The training sessions engaged a mix of women from different backgrounds and also varying skill levels, which is important as the club wants to include a wide range of women in the game and break down barriers any women may face when getting involved. This is especially important given that there are 12 men for every woman taking part in football with 91,800 women wanting to play more football, and football is the most popular team sport for women (Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation statistics 2012).

AFC Unity was recently successful with a new Just Play application so that they can carry on providing informal, intermediate training opportunities for women in Sheffield and beyond at the U-Mix Centre, whilst also providing a training session for their registered players at Hillsborough College, with the new season just around the corner.

If you are interested in taking part in our new training sessions, they start from this Saturday, September 20th, 12pm-1pm at the U-Mix Centre, 17 Asline Road, Lowfield, Sheffield, S2 4UJ. It is only £1.00 per session and make sure to bring non-metal studded boots because the surface is astroturf.

We hope to see some new faces at the training sessions starting this Saturday. There are also opportunities for progression into the main team to play affiliated league football too. Participants will also be part of a community rooted football club that will be running projects as a way to break down barriers and engage more women in football and also reduce divisions in society through the sport.

Please get in touch for more either on Twitter, Facebook or email us at afcunity@gmail.com

If you want to know more about AFC Unity and our training sessions, there is a selection of quotations below regarding some of the players’ experiences with AFC Unity:

“A brilliant club, that is not only about playing football but also about raising awareness for racial, sexual and many other discriminations still happening in football around the world.”

“I really wanted to start playing football again as it was a massive part of my life! I wanted to get involved with AFC Unity particularly because of the ethos and the future of being involved with the team.”

“I got involved because I want to play, have fun, stay fit, meet others and make friends.”

“Very welcoming and friendly bunch which has been great for me as I am fairly shy. Also, I like the way that everyone has a genuine passion for the game and there are clear goals to make the club a permanent fixture.”

“The club is very friendly and understanding. It’s just unique; we are all from different ethnicities and backgrounds coming together to play as one.”

“I think the managing of the whole thing is really good; there’s brilliant communication.”

“I have played for 3 teams previously but not one of them has been as developed and enjoyable as AFC Unity. More people should be aware of the club.”

AFC Unity completed their run of pre-season friendlies in a gutsy comeback from 3-1 down to take a 5-4 loss to Sheffield Wednesday’s Division Two development side.

Taking an already-thin squad of just thirteen players to the game, more injuries were incurred in the first half, leaving AFC Unity 3-1 down at half-time – part of a pattern this pre-season.

“We’ve been trailing by two goals at half time in each pre-season game,” said manager Jay Baker. “The spirit to fight on has been there from the beginning of the summer, but to bang in three goals in the second game, and again in the third game, is incredible.”

With two goals apiece for vice-captain Rosie Oates – leading the team well on this day in the absence of the injured Jane Watkinson – and Nathalie Silver, who has now scored three goals in two games, AFC Unity battled against the odds to finish the game at a 5-4 loss.

“The guts in this game was unbelievable,” Baker said. “Every single player left nothing on that field. For them to fight on, dig deep, and get a result like that speaks volumes about the spirit of this team. You can never rule them out of anything – they will always fight back no matter what. They always believe.”

Following on from the Now Then magazine interview with co-founders Jay and Jane – where the manager flippantly stated the aim is “to not finish bottom” – he now has a much more seriously optimistic perspective as the start of AFC Unity’s first-ever season approaches, especially given the newly-created three-tier league system:

“We expected to be in Division Two, and we will be soon enough. Yes, that means we’re going for promotion at the first time of asking. Why not?” asked Baker.

“We may have started this club from scratch and built the team in just a few short months, but you look at how far we’ve come through this pre-season, and how much better we’ve gotten, even as we’ve played tougher opponents along the way, and I think we are as good as anyone else in Division Three.”

He added: “Let them call us underdogs; we will play football, we will never give up; we have an ethos and a spirit in this club I believe you’ll find nowhere else. That’s the difference.”

Photo credit: Melanie Naylor

Players Sandy Yere, Claire Watkinson and Jane Watkinson, with AFC Unity supporter Kellie See joined together on August the 16th at Graves Park, Sheffield to take part in a 5K run whilst being sprayed with lots of different colours.

The team was sponsored by friends and family, with donations helping AFC Unity’s long-term sustainability as a new, friendly and community based women’s football club.

AFC Unity would like to thank everyone that sponsored the team running the race and for helping AFC Unity grow and grow.

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.

AFC Unity showed impressive development with a 3-3 draw in their second pre-season friendly against Division Two’s Sheffield Rangers.

As in their first game, AFC Unity found themselves with a 2-0 deficit at half time, but their response was incredible – pulling two goals back after piling on the pressure, only to concede a goal from a free-kick to allow the hosts to again take the lead. However, a late equaliser meant that AFC Unity got a draw away from home in only their second game – against a team in a division above them.

“I’m really proud of each and every player,” said manager Jay Baker. “This is what I knew we were capable of from the very beginning, and to be honest everything went according to plan; the draw is a bonus. Sheffield Rangers are an established team with a good set-up, and play some really good football, which is why they’re likely to be aiming for the top spots in Division Two this coming season. To hold them to a 3-3 draw at theirs when we’re being newly-entered into Division Three is definitely an achievement.”

The pre-season continues with a game at Sheffield Wednesday’s development team on August 24th.

AFC Unity’s goals came from Claire Watkinson and Nathalie Silver.

Photo credit: Kellie See