Bolton Wanderers Women squad shaping up for season ahead

With pre-season training now officially underway at Lostock and a new deal signed to play their home games at Atherton Colls’ Skuna Stadium, things are now shaping up for Myles Smith’s team for the big kick-off in just over four weeks.

Five pre-season friendlies are due to be announced imminently, giving the new boss a chance to sharpen up his side before the opening game in the North West Regional Football League Division One North on August 18.

Smith held three trials, the first of which was for existing BWFC players who were able to continue this season with additional training sessions and workload. The other two external trials attracted a high calibre of players from around the North West.

Pleased with the progress so far, Smith wants to set about fine tuning the players he has available.

“Day upon day, week upon week, we need to keep inching that little bit forward towards our objectives and targets,” he told The Bolton News.

“We knew there would be plenty of work to do and not a huge amount of time to do it in but I think we have made good progress so far. We had some good trials and that has left us with a strong core group now who have started pre-season training.

“I have been thoroughly impressed with the players’ attitudes and professionalism because a lot of this is new to them and they have started well. It has been great on the grass at Lostock, the club has been really welcoming and accommodating.

“Recruitment still runs alongside that now and we’re looking for players and speaking to those we want to bring in, so they are the two main things at the moment.”

Atherton Colls will play host to BWFC Women this season (Image: Newsquest)

Wanderers Women have been brought back under the main club’s umbrella and been made semi-professional this season, which has meant a big turnover of players from last season’s squad.

Smith is confident that it will not impact upon the team’s ability to settle into the new season, however, with a full pre-season to iron out the kinks.

“We did it at West Ham a few years back where we released 26 players and went full-time, so we had 25 through the door brand-new,” he said. “The second season we got to an FA Cup final at Wembley in front of 45,000 fans, so we must have done something right.

“Any players who are there at Bolton now in that squad are there because they deserve to be there. They showed great stuff at the trials, I watched as much stuff as I possibly could from last season, and we have a good group.

“I think with three or four key additions then hopefully we are able to do well this season.”

The decision to make BWFC Women’s games free admission this season is another factor Smith feels will help his team improve this season.

Atherton Colls will open the turnstiles on Sunday afternoons to allow fans and families to come down to watch some football, sample a pie, a pint, or both, and create a positive atmosphere.

“It’s important for us because we want people to come and watch our games, those in the local are and beyond, and we hope we can give them a nice style of football and some wins along the way,” he said.

“There is a good history between the club and Atherton Colls and when the place has been full of fans we know it can be a great place to play football and enjoy yourselves.

“We want this place as full as it can be, the atmosphere to be bouncing if we can, and we know what it is like when there are plenty of people here, it can be a great place to play.

“Whether it’s family members, people who are into women’s football, people who want to come and watch their first game in women’s football, we want everyone here to try it out.

“It feels like it certainly can be home for us, which is a great start.”

The countdown to the new season is on, with Wanderers pitted in the same division as teams like Accrington Stanley, Preston North End, Fleetwood, Morecambe and Radcliffe – not to mention Colls’ fierce neighbours from across town, Atherton LR.

Smith is still in the dark over how the fixtures will pan out but is focussed on getting his team as ready as possible.

He said: “Fixtures are usually released about a week before the start of the season, so we won’t be able to plan for that just yet – but whoever it turns out to be we have to be fit enough and organised enough to hit the ground running.

“We are really looking forward to getting started and from what I have seen so far, I’m really encouraged that it can be a good season for us.”

Atherton Colls' Skuna Stadium pitch view (Image: Newsquest)