Exclusive Interview: Preston North End’s Maddison Hadley

Photos: Steven Taylor Photography

Preston North End forward, Maddison Hadley, is currently tied with Chloe Logie of Brentford in the race for the Adobe Women’s FA Cup golden boot with ten goals each. With games still left to play, it would take something special for the pair to be overtaken.

Hadley has also been enjoying a prolific season for Preston North End with twenty-nine goals in fifteen games as the Lilywhites push for promotion from the North West Women’s Regional League Division One North. We catch up with Hadley as she prepares to eagerly keeps an eye on this weekend’s Women’s FA Cup fixtures.

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m from a village called Warton where I have lived for as long as I can remember. However, I was born in Osnabruck in Germany.

I’m a striker for Preston North End Women and I support Liverpool FC.

How would you describe yourself as a player? 
I would describe myself as a quick typical number nine always in the right areas to score the goals kind of like an Erling Haaland.

Who was your biggest footballing inspiration while growing up? 
My idol in football would probably be Cristiano Ronaldo growing up as a kid I have always loved watching him play from trying to recreate what he did and implement them in my games from trying to score similar goals to him and learning skills he did.

Another idol I would say would be Neymar Jr in his Barcelona era and women’s footballer I would say Chloe Kelly especially after scoring that winning goal in the euro final.

I’d also say another massive influence to me would of been my PE teacher at high school, his name was Mr Doughty (Leigh Doughty) and I would say he had a massive part in my progression throughout my five years at Carr Hill, from playing for a boys football team to then joining Preston North End Girls at 13/14, and getting Trials with Lancashire Schools, I would say without him I would of never got that opportunity to be seen by them teams. He is now an EFL Referee.

Could you tell me about how you can to join Preston North End?
As I said before, I was at a girl’s football event with my high school and after a few weeks my PE teacher (Mr Doughty) informed me that I’ve been scouted and PNE Girls are wanting me to go down and have a few training sessions with them. I was there from the age of 13-16 years old, winning our league two years in a row.

I then moved on played for a few other local clubs and when I was 19 I joined Blackburn Community Reserves and finished that season with 59 goals. I then went back to Preston where I have been top goal-scorer in the league for three seasons running with 113 goals altogether in all competitions.

This season I’m currently on 29 goals and games in hand are from a really good cup run – Reaching the First Round of the FA Cup, and currently the Semi Final of the Challenge Cup and the knockout stages of the Alliance & Design Print Cup.

For the club I think it is good recognition to be doing so well in the league and these cups. It attracts younger fans who hope to be in our position one day.

Prior to the beginning your Adobe Women’s FA Cup campaign, what were the expectations of the club? 
Our expectations were to win the league and win the cups we were in and get as far as we can in the FA Cup. Unfortunately, we were knocked out of the FA Cup but we are still in two cups and still chasing to finish as high as we can in the league.

What has been your highlight of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup campaign? 
I think the highlight was the First Round. We made history for our club being the first time the ladies have ever reached that stage and I think the performance we showed in that game was a real statement of where we can be and what we can do, despite losing the game all the girls gave everything that day and it really brought us all closer together as we all shared that journey together.

Is there some frustration that defeat against Bradford City in the First Round was a missed opportunity? 2-1 was a narrow margin and a credible score against a FA Women’s National League club. 
Football is football you can’t control what happens on the day and decisions that are made. I think we made the opposition work for that result. We could of been more clinical with our chances however on the day we were the better team the result just didn’t show it. There were some frustrations however after the game when we reflected we gave everything we had a we all did ourselves, the coaches, the fans and the badge proud.

You and Chloe Logie of Brentford are tied with ten goals each but with both teams eliminated, so are your nervous that someone might still overtake you and steal the competition’s golden boot?
It will be a massive achievement personally for me if I won the golden boot award and I’m hoping I do when I have time to reflect on it sometimes, I think to myself I hope no one catches up however it’s football anything can happen. And whoever wins it fully deserves it whether that’s me and Chloe or somebody else.

You have scored 27 goals so far this season. Do you have a personal target by the end of the season?
Last season I reached 29 goals which has been my lowest scoring season so far so anything over that I’ll be happy with and hopefully win the leagues golden boot again.

Who do deserves the credit for setting up the opportunities in front of goal? 
I think the whole team deserves credit it’s a team game and without the girls around me I don’t think it would be possible to score these goals on my own. There are a few consistent players who assist me week in week out but overall, all the girls deserve the credit.

Also, the coaching staff deserve the credit all the hard work they put in on and off the pitch to help elevate my game and improve to be in them goal scoring areas.

Let’s have a little bit of fun. You’re through on goal with only the keeper to beat but out of the corner of your eye you see a teammate who could sweep into an empty net if you square it to them. Whatcha you gonna do?
It really depends how many goals I’m on that game if it’s for my hat trick I’m definitely taking it myself however I like to think I’m an unselfish player and I probably would square it.

Given the stature and the history of Preston North End, how do you feel about the short term future looks like? 
With the short-term future, we are really just focusing on getting the three points week in week out and hoping to win the cups we are still in. All I can say really is that we all wear that badge with pride, and we know how much it means to one another to play for this club, and we give everything we can for the badge.

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