To have Gillingham in the Super League would boost women's football in Kent, says chairman

GILLINGHAM Ladies’ chairman Martin Andrews says the club are presently submitting their application to join The FA Women’s Super League next year.



The Gills, who are affiliated but financially independent of Gillingham Football Club PLC, presently play in the third tier of the Women’s game and lie in sixth-place (of ten clubs) in the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division.

James Marrs’ side booked their place in the FA Women’s Cup Third Round for the fourth season on the bounce following their comfortable 6-1 home win over MK Dons (who play one division lower in the South East Women’s Combination) today.

But Kent’s highest-ranked Women’s team want to join the elite.

As set out in the “Game Changer” launch at Wembley in October, The Football Association have opened the application process for all women’s football clubs to enter The FA Women’s Super League from next year onwards.

As part of its continued commitment to women’s football, The Football Association is seeking to open and expand the Super League in 2014 with the launch of a second division.

Up to 20 clubs will be selected to participate in The FA Women’s Super League 1 and The FA Women’s Super League 2 once applications have been submitted.

All interested parties are invited to apply to become part of the future of women’s football in this country.

The Super League in 2012 had eight clubs competing, Arsenal, Birmingham City, Everton, Bristol Academy, Lincoln, Chelsea, Doncaster Rovers Belles and Liverpool and the fourteen-match league season started on 8 March 2012 before finishing on 7 October 2012.

Application packs are now available online and should be presented in the form of a club development plan, identifying how an individual club will meet the minimum licence criteria.

Full guidance on the minimum requirements and application templates are provided in the application pack. All applying clubs must use these templates as the basis of their application but club’s will be marked against the following four areas:

1) Financial and business management

2) Commercial sustainability and marketing

3) Facilities

4)  Players, support staff and youth development

In a statement, which was published on www.fawsl.com,  The FA Head of National Game, Kelly Simmons said: “After a very successful 2012, it is vitally important we continue to build on the growing momentum of women’s football in this country.

“We are delighted to be able to open the application process to all clubs and we are now looking to build on what has a very successful first two years of The FA Women’s Super League.

“We have always been committed to ensuring we have an elite league at the top of the game that showcases women’s football at its very best and a second division will help us raise standards even further and bring more teams into our summer pyramid.”

Promotion and relegation will be introduced between the two divisions at the end of the 2014 season, with one club being promoted and one being relegated.

The current eight licenced FA Women’s Super League clubs will be required to re-apply for a 2014 licence and all applications will be reviewed as part of the same process against the same criteria.

All clubs will also be required to have a reserve team, which will play in The FA Women’s Super League reserve league from 2014.  This league will be split into two regional divisions and further details of the structure and fixture programme will be provided in the near future.

The future of The FA Women’s Super League from 2014 forms a key part of the overall objectives of “Game Changer,” The Football Association’s new five year plan.  This also includes the creation of an Elite Performance Elite, growing player participation and a new individual commercial strategy for the women’s game.

Mr Andrews is working tirelessly to submit Gillingham’s bid ahead of the 4pm deadline on Monday 4 March 2013.

When asked whether Kent could support an elite women’s football team at Chatham Town, Mr Andrews said:  “It’s a very slow process. The biggest problem we have is we kick-off on the Sunday at two o’clock and that’s our target market and they’re all playing at the same time.

“We’ve shown when we’re playing midweek against Arsenal, Charlton and West Ham we’re always gone over 150 supporters.  Against Arsenal I think we had 350 people come and watch us which was fantastic.  

“It’s just a case of getting coverage out there and letting people know. It’s cheap to come and watch us – only £3.”

The team is independent of the main club, currently sitting proudly at the top of League Two.

“It’s a double edged sword,” admitted Mr Andrews.

“Gills do help us out behind the scenes. There’s more both people could do but you then have to look at teams like Charlton and Fulham where they’ve been fully integrated with the men’s team.  The men’s team get relegated and pulls the finances and it almost kills the team.  Fulham’s (women’s team) are out of business, no more.  Charlton lost every single player and had to rebuild. 

“You’ve got to be careful to what you wish for. I think with Gills ladies’ it’s best for you to stand alone.”

When asked how much it costs to run the team, the chairman replied, “To run the team at this level at the moment is normally around £30,000 a year.

“I’m going through the bid for the Super League and the estimated figures, The FA predict £72,000, but they contribute £30,000, which is a big help as well.”

Mr Andrews said Kent can support a successful women’s outfit.

“We’re going into the Super League for the future of women’s football in Kent,” he said.

“I feel with what we’ve progressed over the last five years’ since I’ve been here we can really do that. It’s just a case of meeting their criteria.  We’ve got the ground, the thing we do struggle on are training facilities but I’m ambitious.  If I wasn’t ambitious there’s no point doing this.

“I think to have a Super League team in Kent and Medway would just give women’s football a massive boost.   I think it would give football a boost because the other great thing is it’s a summer league so for all those Gillingham fans who are bored in the summer they can come and watch us.”

Gillingham presently don’t pay their players, but that will have to change if they are accepted into the newly formed division.

Mr Andrews said: “We’ve got to get fitness coaches in, strength and conditioning coaches, proper medical staff. You’ve got to have A Licenced coaching, so it’s all building it up. 

“It is really looking at the Premiership of men’s football. It’s that sort of criteria.

“The Super League is going more for the development of players. It’s to fill more players into the England set-up, to give more development of players and to give the players’ a more professional element.”

Gillingham face a race against time to get the best possible application in to fulfil their chairman’s dream.

He said: “Our bid has to be in 4^th March. We’ve only got a month and a half now to get everything finalised so you can imagine we’re working around the clock, speaking to people, organising meetings to make sure that everything’s in place.

“Then, if we get a licence that’s then due to start March 2013. It effectively means we’ll go a year without football. Our reserves will start in August but our first team would start in March.”

Gillingham are presently in the second year of a three-year deal playing their home games at Ryman League Division One North side Chatham Town.

With the Super League taking place during the summer, there will be fears that the landlords will not be able to work on their playing surface during their off-season.

Arsenal Ladies’ side play their games at Blue Square Bet (Conference) South side Boreham Wood, who have an immaculate playing surface at Meadow Park.

Mr Andrews said: “They (Chatham Town) will be working on the pitch but again the good thing is that the FA do supplement a grant for pitch maintenance costs.

“When you look at teams like Arsenal, they play at Boreham Wood. Sometimes when you see the games on ESPN, when you see Arsenal playing it’s a bit patchy but they’ve got no problems. I can’t see no problems there.

“If anything it would help Chatham Town because it puts more money behind their bars and hopefully with us being in the Super League it would give them more sponsors and it would help them financially as well.”

It is Mr Andrews’ burning desire to bring elite women’s football to Kent.

“It’s really exciting. I have to admit I always said to myself I’d do Gillingham Ladies’ for five years. This is my fifth year and I was about to call it a day I think but the Super League bid is just too exciting.  That’s my dream.  This is what I’ve dreamt off.

“This is giving me the hunger back and this is what I’m targeting and need to do. 

“We played at Lordswood before and we had to move because of ground grading but the other reason Chatham was so key was because it’s bang in a neighbourhood.  You’ve got people just across the road and that has got to be our target. 

“The Super League targets you’ve got to have 250 people in the first season coming to watch a game.  In the summer that is achievable.  It’s just getting the name out.

“The biggest thing I find with women’s football is no-one knows what to expect until they go to a game. When they first go to watch a game, especially today when we’ve won 6-1, they get hooked and they come back.

“A lot of these people that you see today are people that have come along with friends and family and all off a sudden they get hooked.

“We’ve got a few Chatham Town people that are coming to each game now and it was good that a couple of Gillingham fans as well came along today, so hopefully we can get the name out and more and more people will come.”

A crowd of 75 watched their comfortable win over MK Dons, but West Ham United visit Maidstone Road next Sunday for a FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division fixture.

The division contains Reading, Millwall Lionesses, Yeovil Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United, Gillingham, Colchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lewes and Queen’s Park Rangers.

But Mr Andrews, himself a West Ham supporter, hopes for a larger turnout against The Hammers.

He said: “It’s a weird one for me because I’m actually a West Ham supporter, but although I support the men’s team it’s weird because I’m very much Gillingham have got to win.

“It’s going to be a very different . West Ham are a very well organised outfit so it will be nothing like today.

“When you have names like West Ham and Charlton come down you do get more people coming along. When you get teams like Yeovil – no disrespect to them – not a lot of people do come along.

“It’s nice when you see people wearing West Ham shirts and Charlton shirts and Tottenham tops when you’re playing those sides.”

Gillingham came away from Thurrock’s Ship Lane ground with a 2-2 draw at the end of September and manager Marrs admits his side should have claimed the three points against The Hammers.

He said: “It’s an important game for us especially after the Colchester game, which we lost.”

The 25-year-old, who previously coached at David Beckham’s Academy before coaching in the States added: “Not that you can afford to relax in any game but we felt massively aggrieved that we didn’t pick up three points and that would have put us away from those bottom teams.  Unfortunately we didn’t get the result so that sort of keeps us down there, sort of midtable to the lower end so it’s a bit of a six-pointer next week against West Ham.

“It will be a tough game. We deserved to win at their place earlier in the season. I think they were a bit surprised how we passed the ball around. They were a little bit shocked but two errors cost us three points when we went to their place but they’ll be up for it.”

Visit Gillingham Ladies’ website:  www.gillinghamladies.co.uk

For further details about submitting an application to The FA Women’s Super League visit: www.fawsl.com/news/the_fa_wsl_opens_club_application_p.html

Gillingham v West Ham United
The FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division
Sunday 13^th January 2013
Kick Off 2:00pm
at Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Bournville Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6LR