EXCLUSIVE: “Anything can happen” – Ella Haughey of West Brom ahead of cup clash with local rivals Wolves | OneFootball

Ella Haughey (Liam Sheasby/WBA)

West Bromwich Albion are itching to get going with 2026. Their FA Women’s National League Northern Premier game against Hull City was postponed due to the weather last weekend – meaning this Sunday’s match in the quarter-final of the FAWNL Cup is particularly long-awaited.

Plus, of course, it’s against league leaders and local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“With Wolves, it’s always going to be a big game to play in,” West Brom’s Ella Haughey tells SheKicks.net. “It’s a local rivalry, but we’re just going to take it as it comes – it’s another game and we’ll see how it goes.”

The two sides faced each other in the league shortly before the winter break, with Wolves coming out on top by three goals to nil – but a cup match is an entirely different prospect, says Haughey.

“In a cup game, anything can happen. Obviously, the results recently haven’t gone our way against them, but it’s not without a lack of trying. We’ve played well in the games – it’s just the small details that we need to fix, and we know that ourselves. We know they came to us a few weeks back, just before Christmas, and we gave them a great game – so I think they’ll know that they’re in a game again.”

Ella Haughey (Liam Sheasby/WBA)

But of course everyone is well aware of the significance of a Black Country derby – even in the women’s game, which tends to be less tribal than its male counterpart

“The city just loves football. Moving here, you can tell – you walk down the street and you see anyone in a football top, whether it’s Villa, Wolves, West Brom, Birmingham, everyone just loves football. You can tell how much the club means to the fans.”

Ella Haughey: I keep working hard

Haughey, a Northern Ireland international, signed for West Brom in the summer of 2024, and has been working hard over the last 18 months to secure a starting place in the first team. She says now she feels fully settled at the club, describing it as a home from home.

“The club is just a family,” she says. “All the girls are very, very close. [There are a group of us who are] all around the same age. There’s a few older players that you know you can always turn to when you need to.

Ella Haughey (Liam Sheasby/WBA)

“When we buy into the culture of the club, we know that we can exceed expectations and we want to do that.”

She goes on: “I’m a hard-working player – I always have been, all my life. I keep working hard and now I’m reaping the rewards of that. All I wanted to do when I came here was play week in, week out – and right now I’m doing that, so hopefully it continues.”

And the cup excitement continues next week as West Brom face Everton in the fourth round of the Women’s FA Cup, with the match broadcast live on TNT Sports.

“We’ve all had a few wee jokes about being on TNT Sports! It’s going to be definitely out of our comfort zone, but we’re going to thrive. It can only make us better. We don’t have any pressure on us. It’s just a good opportunity to show more people how good this club is and [where we can get to] in the future.”