WOMEN AND GIRLS UPDATE 7

After three games on the road Gillingham Ladies were back at Chatham FC this week to face AFC Wimbledon Ladies in the third qualifying round of the SSE Womens FA Cup. The teams’ good run of form continued with another impressive performance and valuable home win to progress to the next round of the SSE Womens FA Cup, this result also took the unbeaten run to six games.

To celebrate “Girls Football Week” Gills Ladies welcomed both Larkfield Ladies and Petts Wood Football Club girls to be mascots for the match, with both teams playing on the pitch and joining the team in the changing room before the game.

Gills Ladies were also very proud to show their support for The FA’s ‘Respect – Set Your Stall Out’ Campaign. In the build up to the game players were wearing in RESPECT t-shirts to highlight and reinforce the positive message.    

Gills Ladies made an impressive start to the game, attacking from the opening minutes and this lead to a scramble inside the box and Gills Ladies were able to capitalise with Ashleigh Loosemore slotting the ball home to take the lead.  

Katie Hardaker and Emma Tune both had good attempts from distance as Gills Ladies enjoyed a good period of possession early in the game.  Half way through the first half AFCW Ladies enjoyed a period of possession but Gills Ladies defence were alert and the ball was comfortably cleared. Late on in the first half the game was stopped for a considerable period of time while AFCW Ladies player Lauren Carnell received treatment following a 50/50 challenge with Kallie Balfour, Lauren was subsequently substituted. 

Gills Ladies should have doubled their lead just before half time when Fiona Constable had a great shot on goal that was saved by AFCW Ladies goalkeeper.

AFCW Ladies started the second half positively and applied a lot of pressure on Gills Ladies defence, with a goal line clearance and Courtney Shanly was called into action who denied the visitors an equaliser. 

April Bowers looked a good threat going forward as Shannon Redhouse sent a ball across the six yard area but AFCW Ladies cleared easily for a corner. Fiona Constable whipped in a great corner and Kallie Balfour made the most of the quality cross with a great header into the bottom corner to double Gills Ladies lead. 

Lauren Williams sent the ball in the direction of the far post and April Bowers was positioned perfectly to place the ball beyond the outstretched keeper to open her account for Gills Ladies on her home debut and made it 3-0. 

Kallie Balfour attempted an outstanding chip from a tight angle and lofted the ball over the keeper to make it 4-0. 

Gills made it five when a cross came into the box and Lydia Wills’ initial effort fell kindly for Shannon Redhouse who showed great composure to finish.

Ahern's pinpoint pass found Redhouse in space who made a good run at speed into the box and just as she was about to take her shot was taken out by a mistimed tackle. The referee awarded a penalty to Gills Ladies, the Skipper Williams stepped up to take the penalty and with a powerful and well placed finish made it 6-0. 

Gills Ladies were in seventh heaven as Balfour played a short corner to Georgia Reece whose whipped in delivery goes in off the defender for an own goal to increase the scoreline to 7-0.

For match highlights and post match interviews, please click here.

Following a reshuffle of Gills Ladies coaching team, the club is looking for a new assistant manager. If you're ambitious, dedicated and passionate about coaching and are interested in the role, please email Charlotte Richardson crichardson@priestfield.com.

The club is also looking for a part time Performance Analyst intern to join the team, training for this role will be given and this role can be carried out remotely. If you are interested in this role, please send your CV to ngearing@priestfield.com.

The Kent Girls and Ladies League have joined forces with Gills Ladies to offer all affiliated clubs within the Kent Girls and Ladies League a unique opportunity to be Gills Ladies match day mascots. 

We have the pleasure of welcoming Gillingham Centre of Excellence as match day mascots for the next home game against Dartford Royals on Sunday, October 18.

If you would like your team to have the chance to experience this fantastic opportunity, please contact Charlotte Richardson crichardson@priestfield.com.

Since the start of the season there has only been two home league games played, a Season Ticket is still great value and are available to purchase from the club’s ticket office at Gillingham FC, as well as at home match days and online via Season Ticket.

Season Tickets enable Gills Ladies fans to access all league home games and half price tickets for cup fixtures.  Adult Season Tickets cost £25 (free entry for U16s).

Support for the team has been fantastic so far this season, with 140 supporters attending the match against AFC Wimbledon Ladies but we would love to see more supporters come and watch the team. We look forward to seeing all the supporters at our next game.

The next league game for Gills Ladies is away to Bedford LFC on Sunday, October 25 (kick off 2pm) and the next home game is on Sunday, November 15 (kick off 2pm) against Old Actonians.

The next cup game for Gills Ladies is Dartford Royals at home in the Kent FA Womens Cup at Chatham Town FC on Sunday, October 18 (kick off 2pm).

Gills Ladies travel to Bury Ladies FC for the first round of the Ryman League Cup on Wednesday 21 October (kick off 7:45pm).  The draw for the second round has taken place and should Gills Ladies progress they will host either Tottenham Hotspur LFC or Enfield Town LFC.

The draw for the fourth qualifying round of the SSE Womens FA Cup has taken place and Gills Ladies have been drawn at home against Herne Bay Ladies will take place on Sunday, November 8 (kick off 2pm).

The draw for the second round of the FA Womens Premier League Plate has taken place and Gills Ladies have been drawn away to Lewes Ladies will take place on Sunday, November 29 (kick off 2pm).

Tickets for all cup games are £3 for adults, £1.50 for season ticket holders and free entry for under 16s.

 

The Centre was very proud to show their support for The FA’s ‘Respect – Set Your Stall Out’ Campaign when they played Essex County FA on Saturday, October 10 and showed that football can unite. In the build up to the game players and parents had kitted themselves out in RESPECT t-shirts and scarves to highlight and reinforce the positive message that all at the Centre abide by.  

  

U17s Goalkeeper, Katie Startup returned from Estonia after helping England U17s progress to the Elite round of the UEFA Championship qualifiers. Katie jumped straight back into training and into a RESPECT t-shirt with her fellow GKs before doing some final preparation for the weekends fixtures.

Next up for the Centre is an away fixture at Brighton and Hove Albion this Saturday, October 17.

We are pleased to be offering Coaches Open Evenings over the course of the season, these sessions are for all coaches and volunteers of grassroot clubs and are free to attend. The next session is being held on Wednesday, November 4, the evening will be hosted by our Technical Director, Mark Patterson who will deliver a session on ‘counter attacking to finish and managing overloads’ with our U13 squad. Coaches will have the opportunity to go pitch side and ask questions about the session and topic. For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Centre Manager, Georgia Bowie gbowie@priestfield.com or 01634 350125. The open evening will provide coaches with two FA CPD (Continuous Professional Development) hours. 

The “Girls Football Week” was created to encourage more schools, colleges and wider educational institutions to run female specific football sessions. The “Girls Football Week” was held 5 – 11 October and had been a great success with more than 16,000 female players taking part, this was triple the original target of 5,000 and 14,000 more than took part in 2014. This is a fantastic achievement, well done to all involved.

The Girls Academy have been hard at work in the classroom as well following their personal development programme in the gym. They’ve also been recording some video diaries where they’ve spoken about their time so far with the Academy and we were also very lucky to welcome some of the girls’ parents to the club who spoke about the positive impact the academy has had on their daughters. We look forward to seeing the finished video. 

This October half-term we will again be running a FREE Girls Only Soccer School for girls of all abilities aged between 5 and 12 years of age. To find out more and to see details of all our Soccer Schools this October please click here.  

We have again teamed up with the Football League Trust to host the local stages of the U13 Girls Cup and U11 Kids Cup. School teams from across Kent are invited to enter the competition with the winners going on to represent Gillingham FC at the Area and Regional Finals with the hope of progressing all the way to the National Final held at Wembley Stadium. To find out how to enter a team please click here. 

Our FFD programme is going from strength to strength with numbers of participants increasing each week at our current schools. All the girls and schools involved have been fantastic and it’s great to see so many young girls enjoying fun football sessions. To find out more about getting involved please contact Female Development Officer, Georgia Bowie gbowie@priestfield.com or 01634 350125.