We welcome Leicester City to the Dripping Pan.
If recent encounters are anything to go by, today’s match promises end-to-end goal-scoring action. In the corresponding fixture last season Lewes won 4-3, with Leicester taking their revenge with a 4-0 win in the away match.
Lewes will also be hoping to bounce back from their narrow 2-1 defeat against London Bees last time out.
Watch the highlights here:
PROGCAST CONTENTS
Click on the link below to jump straight to that section
- Today’s playlist
- #FootballPeople campaign
- Home Fixtures
- League Table
- Fran Alonso
- The Rooks
- Chairman’s Notes
- Today’s Opponents
- Matchday Poster
- LGB Brass Band
- Today’s Teams
- Credits and legal info
TODAY’S PLAYLIST
Today’s soundtrack will be provided LIVE by the fabulous LGB BRASS BAND.
TACKLING DISCRIMINATION
Lewes FC is also taking on discrimination on Sunday when it teams up with the Fare Network, an umbrella organisation that brings others together to combat inequality in football.
The Fare Network’s #FootballPeople campaign takes place between October 10 and 24, with an estimated 150,000 people set to take part across 60 countries.
Lewes FC is proud to be part of this campaign and is bringing together leading journalists and practitioners in sports media to mentor and educate aspiring journalists from underrepresented backgrounds.
Read more here.
HOME FIXTURES
LEAGUE TABLE
FRAN ALONSO
Good afternoon and welcome to the Dripping Pan! I’d also like to welcome Leicester and look forward to a great game.
I feel we have under-achieved so far this season. Football-wise we have been playing well, we have created a lot of chances but we have been a bit unlucky with some decisions and some clear chances missed. But I have a lot of faith in this group and feel we will pick up a lot of points in the coming games. I feel we should have at least five more points on the table.
I think any team in this league will bring a lot of challenges. The quality of the league has improved a lot since last season. Leicester are a good team full of internationals. We know it’ll be a difficult game but I have confidence in my team.
I am also very excited to announce Faye Baker as our new captain following the departure of club legend Katie ‘Macca’ McIntyre, and Zoe Ness as our new vice captain.
Fran
THE MIGHTY ROOKS
Meet the 2019-20 Lewes FC Women Squad
NOTES FROM THE BIG CHAIR
Lewes FC Chairman Stuart Fuller
Lewes Chairman Stuart Fuller @theballisround
Good afternoon and welcome back to the Dripping Pan for another exciting afternoon of Championship football. I’d like to welcome our guests from Leicester including the fans, players, management and officials and hope you have a safe return up the M1.
Once again, due to the structure of the fixtures, we’ve not had a game for two weeks. These blank weekends make it incredibly difficult for clubs to build momentum both on and off the pitch. All of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to build our crowds, with new audiences and all of the hard work that goes on on the training ground, dissipates over time without a game. Whilst I understand the need for International Breaks, other blank weekends could and should be avoided. It is still a work in progress, I know.
I know that Fran will be looking for a positive result today after two consecutive defeats, albeit both by single goals. The enforced break has meant though that a couple of our injured players have been able to make good progress in their return to the squad.
Talking of International Breaks, we are really seeing a World Cup hangover when it comes to the England Lionesses. Since the defeat to World Champions United States of America in Lyon back in July, the team’s form has been poor, relying on a goalkeeping mistake to give them a 1-0 in Portugal last week. I heard an interview last week with someone close to the squad that the expectations on the team coming off the performance in France were “too much” and it was impacting the squad. I have to disagree strongly. Any team should be looking at improving with every game and I feel that the same approach and tactics have been used rather than adapting to the opposition.
Our next game here is the small matter of a League Cup tie against Chelsea. Tickets are selling fast for the game which will be our first ever Saturday home game – we chose to move the game forward by 24 hours to open up the game to a potential new set of fans. The vast majority of Girls and Women’s football matches are played on a Sunday and so huge numbers of players, coaches and fans simply cannot get to a game on a Sunday, so the club decided, with the Men’s team playing away at Cheshunt, to give a Saturday at 2pm a try. We hope to see as many of you at that game as possible – it promises to be a special afternoon and we have a few treats in store off the pitch.
Get behind the team this afternoon and keep it LOUD!
COYR!
Stuart
WHO ARE YA?
Leicester City Women FC
Formed in 2004, Leicester City Women quickly rose through the divisions earning promotion to the Second Division at the time, the FA WPL Northern Division in 2008.
Leicester enjoyed success in the league over the next four seasons, finishing third three times in a row. Unfortunately for Leicester, they suffered relegation to the Midlands Division in 2013, which, coinciding with the introduction of WSL 2, saw Leicester effectively drop to the Fourth Division.
After two seasons in transition for Leicester City, Jonathan Morgan stepped up from managing the Reserves to take charge of First Team affairs, and assisted by Michael Makoni, the pair helped to mastermind Leicester’s promotion back to the Northern Division winning all 22 of their league matches to become the first team to win promotion from that level with a perfect record. The management pair celebrated 100 games in charge of the club during the recent home match against Guiseley.
In 2016/17 Leicester surpassed expectations as they went on to finish third in the league, reach a County Cup Final and the League Plate Semi Final. Last season, thanks to some astute signings in the summer, Leicester managed to better those results, finishing second in the Northern Division table, reaching the Final of the FA WPL League Cup, winning the Leicestershire County Cup Final for the ninth time and reached the fifth Round of the FA Women’s Cup for only the second time in their history.
KEY PLAYERS
Annabel Blanchard
Having arrived at the Foxes over the summer, Annabel Blanchard has quickly made herself at home in Blue. Having captained Liverpool’s Development Squad to the WSL Development League title, Annabel has also established herself in the young Lionesses set-up alongside five other Leicester City players at Under 18 level.
The quick and energetic forward is starting her first season at senior level and will be hoping to make a big impact on this season’s Championship.
Libby Smith
Born and raised in Leicestershire, Libby rose through the ranks at Leicester City’s RTC before leaving to join Chelsea’s Development Squad in 2016. Following two seasons with the Blues, Libby has returned to Leicestershire to lead the line for Leicester City.
Joining the Foxes towards the end of 2018, Libby established herself amongst the starting XI of Jonathan Morgan’s team and netted three times in her debut season including a memorable strike against Manchester United. Already off the mark for 2019/20, Libby is the perfect ‘fox in the box’.
Leicester City Women Squad List 2019/20
1 – Demi Lambourne
2 – Grace Riglar
3 – Nat Johnson
4 – Aimee Everett
5 – Holly Morgan
6 – Lia Cataldo
7 – Anneka Nuttall
8 – Simran Jhamat
9 – Libby Smith
10 – Annabel Blanchard
11 – Lachante Paul
12 – Hayley James
13 – Scarlett Field
14 – Leigh Dugmore
16 – Freya Thomas
17 – Paige Bailey-Gayle
18 – Rachel Brown
21 – Annie Taylor
23 – Lucy Johnson
25 – Georgia Popple
MATCHDAY POSTER
Each of our 2019/20 season home match posters will feature an Inspirational Women. Our latest is Manal Al-Sharif.
Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi women’s rights activist who helped start a women’s right to drive campaign in 2011. A video of her driving a car was posted on YouTube and Facebook as part of the campaign. Al-Sharif was subsequently detained and released on 21 May 2011 and rearrested the following day. On 30 May, Al-Sharif was released on bail on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media.
Following her driving campaign, Al-Sharif remained an active critic of the Saudi government, tweeting on issues including imprisoned female foreign workers, the lack of elections for the Shura Council, and the murder of Lama al-Ghamdi. Her work has been recognized by Foreign Policy, Time, and the Oslo Freedom Forum.
(Information sourced from Wikipedia.com)
SING WHEN YOU’RE WINNING
Call yourself a fan? Are you in good voice?
Great stuff, cos there’ll be onsite football chanting practice before the match at about 13.30 in the covered stands near the half-way line! Owner & comedian Donna McPhail will lead us in some chants so we’re good and ready to support Lewes FC Women in their first match this season…’ere we go, ere we go, ere we go-oh, ere we go, oh here we go!!
LEWES, GLYNDE & BEDDINGHAM BRASS BRAND
We welcome LGB Brass to the Dripping Pan
LGB Brass is an active and popular band based in Lewes, the county town of East Sussex.
**STOP PRESS: LGB Brass are looking for a cornet player**
If you are interested please contact the band via the website at www.lgbbrass.co.uk
They have around 50 members from across East and West Sussex, attracted by the band’s friendly atmosphere and high standard of music. As well as the main band, there is a training band of young learners who are preparing to move into the main band.
Repertoire and booking
LGB Brass have a large and varied repertoire. You will hear traditional marches, music from film and stage, virtuoso solo items and the best from the modern brass repertoire.
TODAY’S TEAMS
Today’s line-ups:
ROOKS
FILMING AT MATCHES
Today there may be film crews in the ground, filming on behalf of Lewes Football Club and other media organisations. The filming is usually for Lewes FC marketing purposes, to show what a matchday looks/sounds like and to generally promote what we do. There may also be film crews from media organisations who will use their footage in news reports, and crews for a documentary about Lewes FC Women, Reds. Lewes Football Club respectfully asks for your permission to be filmed. If you do not want to be filmed, please let the crew know directly and they will oblige. Thanks for your cooperation in helping to build a successful club.
CREDITS AND LEGAL INFO
The FA Women’s Championship strongly supports recent FA statements that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly, any form of discriminatory abuse, whether it be based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, faith, age, ability or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association. (The FA 0800 085 0508/Kick It Out 020 7253 0162)
Lewes 2000 FC Limited. Registered in England and Wales with Company Registration Number 03790979.
Honorary President Terry Parris
Chairman Stuart Fuller
Directors Ed Briggs, Barry Collins, Charlie Dobres, Stuart Fuller, John Peel, Eddie Ramsden, Jon Ruben, Galia Omre, Roger Warner
Steve Keegan*, Karen Dobres*, Michelle Bowie*
* Directors seconded onto the board
Operations Manager Duncan Thompson
Life Members
Mr and Mrs Brook, Vic Blunt, Pat Dartnell, Gary Elphick, Gordon Fowlie, Peter Hiscox, Billy Nixon, Derrick Parris, Terry Parris, Jimmy Quinn, P. Swaysland, Steve Ibbitson, Jason Hopkinson, Steve White, Martin Elliot, Kevin Fingerneissl, Kevin Powell, David and Barbara Arnold, Roger and Cathy Feltham, Ethel Treagus, Roy Dartnell RIP, Ron Moore, Derek Southouse, Ray Smith, Ken Carter.
General Manager Maggie Murphy
Assistant GM Lynne Burrell
Marketing Officer Maggie Murphy
Head Coach Fran Alonso
Assistant Coach Simon Parker
Assistant Coach Jesus Cordon
Goalkeeping Coach Lee Callender
S&C Coach Andrea Gillardoni
Team Psychologist Chelsea Orme
Data Analyst Adam Chilcott
Kit Wrangler Joe Gander
DS Coach Lewis Singleton
U18s Manager Kelly Newton
U18s Coaches Charlie Carter, Greg Cross
Web Editor Stuart Fuller
Progcast Editor Robin Mannering
Additional content Ash Head
Progcast designer Barry Collins
Club Photographer James Boyes