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Match Preview: Liverpool Ladies v Aston Villa

Pre-season friendly
6:30pm KO, free entry

Saturday 22nd March, 2014
Select Stadium, Halton, Widnes

This SaturdayLiverpool Ladies’ will continue their preparations for the 2014 WSL season with a home friendly against WSL2 newcomers Aston Villa.

Liverpool’s two pre-season games so far this year have seen three goals, scored by Natasha Dowie, Amanda DaCosta and Ellie Stewart, with two clean sheets kept by Danielle Gibbons and new goalkeeper Libby Stout.

Since the last game here at Halton on Saturday 22^nd February the reds received an injury blow when new signing Lucy Staniforth, who had only just made her first start in almost a year since a serious knee injury in The FA Cup final, suffered the same injury again during training – the opposite knee this time – ruling her out for the season before it has begun. *EDIT* Yesterday (20th March) Liverpool announced Nicole Rolser has also suffered the same injury in training, wishing both players the best of luck with their rehab and hopefully we’ll see them back in red shirts soon!

Over the last couple of weeks 9 Liverpool players have been away with their respective international teams, reds captain Gemma Bonner scoring her first goal for England and Fara Williams twice captaining the Lionesses on their run to the Cyprus Cup final. To see all results from these games, read available match reports and watch any highlights follow this link here International Reds: Results.

Liverpool’s first pre-season game seen them away at Sunderland, a convincing 2-0 win over last year’s Premier League winners preceded the first home game of 2014 which was a slightly tighter affair.

An unusual line-up change meant the reds had to lend a keeper to Doncaster each half, Libby Stoutstarting in goal for the Belles and then switching with Danielle Gibbons to guard the Liverpool goal in the second half. Each keeper was in great form, Gibbons continuing her fine performances from the development squad’s season and Stout making an assured home debut.

Another player making the step up from the development squad was centre-back Ellie Stewart. Stewart’s confidence on the pitch defies her young age and the England U19 international gave a commanding performance when called upon in the second half, scoring the games’ only goal when rising to head home a corner which another development squad graduate Katie Zelem had won.

Liverpool continued 2014 the way they finished the 2013 season, attractive attacking, passing football utilising the full-backs Lucy Bronze and Corina Schroder who press very high up the pitch. Another winter signing Martha Harris replaced Schroder in the second half and showed just how good Liverpool’s squad depth is now staking her claim for a place in the starting 11.

Reds vice-captain Amanda DaCosta missed this game through illness, giving Kate Longhurst and Natasha Dowie the chance to work together up front. The former being very unlucky in front of goal with a hat-trick of chances going close.

The player of the match as voted for on twitter was Liverpool’s fourth new signing, winger Gemma Davison’s trickery on the wing catching the eye with many bursting runs forward into the opposition box.

The opposition on Saturday evening Aston Villa are one of ten clubs to be selected to play in the newly created second tier of the Women’s Super League. Villa boast a number of England youth internationals, Sherry McCue played alongside Martha Harris in England U23s recent La Manga tournament while Katie Zelem and Ellie Stewart will know Sarah Mayling, Abbey Leigh and Caitlin Leach from their recent camp with England U19s. Villa will be without new signing Emily Owen who has suffered the same knee injury as Lucy Staniforth.

Villa have played last year’s WSL runners up Bristol Academy during pre-season already, holding the Vixens to a 1-1 draw so this game promises to be a good test for Liverpool ahead of the season starting up in four weeks’ time.

On Sunday Liverpool Ladies’ development squad are away at Doncaster Belles, looking to bounce back from last weekend’s 3-1 defeat against Aston Villa where Hannah Dale scored the reds only goal. The next home game for the dev. Squad is Sunday 30^thMarch, when Notts County will be visiting Halton. That game kicks off at 2pm and is also free entry.

Finally yesterday I put something a little different up on the blog, for a recent University module we had to put together a portfolio of articles, one of the pieces I wrote was on Liverpool Homeless Football Club. I wanted to share the article because I think the work being done at the club is brilliant, follow this link here to read the article: Liverpool Homeless FC – “More Than Just A Game”.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at the game on Saturday!

Heather

"MORE THAN JUST A GAME"

For a recent University module we had to put together a portfolio of articles, one of the articles I wrote was on Liverpool Homeless Football Club. I wanted to share the article because I think the work being done at the club is incredible, thanks to Lisa Thomas for providing me with an interview for the article and the stats! There are some links at the bottom to follow for more information on LHFC.

Liverpool Ladies midfielder Fara Williams is a patron for Liverpool Homeless FA and coaches the women’s side.

Amongst the thousands of football clubs in England, competing in various league and cup competitions, there is one striving to make a difference on the lives of its players. Liverpool Homeless Football Club was founded in 2007 and operates a league made up of 18 teams, with players from different hostels and accommodations around Liverpool.

Initially the club was launched with just 6 teams and was male-only, in recent years this has expanded now to cover the ever-growing women’s game in the country. Lisa Thomas has been a volunteer for the women’s team since November 2012 and her duties for the club consist of arranging games, attending training and matches, managing the social media aspects and maintaining communication between staff and players to name just a few. Recently a game was organised with Merseyside Police, designed to build positive relationships between the two.

For its players Liverpool Homeless F.C. has the opportunity to change their lives, as Lisa says “there is an infamous quote used by the club – that it is ‘more than just a game’”. This is what sets Liverpool Homeless F.C. apart from other clubs; Lisa adds that as well as forming great friendships with each other and allowing the players to get out of their hostels and accommodation, “the club also support players trying to gain a career out of sport by putting them on the ladder when it comes to coaching badges.”

Another opportunity available to players is the chance to participate in the Homeless World Cup, a tournament featuring homeless teams from 16 nations. Lisa explains that “anyone who has experienced homelessness within the past two years can attend trials at Manchester United”, here the players are “put through various training sessions and workshops” for the chance to be selected to represent England. Along with Liverpool Homeless F.C. there is a homeless football project in Middlesborough which also provides players.

The coach of Liverpool Homeless Football Club’s women’s team is Fara Williams. Fara Williams is a full-time professional footballer for Liverpool Ladies and, at the time of writing, has been capped 123 times for England as well as being chosen to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.

Lisa Thomas works alongside Fara and says of her involvement that “the right balance is requiredand that is something that Fara definitely offers… the girls benefit from the training drills and sessions provided but most importantly they enjoy attending training where they know they can play with a smile on their face.” Providing the right atmosphere and coach is crucial to the success of the club and there is no better person for this role than Fara Williams, inspirational to the players given how she turned her life around to succeed and use her success to inspire others.

Players from Liverpool Homeless F.C. have gone on to play football outside of the club, including “two players now signed up by AFC Liverpool Ladies and play football on a weekly basis outside of Liverpool Homeless F.C.” Again displaying the openings that become available, this is where the main emphasis of the club lies and Lisa is keen to stress that “the football is competitive but has a stronger emphasis on inclusion and encouraging fair play, respect and team work.” Allowing the players to build upon their experiences and open new doors for them.

Through researching the club, the optimism that it breeds is evident. The opportunities it gives those involved to turn their lives around is perhaps unrivalled, whether through the aforementioned coaching badges, help with players health and accommodation or simply to get them off the streets and playing a sport that they love. To the players of Liverpool Homeless Football Club the sport is more than just a game, it’s their lives.

Links:

Liverpool Homeless F.C. Twitter

Liverpool Homeless F.C. Official Website

Homeless FA Website

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/TrEjRqrxM-o&source=uds

International Reds: Results

Over the last couple of weeks 9 Liverpool players have featured in 14 international games, all results and available highlights and match reports can be found below!

Fara Williams twice captained England during their 4-game tournament run and now has a total of 125 international caps, making her just 4 short of the all-time record set by Rachel Yankey last year.

Four Liverpool players featured in the Cyprus Cup final, with each Fara Williams, Natasha Dowie, Gemma Davison and Lucy Bronze in the starting line-up.

Liverpool captain Gemma Bonner scored her first international goal on only her third cap, heading home from a corner during England’s 3-0 victory over Finland.

Lucy Bronze was deployed at centre-back in each of her two starts, while Natasha Dowie and Gemma Davison also started together twice.

Martha Harris played in all three of England U23s game at La Manga, England lost twice and drew with Sweden.

Ellie Stewart and Katie Zelem fared slightly better with England U19s, the Liverpool duo each starting the three games in their La Manga tournament – winning one, drawing one and losing one.

Match Reports from Iceland’s games are proving difficult to find, if any they may be posted on the official Icelandic website. Katrin Omarsdottir did not start Iceland’s first game against Germany but subsequent team news is not available.

England U19s: Katie Zelem & Ellie Stewart
England U23: Martha Harris
England Seniors: Natasha Dowie, Lucy Bronze, Gemma Davison, Gemma Bonner & Fara Williams*
Iceland: Katrin Omarsdottir

Games & Results:

Saturday 1st March
England U23 1 – 1 Sweden U23 Match Report / Highlights

Monday 3rd March
England U23 2 – 4 Germany U20, Match Report

Wednesday 5th March
Japan U23 4 – 0 England U23

England 2 – 0 Italy, Match Report/ Highlights/ BBC

Germany 5 – 0 Iceland Highlights

Friday 7th March
Finland 0 – 3 England, Match Report/ Highlights

Norway 1 – 2 Iceland

Saturday 8th March
Republic of Ireland 1 – 1 England U19, Match Report

Monday 10th March
England 2 – 0 Canada, Match Report + Highlights

China 0 – 1 Iceland

France 3 – 2 England U19, Match Report

Wednesday 12th March
England 0 – 2 France, Match Report + Highlights

Iceland 2 – 1 Sweden

England U19 1 – 0 Italy, Match Report

Ex-reds!

A couple of players from Liverpool’s title winning squad were also at the Algarve & Cyrpus tournaments.

Sarah Gregorius scored New Zealand‘s winning goal on her 50th international cap against Finland, while Whitney Engen and the USA had a difficult campaign – losing twice and drawing one to finish bottom of their group, eventually placing 7th after beating Korea DPR in their final game.

Full results & available highlights/ match reports:

New Zealand 1 – 1 Republic of Ireland Match Report
New Zealand 1 – 2 Switzerland Match Report
New Zealand 0 – 4 South Korea Match Report
New Zealand 1 – 0 Finland Match Report

USA 1 – 1 Japan Match Report/ Highlights
USA 0 – 1 Sweden Match Report/ Highlights
USA 3 – 5 Denmark Match Report/ Highlights
USA 3 – 0 Korea DPR Match Report/ Highlights

Early next week I have an article to share on here on Liverpool Homeless Football Club. It’s something a little different than my usual ramblings on Liverpool Ladies, but I had to put together a portfolio of articles for University and would like to share it. Liverpool’s Fara Williams coaches the women’s team.

Thanks for reading!

@LFCladiesfans

Match Report: Liverpool Ladies 1 – 0 Doncaster Belles

Liverpool Ladies supporters in attendance this evening were treated to debut home performances from no less than 6 players.

Winter signings Lucy Staniforth and Gemma Davison were each handed a place in the starting line up, Staniforth making her first start since returning from injury. Martha Harris and Libby Stout were both second half substitutes while development squad graduates Katie Zelem and Ellie Stewart also entered the fray in the second half.

An unusual line up change meant Libby Stout played the first 45 minutes in goal for Doncaster, switching at half-time with Danielle Gibbons who had had a busy 45 minutes in the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool also named a trialist amongst the starting 11, keep an eye on the official LFC Ladies twitter for any developments with that between now and the start of the season.

Doncaster Belles kicked us off in the first half, immediately the game picked up a fast pace with both sides showing attacking intent. Matt Beard had named two strikers in his starting 11, Kate Longhurst and Natasha Dowie, with Longhurst seemingly playing just behind Dowie. Both strikers linked up well throughout the first half, Longhurst doing everything but scoring with a number of strikes going agonisingly close.

Early in the first half an impressive Gemma Davison broke down the right wing, cutting the ball across the field from distance to Lucy Staniforth who tried her luck from 40 yards but the shot went into the stands.

Sue Smith was ever the attacking threat on the left for the Belles, Lucy Bronze had her hands full particularly during the first half when Smith was sending ball after ball into the Liverpool box. Danielle Gibbons dealing well with any balls sent her way, being forced into a dive on a number of occasions.

Bronze towards the end of last season established herself as one of Liverpool’s most important players, tonight she had yet another excellent game at right back. Battling for the ball, running up and down the wing and despite moving into centre-back when Becky Easton replaced captain Gemma Bonner still finding herself in the 6-yard box at the other end being unlucky to break the deadlock on around 80 minutes.

Gemma Davison was the catalyst to many of the Liverpool attacks, showing off the pace and skill she is renowned for and that she displayed against us with Arsenal in August last year. Davison almost set Fara Williams up after flicking the ball brilliantly around the Doncaster defender and into the path of Williams, her chip only saved by the goalkeeper at full stretch.

At a number of points during the game it felt as though there was no way through the Doncaster defence, Katrin battled her way through the centre of midfield with her strike being put out for a corner. The resulting corner being cleared but only into the path of Staniforth who’s blocked shot went back to Katrin who’s goal bound strike was saved. Minutes later Kate Longhurst tried a low shot from 6 yards out, parried away only as far as Williams who’s sideways pass found Staniforth. Staniforth’s strike was hit into the path of Natasha Dowie but the goals continued to elude Liverpool and again the shot was saved.

During the second half, Natasha Dowie and Kate Longhurst linked up well again as Longhurst chested the ball down into the path of the oncoming Dowie but her shot went inches over the bar.

Martha Harris replaced Corina Schroder at half-time, Lincoln’s Player of the Year last season also making an immediate impact doing well under pressure shielding the ball from Doncaster’s Millie Bright and safely into the hands of Libby Stout. Harris also impressed attacking down the left wing, linking well with the midfield and making it look like she was playing three positions at once!

Two players introduced during the second half, Katie Zelem replacing Lucy Staniforth and Ellie Stewart replacing the trialist have both been enjoying fantastic seasons with the development squad over the winter break. Both receiving deserved call-ups into the first team squad. Ellie Stewart in particular seems much older than her 17 years when on the pitch, already a commanding presence at centre-back. It was Stewart too who finally broke the deadlock minutes from time, meeting Fara Williams’ corner powerfully to head home and give Liverpool the win.

Much more happened during the course of the game, Kate Longhurst perhaps having the unluckiest 90 minutes in front of goal doing everything but scoring. For all the match updates and play by play as it happened, check out the Twitter feed at @LFCladiesfans

Liverpool XI: Gibbons (Stout), Bronze, Bonner (C)(Easton), trialist (Stewart), Schroder (Harris), Omarsdottir, Williams, Staniforth (Zelem), Davison, Longhurst, Dowie (Rolser)

POTM: Gemma Davison

A very enjoyable evening back at Halton watching the first team, thanks for reading this match report and welcome to any new followers on Twitter this evening!

Match Preview: Liverpool Ladies v Doncaster Belles

This Saturday Doncaster Belles will visit the Select Stadium, Widnes for Liverpool Ladies first home pre-season friendly. Kick off is at 6:30pm and entry to the game is free!

On Sunday Liverpool were away at Sunderland WFC, starting 2014 with a 2-0 victory over last years Premier League winners and this years FAWSL2 newcomers. Rachel Laws, our title-winning keeper, has now of course returned to Sunderland after completing her loan spell with us and came on for the second half.

Natasha Dowie picked up were she left off last season, tapping home a Nicole Rolser cross from close distance while Amanda Da Costa was also on the score sheet; scoring her first Liverpool goal since her double in the 4-0 league win away at Arsenal.

Liverpool’s four new signings all made their debuts on Sunday, new number 1 Libby Stout playing the first 45 minutes before Danielle Gibbons replaced her at half-time. Gemma Davison also started and played the full 90 minutes while Martha Harris and Lucy Staniforth were both second half substitutes, Staniforth making her return from injury having not played since last May.

Also making their first appearances for the first team, Ellie Stewart started while Ashley Hodson, Katie Zelem and Hannah Dale were all named substitutes for the game. Their good performances for the development squad over the winter break clearly impressing Matt Beard enough to call them up, hopefully we will also see them at home this Saturday.

While Doncaster Belles will be playing in the new FAWSL2 this season, they have managed to keep many of their star players. Vicky Williams, Sue Smith, Millie Bright and Bethany England to name a few players that have stuck with the Belles as they attempt to win promotion this season. The Belles also have a new manager, Gordon Staniforth – which of course makes Saturday nights tie being a family affair with our new midfielder and Staniforth’s daughter Lucy!

To conclude this match preview, the latest Women’s World Football Show features a Liverpool Ladies preview. I join Adam in previewing Liverpool Ladies for 2014 and we discuss last season, new signings, Matt Beard, Natasha Dowie, Lucy Bronze, Whitney Engen and of course our chances of retaining our league title this year! Also on the show Adam and Patty have a matchworn, signed Lucy Bronze shirt to give away. The Liverpool preview is about half way through the latest show, the question to win the Bronze shirt comes shortly after. Thanks very much to Adam & Patty for having me on the show, WWF Show is a twice-monthly podcast bringing you women’s news from the UK and USA and is well worth a listen.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE.

Finally, you can now follow LFCladiesfans news on three platforms, Twitter, Facebook & Sportlobster.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at Halton on Saturday!

Heather

LFC Ladies announce the signing of Lucy Staniforth!

Today Liverpool Ladies announced the surprise signing of Bristol Academy midfielder Lucy Staniforth.

Lucy began her career at Sunderland Ladies alongside Lucy Bronze, before moving to Lincoln Ladies where she scored 9 goals in 27 appearances. In late 2012 Staniforth moved to Bristol Academy, playing half a season and making 9 appearances before suffering a serious knee injury in the 2013 FA Cup Final against Arsenal.

Staniforth has also represented England through the age groups, right up to Under-23 level. Her first senior cap probably only delayed due to injury.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/SzGerKDAeYw&source=uds

Staniforth scores Lincoln’s winner vs Liverpool in May, 2011 (no37)

Lucy Staniforth is a fantastic addition to our title-winning squad and adds to our brilliant attacking force that already includes some of the leagues best attacking players.

Follow Lucy on Twitter here.

Thanks for reading @LFCLadiesFans

Match Report: Liverpool Ladies 0 – 0 Doncaster Belles (Development Squad)

The first Liverpool Ladies home game of 2014 seen the development squad battle Doncaster Belles to the final whistle for a share of the points.

Three players returned from international duty with England, Olivia Wild, Hannah Dale and Claudia Walker have all been involved in training camps and friendlies this week with the England Under 19s. Olivia Wild also made her return to first team action after injuring her wrist in the last competitive fixture last year.

Missing from the squad were Ellie Stewart, Katie Zelem and Danielle Gibbons, all three players are now training with the first team who returned from the off-season last week. Replacing keeper Danielle Gibbons was new signing from Blackburn Rovers Gemma Jackson.

The game started similarly to the last two home games for the development squad, neither side really troubling the others defence and a few strikes from distance outside of the box. The game began to settle around the 15 minute mark, Liverpool beginning a nice passing move which led to Ashley Hodson shooting just wide after being fed through by Bethany Donoghue.

Throughout the 90 minutes, the game was end-to-end. The Liverpool defence and new centre-back pairing of Sophia Riccio and Shannon Beckwith withstanding the pressure from the Doncaster attacks, Hannah Dale also made a couple of important challenges during the first half. Dale was effective at both ends throughout the match with a couple of long range efforts either side of half-time.

New signing Gemma Jackson impressed on her debut, Doncaster perhaps had more shots on target than Liverpool but Jackson dealt with each strike well. During the first half a low cross came into the box which the Doncaster striker attempted to tap past the keeper, Jackson stayed on her feet to clear the ball.

The two full-backs Olivia Wild and Megan Alexander also had impressive games on the flanks, as Natasha Dowie mentioned on LFC TV’s Thursday Night Live the other night Matt Beard has his full-backs playing higher up attacking like wing-backs and this seems to be the case for the development squad also.

Claudia Walker and Ashley Hodson up front also continued their good form from last year, Walker with a fantastic chance in the first half weaving her way through the midfield before shooting on goal and Hodson with an agonisingly close effort with about ten minutes to go in the second half. Walker squared the ball to Hodson in the 6-yard box but the strike went the wrong side of the post.

Hannah Dale perhaps had the games greatest chance, pulled down on the edge of the 18-yard box in the first-half, Dale stepped up to take the free kick herself. The ball swung in and dipped but crashed off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared.

Victoria Rumsey and Emilie Revitt were both second half substitutes, replacing Rebecca Hillman and Megan Alexander. Revitt linking up well with Riccio in the dying minutes to thwart a final Doncaster attack and keep the score level at 0-0.

POTM: Could have gone to a number of players today, Hannah Dale gets more impressive in the centre of midfield each game, Olivia Wild had a great game at left back against tough opposition, but Player of the Match today goes to Bethany Donoghue who was a constant attacking threat on the right of midfield, putting cross after cross into the box and being very unlucky that none of these were converted past the Belles keeper.

Team: Jackson, Wild, Beckwith, Riccio, Alexander (Revitt), Dale, Donoghue, Vella, Hillman (Rumsey), Hodson, Walker

The squad now has a couple of weeks before their next game, away at Duham. The next home game listed here is against Notts County on 30th March.

For more information on Liverpool’s development squad follow the official @LFCLadies twitter.

Thanks for reading!

@LFCLadiesFans

Amanda Da Costa & Natasha Dowie on Thursday Night Live

Tonight Liverpool Ladies duo Amanda Da Costa and Natasha Dowie made an appearance on LFCTV’s Thursday Night Live alongside Liverpool legend Alan Kennedy and former player Stephen Warnock. Although neither could beat the Top Bin Challenge, it was a great chance to see the players being interviewed for the first time in 2014 ahead of the new season. For the full interview see below, the show will also be repeated on LFCTV (Sky channel 429) a number of times over the next week so if you want to watch it keep an eye out!

Being back for pre-season

Natasha Dowie: It’s been great. We started back training on Monday, it’s been nice to see all the new players and old faces as well. It’s been tough – there’s a lot of running involved in pre-season – but to have the opportunity to train during the day and full-time is unbelievable. It’s a dream come true.

Amanda Da Costa: [There has been] a lot of fitness testing to see what we’ve been doing over the off-season to keep in shape and stay fit. Now it’s just maintaining that fitness level and pushing the limits a little bit, everyone looks sharp and ready to go this season.

On the break

ND: The season finished in September so we’ve had a good 3 months off. I’ve been quite busy with England which is good because I don’t really like having too much time off doing nothing, the gym gets a little boring after a while I like to be on the field kicking a ball around. We’ve got World Cup Qualifiers every month with England. The break hasn’t been too long but the season starts now in April so we’ve got a long time still until we get the games under way, I think it’s a case of keeping fresh and keeping injury free and ready for the season to start.

Q: Would you class Man City as your derby now, rather than Everton?

ND: No, I’d definitely still say Everton. I was at Everton for 4 years so when we had the derby last year it was a huge game for me personally. Obviously you want to beat your old team mates and we came away victorious in both game. Everton – for me – 100% would be the derby game for us.

AD: I didn’t even know what [the derby] was before I came, so that was a learning experience for me! After being a part of Liverpool and understanding the rivalry between Everton and us. The first derby we had just about a year ago it was snowing and it was an intense game. I’ve had rivalries before at University in the States, that’s probably the next thing I could compare it to and that’s not much of a comparison!

On Daniel Sturridge

ND: He’s played brilliant for Liverpool since he’s signed, him and Suarez have a brilliant partnership – similar to mine and Amanda’s, she knows where I’m running and picks me out every time. Him and Suarez have probably been the best two centre forwards this season so far.

Q: Amanda, if you were Steven Gerrard would you have let Natasha take that penalty?

AD: Tash would have grabbed that ball and ran to the penalty spot so fast I wouldn’t have had time to say anything otherwise! You have that goal scoring mentality and the emotion in a derby like that, he tried and unfortunatey he came up a little short.

ND: As a centre forward I would want to take that to complete my hat trick, I can’t say how Sturridge was feeling at that time but the way he took it I don’t know if he was just a bit too excited. It looked to me that he was just focusing on the hat trick.

Alan Kennedy: You’re right I didn’t think he took the penalty right, he usually places them but he rushed it over the top.

On returning from injury

ND: I had a bad injury just before I signed for Liverpool. I did my ankle ligaments, came back 6 weeks later and then tore my groin. That always happens when you come back from one injury you tend to get another. I attempted to play through it all season, taking painkillers and trying to get through it so I probably wasn’t 50% – I think I scored 1 goal for Everton the whole season. So I really focused on doing my proper rehab before the season started for Liverpool and I was injury free all last year and had a really good year. It is tough and I think as a player you always just want to try and get through it no matter what. I think it is important that you do do the right rehab because in the end it will end up putting you back longer so it is frustrating.

Q: Amanda, how is life on Merseyside?

AD: I like it here, I’ve had a year already to adjust – this is my second season back with the team. All the girls are great, we all fit in together really well, Tash is a good friend on and off the pitch and I think that shows in our play as well. We have our spots that we like to go to around town that we frequent, it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying exploring the city, it’s somewhere new and definitely different from New York.

On winning the league

AD: That was a lot of fun to bring home. When I first signed to come here the club had a long way to go and they were making a lot of positive changes. I was really excited to be a part of it and I wouldn’t have come all the way over here if not to win the league, myself and my team mates had our sights set on it and we did what we said we would do so that was pretty cool!

Q: Are the UK catching up to the USA in terms of Women’s Football?

AD: I think so, the women’s game has come really far globally. There’s a lot of other leagues – Germany, Sweden, France – England is really catching up and I think that the league in the States has a long way to go. It’s definitely made some progress, it’s learnt from mistakes in the past with having to shut down and reopens itself several times. University is huge in the United States, it’s very competitive. It was hard for me, I came out of college at and awkward time in the league – it was up, it was down and I didn’t know what to do. I’ve always wanted to comes overseas so for me it was a perfect opportunity.

On full-backs

ND: It’s a very demanding position, just from the way we played last season I think our manager Matt Beard looked at the Liverpool first team. Our full-backs are literally like wing-backs and the amount of energy they’ve got is unbelievable. It’s not an easy position, it’s very tough.

Score predictions for Liverpool vs West Brom

ND: 2-0

AD: 3-0

Libby Stout signs for Liverpool!

Today Liverpool Ladies made American goalkeeper Libby Stout their third winter signing, Stout joins us from BV Cloppenburg who play in Germany’s 1. Bundesliga.

Libby Stout is a US Under 23 international, who has been included in two rosters in 2013, she played college football at Western Kentucky University before becoming a professional footballer in France playing for Yzere and facing the likes of Lyon and PSG in the league. Stout left Yzere in June 2013, signing for German side BV Cloppenburg.

Following last months announcement that both Sarah Quantrill and Rachel Laws have left the club, Libby is a welcome addition to Liverpool and joins keeper Danielle Gibbons.

Here is a highlights reel from 2012 (lower the volume before playing!)

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/GDWzfYAYfHg&source=uds

Follow Libby on Twitter here: @libbystout
All Liverpool Ladies, inc. 3 new signings, Twitter accounts here: Liverpool Ladies

Libby also writes a blog, talking about her experiences playing in France & Germany: BLOG!

Thanks for reading @LFCLadiesFans

Louise Fors leaves Liverpool on loan

*Now confirmed by Liverpool

Yesterday Louise Fors announced on her official Facebook page that she will not be returning to Liverpool for the 2014 season and instead will be playing her football on loan in Sweden.

In 2013 Fors was a crucial part of Liverpool’s title winning team, at the midway point she was our Player of the Season with eye catching and impressive performances on the left. Fors was also Liverpool’s main set piece taker, scoring many memorable goals throughout the season; her first Liverpool goal a penalty in the Continental Cup derby against Everton, a thumping free kick away at Birmingham and of couse the title sealing penalty on the final day against Bristol Academy.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/HKIREwPSYZI&source=uds

The full statement from Facebook is below, translated via Google:

“I started my business in October last year where the purpose was to share with me out of my skills and experience but most of all inspire young soccer girls to what is actually possible today as women’s football player. Today I had time to visit the 1:10 speech team around Sweden and have received a very good response to my presentation on “my journey” but even when I’ve stayed in trainings, which is very fun and inspiring to continue. So now that I ‘ve decided to be on loan from Liverpool FC to a Swedish club season in 2014 (due to personal reasons, my wedding in June), I will continue developing my academy and it is clear that my academy will be named ” Lollo Football Academy”. I have already received interest from many women’s teams around Stockholm which is very fun. I am also currently planning a camp in the summer out in the southern suburbs, where my own travel started. So it looks to be an exciting year for me and my academy . Help me spread my academy. Like and reshare Thanks!”

Fors’ decison to play in Sweden, while disappointing as a Liverpool supporter, is completely understandable on a personal level and I wish her the best of luck in the next stage of her career, YNWA!

Follow Louise Fors on Twitter here & her official Facebook page here.

In other ex-Liverpool Ladies news, former reds striker Hannah Keryakoplis has joined Birmingham City while US defender Whitney Engen has been drafted in the NWSL to play for Houston Dash.