Norwich City Women will be looking to play an attractive brand of football when the new South East Division One campaign kicks-off on Sunday.
The Canaries start their campaign at home to Billericay Town, with the game kicking off at The Nest at 2pm.
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The women’s campaign last season was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the team still managed to win the Norfolk County FA Cup and show progression in terms of their performances through the season.
Now for head coach Shaun Howes says it is about building on what they did last campaign.
“When I came in at the start of last season, we wanted to have a new way of playing,” he said.
“We wanted to have a new philosophy and a new way of training and with everything that went on, it was really stop-start and difficult, but the improvements that we made were significant.
“You could see that in the way we were playing and you could see that in the confidence of the girls and every game that we have played in pre-season we have seen an improvement.
“We are not making the game difficult. We are making it is easy for them, but we are also making the game fun and exciting for them to play. I am keen for and hopeful that this season will start well. We have got a great group and fingers crossed if we get a good start on Sunday and then we should be in for an exciting season.”
So have they set any targets for the team for the new season?
“The club have set a target that they want to get promoted, not necessarily this season but in the next two or three years,” said Shaun. “I think prior to last season the club were close to relegation on two or three occasions. So, the target last season was not to be in a relegation fight.
"The target this season is to finish in the top half or top seven in the division, understanding that there are new teams coming in and that there are teams that are signing players from higher leagues.
"We know we are not the finished article yet. So we don’t want to say we are going to get promoted this season or that we are going to finish in the top three, when we still have got a bit of work to do.
"A top half finish would be a really successful season and then we can push on again and look to finish in the top three and look to compete for a promotion in the next three years ideally.”
The club have lost a few players in the summer as a couple have earned scholarships in the United States, while others have gone away to university. However, the team have also recruited players with Freya Symonds, Chardonnay Johnston and Millie O’Callaghan all joining from Wymondham Town Ladies and other players joining through the Norwich City Community Sports Foundations player pathway.
“We have retained the majority of players that we wanted to retain and we have recruited really well,” said Shaun. “We have recruited three or four additional players to the first team, which have been good signings that I was keen to make and then we have also recruited through the CSF player pathway the academy girls from the under-16s.
"We have got six or seven girls coming through there that are already showing real potential and a couple of them are pushing for potential first team places come the new season.
“The pathway is vital for us, to strengthen our reserve team but also give these girls the potential to move up and develop their football and to progress into what they want to do in the game. It allows us to work with the best girls in the county at a young age and progress them, hopefully, into the first team.”