BREAKING: Bleazard and Suraci’s big plans for league leaders Bournemouth | OneFootball

Helen Bleazard with the Bournemouth squad

AFC Bournemouth have enjoyed a sensational start to the season in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier – winning six on the bounce to put them at the top of the table.

It might not have been predicted by many two months ago as long-serving head coach Steve Cull stepped down, leaving former player Helen Bleazard with the chance to take over as interim boss.

She did that with aplomb, settling into the role in such style that she was appointed permanently last month – and she picked up the manager of the month award for August.

“I’ve got to give it to the players, because I wouldn’t get the award if they hadn’t have done everything that we had set out as a team and as a staff to try and implement the game plan of what we wanted to do,” she told journalists on Tuesday.

“It’s not only for me. I’ve come in, but the players have had a massive adjustment over pre-season and they took to it like a duck to water, which was great. and the performances really spoke for themselves. So I can’t take full credit for that. It’s definitely down to the players who managed to get the really, really good results and good performances.

“It was a very, very proud moment for me, but I think also the club and the girls themselves.”

Bruce Suraci: Helen is a role model

The beginning of the season also coincided with the appointment of Bruce Suraci as the club’s first-ever head of women’s football – and he revealed that he didn’t think twice about Bleazard taking over permanently.

“When I came in and saw where Helen was as a coach, and I saw more importantly what Helen’s character was – ‘Okay, well, you know, this doesn’t need to be interim. This can be for the season, no problem.’

Helen Bleazard with the Bournemouth squad

“Our relationship’s been really strong, we work very well together.

“Helen is the day-to-day, that’s her role as head coach to set the environment, anything medium term is both of us, and anything long-term is me.

“I could not have more praise for Helen, the job she’s done and the way Helen’s come in, steadied the ship before I came in, reacted to me being brought in.

“Helen is a role model to all young girls in Bournemouth without a doubt.”

Bournemouth have to be sustainable – Suraci

Now, after six weeks in his own role, Suraci admits that his initial to-do list consisted of “a lot of firefighting: who to speak to about this, who to speak to about that, who makes the decision on this. I’m just getting my head above water now and starting to look at, ‘Right, how do we take control of the three-year plan? How do we implement an annual plan?'”

Those long-term plans hinge on sustainability. If Bournemouth continue their blistering form and get promoted to WSL2, Suraci wouldn’t “rule out” the team turning full-time professional, but adds: “These players are part-time. Some of them might not want to be full-time. Some of them have got other careers, other jobs.

“So for us, it’s about understanding where we are, and one of the things we’re implementing at the moment is a career development plan for all these players, because for us, the sustainable move is actually even if we go full-time, some of these players might only be full-time for one year, two years, three years, so that growth needs to be slow.

Bruce Suraci of Bournemouth during U18 match between AFC Bournemouth and Cheltenham Town at Canford Performance Centre on Tuesday 26th August, 2025.

“Now, in terms of next season and the season after, does that mean we do more of a hybrid, so one extra daytime [training session per week]? Maybe, maybe not. Does it mean we go fully full-time? Again, maybe, maybe not.

“So it’s definitely on the radar, but it just needs to be built slowly and steadily with strong foundations to make sure that we’re robust and it stands the test of time.”

Hennessy: It’s up to us now

And when it comes to promotion, the Cherries squad now has plenty of experience – such as new signing Jessica Hennessy, who was part of the Nottingham Forest squad that stepped up to WSL2 last time round, and has also played in the League of Ireland Premier Division.

“That’s the next step that Bournemouth wants to take,” she says, “and that’s why they’ve brought in girls, to strengthen the squad and just that experience as well.

“And there’s so much support around us as a team from the club, from everyone involved, so it’s really great to see now.

“It’s just up to us to keep pushing on and to keep our standards high and keep playing well and get the results.”

AFC Bournemouth’s next match in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier is on Sunday, 29th October against Oxford United – and it will be at the Vitality Stadium.