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Aston Villa striving for excellence

Women's Football News 7 Oct 2008

Life at Aston Villa LFC has certainly not stood still since the 2007-08 season came to an end.

The close season has seen a number of changes, with the overall aim of moving the club forward in both performance and profile. The Ladies section is now entirely under the auspices of the Community Department at the club and so has a direct link with the successful Girls' Centre of Excellence programme as well as now having its own section on the club website (www.avfc.co.uk) and support with staffing, facilities and resources at the club.

Rob Williams has been employed as manager with Marco Pratt as assistant, whilst Martin Harrison has overall responsibility for administration as well as directing the Girls Centre of Excellence.

The squad has also seen a number of changes. With no reserve side this season, over 40 players attended pre-season from which 22 were selected. This includes three players - Lisa Sharred, Natalie Gibson and Carly Davies - who are also employed as full time community coaches as well as working in the Centre of Excellence.

Six of the squad have made the step up from Under-16 football to be selected for the ladies squad, they are Lucy Goffe, Hannah Goffe, Kim Farrow, Meg Wilton, Lynsey Longhurst and Gabriella Reid and five of whom have so far successfully made their debuts in the Premier League.

The ladies will also be well represented in the British Colleges Sport West Midlands Regional Under-19 squad which may lead to the opportunity to represent the English Colleges National squad. Congratulations go to Lynsey Longhurst, Meg Wilton, Emma Follis, Georgina Watton, Hannah Goffe and Lucy Goffe. Another member of the squad, Erin Vaughan played her part in Wales' recent 6-1 win against Luxembourg.

All of these developments mean that these are exciting times for the girls' and women's section at the club as it progresses through the 2008-09 season and beyond. For more information you can visit www.avfc.co.uk/community/ladies.