It has been a been a busy end of 2023 for the Girl’s academy with new additions to both staff and squads, another senior debut for an academy player in the first team and a look back on some of the opportunities our academy sides experienced.
Senior Debut:
Attacker Frankie Pim made her senior debut for the Posh Women in the first round of the Adobe FA Cup against the Yachtsman, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute. It was a memorable day as she scored in extra time having capitalised on a defensive mistake and slotted home her first senior goal.
Fellow U23 forward Ella-Mai Bale was an unused substitute for their Adobe FA Cup Second Round loss to Wolves Women.
U23s:
The U23s won three out of four matches during the final two months of 2023. Having lost 2-0 to league leaders Derby County at the start of November, they embarked on a three-game unbeaten run to finish 2023 in second place. This included a 6-1 win over Lincoln City Development in December and a 1-0 win over Northampton Town Development in the Northants County Cup.
Michael Allesbrook has bolstered his U23 squad with several new additions to the squad including Jess Abrantes, Amani Mushtaq, Nidia Neto and Arabella Lloyd-Edwards.
New Staff Additions:
Girls Academy Manager, Chloe Brown, bolstered the academy staff with several new appointments made at the end of 2023.
Hayden and Elana have joined as mentee Sports Psychologists for the Girls Academy. Luke Phillips has joined as an U8s Coach whilst Musab joins the team as Academy Analyst.
Staff CPD:
Several members of the Girls Academy staff observed a Regional Future Lioness Top Talent Session in Loughborough and also attended a Talent ID Webinar.
Mascots and Mini Tournaments:
Our U8s, U10s and U12s were mascots for our U23s in November (pictured above). They had the opportunity to walk out on to the pitch before kick-off with the U23s line-up. Before Christmas, the Academy also held a mini three versus three with the Boys teams.
By Lauren Shiels.
- Photo credit: Darren Wiles.