“That photo of the four of them watching will be such a powerful image for us. Young boys and young girls going on Twitter and Instagram will see that and think, ‘If Diego Costa is watching them, then why shouldn’t I go down?’”
Even just six years ago, the thought of a women’s first-team representing Wolves at Molineux in front of almost 4,000 fervent fans, inspiring young girls the next generation of players – all while their men’s team counterparts cheer them on from the stands – would have felt like a fantasy.
Yet on Sunday 2nd April, Dan McNamara’s team turned that dream into a reality, and in stunning style.
The women who have worn the old gold and black with pride during the last 20 years have been on nothing short of a rollercoaster journey. From having to pay for the opportunity to play in the fourth tier of women’s football, to washing their own kit in between matches, to finding their own way of getting from game to game in all four corners of the country, playing for Wolves Women felt closer to Sunday League than Super League for far longer than should have been the case.
“Just before I retired, I was still taking my kit home to wash myself,” said legendary Wolves Women defender Claire Hakeman, who is now back at the club half a dozen years later as operations and administration assistant across the academy and women’s set-up.
“We had one training kit that we thought was brilliant at the time, but now the fact they’re so integrated to the club, using the men’s first-team and academy facilities, it’s night and day to what we experienced.
“When I played, we had one physio who was our only point of call on a matchday. Now, they’ll be in the first-team gym and have a lot of the same medical provision that the men have. It’s not just one person, the entire medical team are actively engaged in helping the girls and giving them the best provision, so the way that it is now, is unbelievable.
“They’ve got everything provided for them. When they have midweek games, Matt Hobbs [sporting director] ensures they use the first-team building and the recovery facilities and equipment there. But there’s so many little things I could talk about which have improved since I was playing, it’s fantastic to see.”
Half-time analysis from Daniel, Toti and Raul at Molineux 🗣
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 2, 2023
Keep it up, @WolvesWomen 👏 pic.twitter.com/FhXZkwJrDC
Captain Anna Price, who became the women’s first-team’s record appearance-maker recently, having stepped out more than 350 times for the club she has supported ever since she was a child, agreed with her former teammate.
“It’s not about being paid, it’s about the support the club is providing. We’re using all the same facilities that the men’s first-team are down at the Sir Jack Hayward training ground, and the RTC girls are using the same facilities as the boys’ academy.
“We get all the transport provided to games, overnight stays, the medical facilities are great and if we ever have any injuries or niggles, then we get the same medical provision that the men get.
“It’s even simple things like training kits, matchday kits, and things that we always used to go out ourselves and find sponsors to provide the money for, so having that pressure taken off us – because the club have been supporting us so much recently – it’s made a massive difference.
“It’s also made more girls want to come and play for Wolves as well, and that’s only going to drive the standards of the club and get us to the level that we want to be.”
Since Fosun and Jeff Shi came into Wolves during the summer of 2016, the chairman made integrating the women’s team – which was previously run as a separate entity under the Wolves Foundation banner – moving into the main heart of the club as one of his key priorities.
Each year, gradual steps have been taken to ensure the women’s and girls’ programmes can develop. Each season, results on the pitch have also improved.
“It’s unbelievable to think about the journey that we’ve been on,” McNamara explained. “The facilities are second to none, they’re first-class facilities used by Premier League players week in, week out, and on top of that, the way the whole club has embraced the women’s programme, it puts us up with some of the stuff you’d get in the Women’s Super League.
“To have access to all these things, the whole provision has come on tenfold from a few years ago. What Matt Hobbs and Jeff Shi are doing to support the programme is superb and we’re lucky to be a part of it.”
However, luck hasn’t played a part in getting the team to where it is right now. It’s been down to the hard work of many people across the club, which is why their recent 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town at Molineux meant so much to so many.
On paper, it was just another win to add to the growing collection of a side that has Championship ambitions, but, in truth, it was a landmark occasion which demonstrated how much of the club’s ‘One Pack’ mantra is not just words but action.
“It was up there as one of the proudest moments of my football career,” admitted Price after leading out the team for her first competitive appearance at the stadium which she has watched countless matches at over her time as a season ticket holder. “It was a very proud moment, especially being a Wolves fan, it made it extra-special. It was amazing. Unbelievable.”
McNamara added: “It couldn’t have gone better, if I’m being honest. I spoke to the girls before the game and before we knew how many fans were going to be in the stadium. I said how much of an impact we’re already having on the city, and this game was more about football – and I think we proved it was about more than football.”
That was evidenced by the appearance of four men’s first-team stars. Diego Costa, Raul Jimenez, Toti and Daniel Podence sat side-by-side in the Billy Wright Stand giving their support to their counterparts.
Never before has a Wolves Women match attracted the attention of the men’s team to this extent, but the One Pack mentality that runs throughout the club – and with players from both teams regularly training together at Compton Park – has seen the bonds strengthen between both sets of teams, the likes of which hasn’t been seen previously.
“Quite often a few of us, including Toti and I, have been in the gym when the women’s team have been training,” Costa explained. “We’ve been chatting to them and I remember speaking to Anna, the women’s captain, and a couple of the other players, as well as the fitness coach, and they suggested that we should come to one of their games.
“I said that if they invited us, we would come along and watch, so the girls invited us to the game at Molineux and we came. We were very pleased to be there and watch a big win for the team.
“They are a big part of the club and a big part of football. If we can support and help each other, it will always be for the benefit of both teams.
“It was the first time I’ve been to see the women’s first-team play and I was very surprised by the quality and how well they played. It was a really enjoyable game for myself and my teammates who went too.
“I think that our presence at the game and the men’s players showing their support to the women’s team here at Wolves is very important because we all want to see the women’s game grow, and to keep growing, because they deserve it.
“Hopefully, our presence will help raise awareness and increase the support at our women’s matches, so all our supporters know how great women’s football is, how much there is on offer and that they should come and support the team.”
Inspiring the next generation ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/B5oo4E85S1
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) April 2, 2023
Price believes the presence of international icons such has Costa, Jimenez et al at Molineux, showing their support to the women’s players, could be a ‘breakthrough moment’ in the club’s history.
“It’s all about inspiring young people and we’re really thankful for the men’s team players who did come down because that will have a massive impact for us.
“When I was a young girl, I would never have thought I could go to Molineux to watch a women’s football game of the city’s team. It’s all about inspiring the young girls and boys and the more of them we can get watching or playing across our city, then the better the standard is going to get.”
A sentiment echoed by McNamara. “One of my favourite slogans off the back of the England results last summer was: ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ For far too long, young girls have not been able to see it, so to now see young girls getting autographs from Beth Merrick with ‘Merrick 28’ printed on the back of their own shirts, it’s amazing.
“It shows how much of an impact they are having across the city now. They’re gaining their own profile and it’s nothing short of what they deserve. They’ve come through the tough times and now they are in great times with the club.”
But to keep those great times rolling on, there is still plenty of work to do. In football, if you stand still and admire how far you’ve come, you end up going backwards, and that is not something which Wolves want to do.
“We’re making little steps all the time,” Hakeman added. “Obviously, a lot of what we can do relies on us getting promoted, but if we don’t go up, there are teams in and around us now who are beginning to do the right things.
“All the work we’re putting into the RTC [regional talent club] and girls’ academy is setting us up nicely for the future as well, but it’s all about what we can do to get the best out of the players and what we can provide to get them to a better place.
“There’s so much support coming in from all different angles at the club that I can only see things improving over the next few seasons. But that is all because of the One Pack mentality that we have at Wolves. It’s not just a statement that doesn’t get embraced, it’s about everyone working together to give the best provision we can to all of our players.”
“I hope the club continue to support us and continue putting the time and the money into the women’s programme,” Price concluded. “Other clubs are doing that and starting to push on, so we have to continue to grow and continue to build on what is already there, otherwise everything we’ve been doing will be wasted.
“If the club can continue to give that support, then I would love to be sat at Molineux watching Wolves in the Super League one day. That’s what I truly hope and believe will happen – as long as the club continue to support the women’s programme as they have been doing.”
Wolves Women will return to Molineux for the Birmingham County Cup on Thursday 9th May against Stourbridge LFC, for tickets and all other Wolves Women fixtures please click here: Women's First-Team Fixtures & Results | Fixtures | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (wolves.co.uk).
