The FA Women’s National League has today announced its nominations for Manager of the Month. While there are many worthy candidates, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the excellent work done by those who I believe could be strong contenders for the September award.
To review them fairly, we will look at performance in all games over the month (including Cup(s) and consider: past performance by the team; sportsmanship of the Manager; who the team played and expectations/budget.
It’s important to note that success isn’t measured purely by league position. For example, a team sitting at the top of the table after going full-time professional and maintaining a perfect winning record may simply be meeting expectations. Meanwhile, a side that secures its first win of the season on a minimal budget might be equally — or even more — deserving of recognition.
Tier 3 Northern
West Bromwich Albion – Siobhan Hodgetts-Still
As a Wolves fan, it pains me to praise West Bromwich Albion, but Shiv has had a great month with victories over a well-coached and hard-to-beat Leafield Athletic, promotion contenders Stoke City, and Professional Game Academy (PGA) side Leicester City.
I also look back at where WBA were last season & many predicted they would be in a relegation battle this year, but they are in the top four now and three points clear of Stoke.
With the move to the Alexander Stadium still to bed in, it will be interesting to see how they progress.
Liverpool Feds – Leanne Duffy
Feds are a team that regularly overachieves for the resources they have. After a poor August by their high standards (including losing the opening game of the season heavily and being beaten by West Brom) they have turned September into a stellar month with victories over Hull City, Loughborough and Liverpool PGA, and a draw with Cheadle. Sitting fifth is an improvement on their sixth position at the end of last season, finishing ten points behind Rugby in fifth.
They will cause teams difficulties and now that they have moved to Walton Hall Park, they will have the match day facilities to help push themselves forward commercially as well, compared to when they were at Jericho Lane. A great month for Leanne Duffy.
Tier 3 Southern
Watford – Renée Hector
Renée has had a successful September, with her Watford team scoring twenty-four goals, three clean sheets, and only conceding three goals. They are second in the league on Goal Difference, but three points clear of Plymouth (more on them later).
This is Renee’s second season as Manager of Watford and she will be looking to improve on their third-place finish, ten points behind league winners, Ipswich. If they can keep this performance up, they will be in contention for the title.
Plymouth Argyle – Marie Hourihan
Four wins and a draw in September for Hourihan’s Argyle, with twenty-one goals scored and only three conceded. With the clean sheet, three points and four goals away at Lewes in the league being a particular highlight for Marie & Plymouth from September, in this fixture last season, Plymouth lost two–nil.
They are currently sitting in third place, three points behind the early pace setters. This is a significant improvement on last season, where they finished three points clear of relegation in 10th place. Marie will be hoping to do better than she did last season with Stoke and finish in the top two.
Tier 4 North
Huddersfield Town – Glen Preston
This is Huddersfield’s second season in Tier 4 North, and they are progressing from their fifth-place finish last season. They are currently second, having only lost one league game. The only defeat in September came against Tier 3 Burnley, which I think we can all excuse, noting the investment that Burnley have put in.
Two back-to-back trips to the Northeast have produced eight goals with none conceded and a home win against Chorley in the final League Cup group game wrapped up September. I’m sure Glen will be pushing to keep this form going and challenge for promotion back to Tier 3 Northern.
Tier 4 Midlands
Boldmere St Michaels – Karl Henry
September for Karl and Boldmere was very successful, with three wins and a draw against Villa PGA. They are currently second in the Midlands League on Goal Difference in what will probably be the tightest title race in the FAWNL this season and so seeing out wins like their recent 1-0 victory over Notts County will be important.
The other particular highlight of the month will be the draw against Aston Villa’s PGA side in the Cup, which helped ensure they finish top of Group O on seven points.
Tier 4 South East
Cambridge United – Sean Greygoose
I saw Cambridge in action in pre-season against Rugby and was very impressed with what I saw (whilst they lost the match, they were 1-0 up at half time). This September they have recorded three wins, including winning the Cambridgeshire Derby over Posh; although they did unfortunately then lose 1-0 against title-challenging Norwich City (however, it was in the cup).
They are currently sitting third on twelve points and they are 50% of the way to their total points tally from last season. A great turnaround already and I expect they will be in contention for the title this season. I also anticipate that Jade Bell will be walking away with the Southeast Golden Boot, having picked it up the last couple of seasons in the Midlands.
Tier 4 South West
Bristol Rovers – Nathan Hallett-Young
The “Gas Girls” have had an excellent September with four wins out of five and the only defeat coming against Plymouth in the Cup.
All three of their cup group games were played this month, and they have comfortably finished second to progress into the FA WNL Plate, where they will face Brighton PGA.
In the league, they are building on their fourth-place finish last season (in their first FA WNL Season) and are currently joint second with Moneyfields, both just behind Swindon Town. Nathan will be looking to push both the other two all the way, and it’s likely to be a real battle all season for the title.
