Preseason has brought an air of optimism and excitement to the women's section of the club. It is an understatement that last season was incredibly difficult, with that still being an understatement! Despite the hardship, there were positives to be taken from the season. Through the battles, hard work and determination of the squad, we ended the season with a huge positive as captain Anwen Evans scored her first goal for the club away to Portishead, something that we viewed as a reward for the commitment through last season.

|Credit: McGuffin Media| Evans celebrating against Portishead at the end of the season.

I have spoken to a lot of people, who consistently say the same thing; "Any other side in your position last season would have folded". All of this is testament to the fantastic group of young players we had at the club. The biggest positive of preseason is that we have managed to retain a large bulk of last season's playing squad! This means that unlike last season, we have a foundation that we can build upon! We unfortunately said farewell to Lily Dalton (MK Dons), Izzy Sullivan and Liv Peters (moving back home following completion of their degrees), Sam Dongo (America Scholarship), Julia Cropper (Maidenhead United) and Katie Laker (Portsmouth) at the end of the season who have looked to play their football elsewhere but we owe a lot for their hard work and commitment last season.

|Credit: McGuffin Media| Childs competing with the Horsham defender earlier in preseason.

Departures can open the door to new players, which has seen us recruit well over this preseason period. Whilst we have continued to recruit a large number of young players, they have bags of potential and have given lots of positive headaches for myself preparing for this weekend's season opener. Izzy Childs, Georgia and Keira Morris, Gemma Yates and Ruby Rainey have joined the club and impressed over the preseason period. We also had the excellent news that Gemma Halford completed a full move from Pagham, having performed excellently in the final part of last season. Additionally, we have also seen Maisie Guymer return to the club, having missed last season through injury. We have also brought Joe Myles in to join the coaching team, who has brought enthusiasm to the role!

|Credit: McGuffin Media| Guymer against The View at The Seal Bay Stadium

Preseason has been largely positive, with so many great things to take from each of the games we have faced. We have played various opposition such as City Portsmouth, The View, Bournemouth Sports, Horsham, AFC Bournemouth DS and a joint training match with Portsmouth DS. We have been able to allow the players to experience different types of opposition, and also demonstrate how talented they are as a group of footballers! I myself am very excited about this coming season, and am certain it will be a positive one for the club! I hope that we can bring entertaining football to the Seal Bay Stadium this season to all of those who remained fully supportive for the entirety of last season!

The women begin their season with an away trip to Badshot Lea in the Southern Regional Women's Football League. Kick off at 2pm.