The season just passed must surely rank among the most important in the history of Bangor Ladies. It was one where major developments were made on and off the pitch, where there were big wins and successes to savour, where there were milestones and markers to revel in and where there was an acceleration of the action plan to ensure further delights are enjoyed in years to come.
The aim for this campaign was to see sincere progress, be it in the growth in on-pitch displays or in the league standings. 2022 threw up a variation of tests and trials in that respect, allowing limits and capabilities to be discovered and expanded among the first-team fold, while new drafts for bolstering the academy as a pathway to the senior side are coming to fruition. It is fair to say some significant early objectives have already been met.
“The board want to see progression and you are fitting the bill.”
Those were the words of Ladies head coach Mark Duff in the post-match of their 3-3 draw at home to Crewe United on the final day of the season.
Despite falling just short of securing 3rd-place – what had in the season’s final few weeks been the target – any lingering feelings of disappointment and despondency went out of the system swiftly, surrounded by a tall stack of delivered pizza as reward for all the hard work in the limelight and behind the scenes.
It had been a fruitful past four months or so, and when one reads between the lines, performance-wise there could be little cause for complaint that what had all went in yielded a solid season output.
Feelings in the aftermath of that match, played in a damp mid-August climate, were that the game got away from Bangor. Crewe’s efficiency earned them a point but the Seasiders created more chances on the whole, backed by some gifted link-up that connected the team from one end to the other, one side to the opposite.
A win would have tied them up on points with eventual podium-placers Belfast Celtic. However, since continual expansion of the Northern Irish women’s pyramid is ongoing – led at the top by the raise of the Women’s Premiership from an eight-team to a 10-team league in 2023 – their 4th-position finish is likely to lead to a step-up to the second-tier Championship any which way as one of the ‘next best two’.
There is a clear idea in the camp of what is needed to acclimatise to this new level. Next term is set to see the philosophy take its latest step and with that the bar will again be raised, the targets elevated once more.
In March, Michelle Crawford was appointed Head of Women’s Football, and spoke of the central importance of youth development and strengthening of academy roots to the Ladies’ future endeavours.
“I want to ensure that girls and women in Bangor and the surrounding area are given opportunities to play football for their local hometown club. This is a key objective of the board,” Crawford explained.
“I understand how ambitious and driven the current board is at Bangor FC. Their honesty and enthusiasm was a huge draw for me to take this position, along with a blank canvas in regards to setting up the girls youth structure at the club.”
The Girls Academy kick-starts this Sunday 25th September in a major growth step from this point of view, taking place across four taster sessions between 11:30am and 12:30pm in successive Sundays for girls born between 2011 and 2015. This has been in the pipeline for a while, and for it to finally get under way will consolidate a defined first-team route for local prospects to a peak level.
It feels apt that this is introduced while the club is on a high. There were several memorable moments that stuck out from last season’s shows.
How about the four-goal return from focal line-leader Leah Robinson against Crewe in the first round of the Super Cup? Coming as part of a 6-0 win, it was one of a handful of heavy victories, including a 0-7 away success over Portadown Ladies in the League Cup first stage where all seven strikes came in the second half – surely the best 45 minutes all term.
In the latter, a new arrival in Jodi Keenan struck a brace. She and Robinson seemed to strike a chord up top, a dual spearhead for much of the Yellows’ positive attacking play throughout, and of all the games Bangor scored in you could be pretty rest assured that at least one of those two had hit the back of the net.
The wing-threat of fellow squad addition Lydia Clarke and the seasoned Beth Sloan added further energy and forward momentum, two dedicated runners able to sent in a cross or move to the back-post as required.
Other results to be upbeat about include an earlier 6-0 thrashing of the Ports in matchday 2 of the league season – where Keenan delivered a debut goal in a composed effort as one of four Seasiders scorers – a 3-0 defeat of Armagh City and a 1-3 win at Belfast Celtic.
Nor were the cup performances half bad either. While a first round exit from the Challenge Cup to Antrim Rovers left a bitter taste, the side reached the semi-finals of the League Cup before being heavily defeated by a table-topping Lisburn Rangers team, while an agonising extra time loss at Kilmore Rec should not detract from a decent last-16 Super Cup display.
Targets are there to be set and built on. The project is still at an early phase, and the consensus within the club is that this will serve ably as a platform for more joy.
Investment in young talent with clear room for growth has been central from a formative level.
It is hard to make a case why this can’t be rewarding when Bangor native and academy graduate Rebecca McKenna excelled on the international stage with Northern Ireland at the Women’s Euros this summer gone. After all, as also seen in the local men’s game right now, is the core of success not to build the foundations from the ground up? McKenna is just one component of a vast core of young first-team-ready assets in Kenny Shiels’ fold that includes Joely Andrews, Abbie Magee and Caitlin McGuinness among others.
As proud the club was of the 21-year-old current Lewes right back and her stand-out shows in Southampton, they were equally so of another of their own in Jessica Hammond, who wrote and performed ‘Girl Got Game’, the official Northern Irish anthem for that historic competition. It is stated from the top that, in the wake of the women’s national team making their first bow at a senior tournament and catching attentions, moments like these must not be one-offs.
Early signs imply that the Ladies are doing their bit the right way to support that aspiration as responsibility falls to clubs to contribute.
Bangor chairman Graham Bailie made it clear what the hierarchy wanted to see when Crawford assumed her role.
“It is another accomplishment for the club, as we continue with our objective of being a community-based club and ensuring all our senior teams reach the highest echelons of football in Northern Ireland,” he said.
The ultimate aim is top-flight football, to be knocking it about against the Glentorans, Cliftonvilles and Linfields, albeit while abiding by values the team holds dear.
It is by majority a young and local squad with an array of technical gift and talent, made up as much of good people as it is good footballers. There is no doubt this was seen in a full extent last term, a harmonious environment but with players healthily pushing each other all the same.
There are plans to further expand the first-team core and support the latter-most point, whether through recruitment – which with the likes of Keenan and Clarke certainly proved well-judged – or continued refinement of the academy, which is expected to be a sustainable production outlet for many years to come.
A finish of 4th-place and 14 points in 12 matches perhaps undersells a good year, notably when one accounts how formidable the top two of Lisburn Rangers (36 points from 36) and Ballyclare Comrades (30 points from 36) were. As regards the effort and endeavour put in, 3rd-place would not have been undeserving, playing with a modern ball-playing brand both those on the pitch and in the stands can take pride in.
On-pitch relationships are ever-growing and the press off the ball and alertness to defensive lapses – like in the build-up to Robinson’s first goal of two in the final day showdown with Crewe – has proved a source of goals, but no-one is resting on their laurels. Certain emphatic results as detailed demonstrate how ruthless this lot can be on both sides of the ball at the top of their game. Work in training will seek to bring out this inner hunger even more frequently.
When you experience progress, you never want it to stop. It is like two lines in parallel, they run in tandem, the idea and the actuality. You want the vision to be matched by the reality. Next season will dawn quickly, it will be a step up again but looking back on last, there is a lot for one to get their hopes up about.
A season is done but the project is still just starting. A marker has been laid. If last campaign was any indication, the best is very much to come.
Featured image from Joe McEwan.
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