How Rovers Ladies are planning for the Championship

A trophy-laden campaign saw them win the Northern Premier Division for a third successive season, as well as defending their league and county cup crowns.

The ‘double treble’ became the quadruple as they got their hands on the play-off final trophy with victory over Coventry United.

But much more important was the Football Association granting their application to finally become a second tier side.

They had been denied that opportunity by losing to southern division champions Tottenham in 2017 and Charlton in 2018, as well as seeing their application, and subsequent and appeal, last summer knocked back.

Boss Gemma Donnelly described it as ‘truly heartbreaking’ but that has only added to the determination this time around, and made the success that bit sweeter.

Now the dust has settled on an historic season, Donnelly has high hopes for the future.

“We’ve not worked so hard just to make the numbers up in tier two, we want to go there and compete, and we will do more than just compete given the squad we’ve got,” she told the Lancashire Telegraph having taken a break from her planning for next season.

“Before I know who’s coming back, and who’s able to commit to the additional training times and travel up and down the country, I can’t set a realistic target.

“Me personally I think it would be naïve for me to say that we’re going to go and win it because we need to ensure we can bridge that gap sufficiently.

“We need to aim for mid-table and then build on that. With just the squad we’ve got, as long as they step up, I think that would be a reasonable and realistic

target.”

The Sir Tom Finney Stadium, home to Evo-Stik Premier side Bamber Bridge, will remain their ground for the 2019/20 season, while the Ladies will also make use of Rovers’ senior, and academy, training bases.

The step-up in level will also mean an increase in training time, with three sessions a week planned, up from two this season.

Then there is the increased travel with a nationwide division, but Donnelly is confident of keeping the majority of her squad together.

She explained: “We have a lot in place already, the infrastructure with the RTC (regional talent centre) being secured as tier one for another year is great so we continue to produce homegrown talent. That’s the starting block.

“We have secured Bamber Bridge and I’m delighted to continue with that. They’re great supporters and advocators of the women’s game. They have been fantastic with us and I’m glad we’re staying there.

“We’re now going to three training sessions a week, up from two, which is a huge commitment from the girls and all of the staff.

“In addition to that we’ll be utilising our own facilities, the Academy and STC to help support the needs and demands with top class facilities.

“There is a lot of change about to happen but certainly lots of things in place and picking up momentum.”

For all the success, there have been periods of reflection, and difficulty, not least 12 months ago.

Donnelly considered her own future after last summer’s knock back, while there were fears some members of the squad could possibly move on.

But galvanised by injustice, the group stuck together and produced a record-breaking season which saw them lose just two matches in the five competitions in which they participated, chalking up 69 points from a possible 72 in the league and scoring 115 goals in 24 league matches.

“Even with myself it was a bit unknown,”Donnelly said reflecting on the events of 12 months ago.

“That was the second year running in that it was the play-off and then the second opportunity last year meant it wasn’t all lost, there could be an entry through the application. But to not gain entry through either of those ways was truly heartbreaking.

“For me, because I’m so passionate and want to be at the best level, but for the players to do it for the second year on the trot.

“I brought them all in after taking a month off myself, and said that I wouldn’t blame anyone if they wanted to go of and play at a higher level. They were capable of, but I told them what my plan was, and what the club wanted us to do, and said ‘who’s in?’

“We were in the boardroom and I came out and left them with my captain (Lynda Shepherd) and said ‘get on them’ but if they had decided to go I wouldn’t have minded. Every single player stayed and I think that speaks volumes in terms of their belief and the relationship that both myself and the club have with the players and the staff and everyone.

“We had so much determination to go again.”

Captain Lynda Shepherd, a stalwart of the side, will end her long association with the club this summer on the perfect note after lifting four trophies.

Across their 39 games they won 37 times, scored 171 goals and kept 21 clean sheets as they won the quadruple.

It is just three defeats across the last three league seasons, after the invincibles 2016/17 campaign, with Donnelly admitting her side have blitzed all targets aside.

Despite the successes of recent years she admits she could never foresee such an incredible campaign, simply using the adjective ‘amazing’.

“In all honesty, I’m the least arrogant person there is and we like to go under the radar and about our business quietly, but the stats don’t lie,” the Ladies boss

added.

“It’s been dominant across the board, there is nothing left for us to win.

“I thought we did well last year and the year before that, but this year has exceeded expectation.

“At the start of the season you set targets and try and work towards those.

“I think they went out of the window in the second or third month because we’d scored more goals than expected, had more entries in to the final third and I thought ‘hold on, have we not set them high enough?’

“The girls have got on with it, got their heads down and found ourselves at the end of the season with 69 points out of a possible 72. Who even does that?

“It’s one of those seasons that I don’t think we’ll ever achieve again.

“It’s been amazing, I can’t think of any other word to describe it.”