Huddersfield Town Women FC boss Glen Preston hopes his side’s cup final triumph will help win over the support of incoming new owner Kevin M. Nagle.
American businessman Mr Nagle is awaiting approval for his takeover of Huddersfield Town and the volunteer-run Town Women side hope to sit down with the new owner as soon as possible.
Town Women ended a difficult season on Thursday night with a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Doncaster Belles to lift the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup for a record-equalling fourth time.
Britt Sanderson struck the only goal of the game in the second half at Doncaster Rovers’ Eco-Power Stadium as Town Women successfully defended a trophy they won last year.
It was a great night for the club as the men’s team beat Sheffield United 1-0 at the John Smith’s Stadium to ensure Championship football for another season, and complete boss Neil Warnock’s ‘Greatest Escape.’
Town Women’s boss Preston (below) said: “It’s great to win this competition back-to-back and it’s great to end the season on a high.
“We have had to effectively rebuild the team twice this season and to be unbeaten in four matches, win the cup and keep a clean sheet means we have ended the season in the best manner possible.”
Preston’s squad lost several key players to other clubs with bigger resources – Town Women’s players have to pay to play – but Preston believes the struggles helped galvanise the squad.
With the new ownership coming in, Preston said: “There’s a perfect opportunity for the new board to get some quick wins and reach out to the growing female fanbase.
“The landscape within women’s football is snowballing very fast and Town Women have done very well as a voluntary organisation but the game is moving quickly with more professionalised standards.
“We are probably one of the best voluntary-run clubs but if we are to stay in the elite group we need to become more professional.”
Town Women lost players to clubs with bigger budgets this season and Town need to be able to compete.
Town Women are already reaching out to Mr Nagle by tagging him on Twitter and Preston said: “He liked one of our posts the other day so we’ll take that as a win!”
On a serious note, Preston hopes that Mr Nagle’s people will reach out at an early stage and that the men’s team can provide a level of support to Town Women.
“We will have a better idea when the handover is complete but we will certainly reach out to them if they don’t reach out to us first,” said Preston.
“We have potential grants we can bring to the table for the training academy – not a massive one, admittedly – but we have a bargaining chip and something we can offer.
“Hopefully we can get round a table and we can get some help and support. Financial help would be good but it’s not all about finances. There are other ways they can support us too.”
Preston said he would take a short break now before starting the planning for next season.
“Planning starts very, very early and we have set our sights on one or two targets,” he said. “If we can bring in three or four players we have identified the club can start moving forward again.”
