“We Want To Win!” – LFCW’s Technical Director Niamh Fahey & Emile Heskey | OneFootball

Liverpool’s Women brought the curtain down on a topsy-turvy season on Sunday with defeat at the hands of Arsenal at Anfield; however, the Reds had already retained their WSL status for next term and were still somewhat reeling off the back of FA Cup semi-final heartbreak.

Despite the disappointments, there is certainly cause for optimism heading into the summer, having seen the turn of the year and a host of new signings make a marked positive impact on Gareth Taylor’s side.

After the match, Husqvarna – a proud partners with Liverpool FC – held an event in the city centre to discuss the evolving landscape of women’s football and how it can continue to grow.

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Dan went along and spoke to LFC Women’s Technical Director Niamh Fahey and former Reds’ striker Emile Heskey to get their thoughts on the changing landscape, the season gone, and what’s next for Taylor’s side…

Emile said:

On the importance of visibility: “It’s massive! I’ve got two girls who play at school, and obviously they watch their brothers play, but it’s nice to go to some games and watch some people they idolise. I’m in the Cheshire area, so Bunny Shaw is one that they love, but being able to see it is great for them.”

On new ways of growing the audience: “It’s difficult to say, because again, there are different platforms that you can go on. I know in America they have used Twitch for a little while, but it depends on where the actual organisation wants to go. I know so many people who are very interested in watching the women’s game. The thing for me with the women’s game is the advertisement. So many times, I’m sitting at home, and there’s not much promotion of what’s actually on. It’s not until I see it come on my feed that I’m like, oh, the game’s on. So then I flick on to the game and watch it, especially when it comes to the national teams. I think there could be more out there to make us aware that that’s being played at that time. But apart from that, I think they’re going in the right way. Definitely for the younger generation of TikTok, I think that could be a way to go. There is short content like that that people really love to see. I think that could be a way.”

On LFCW needing to compete at the top: “They’ve won it twice under Matt Beard. So I think they should be up there with the best of them. But again, you take your time. As you mentioned, I was at Leicester. Liverpool were in the second division. So you’ve got to take your time to come up and then start growing again as a club. They’re now at the great Melwood. So they’ve probably got, arguably, the best facilities in the league. So it’s about taking those little steps to get to where they want to get to.”

Niamh said: 

On Gemma Bonner: “Club legend, record appearance holder, captain of the club, back-to-back titles, the list goes on, really, for her, but, yeah, sad to see Gemma go, but obviously wish her well going forward as well. She’s been a great teammate, great person to play with, and I think even when she came on, you could see the leadership that she provides and her quality on the ball, so great player, great person, so wishing her well in her next ventures.”

On her new role: “Yeah, a lot easier on the pitch to play and have everyone take care of everything off the pitch. Football is a mad world, even off the pitch, the hours and everything, but, to be honest, it’s been brilliant, really enjoying working at the club now as well, and just, yeah, learning, literally, for how a club runs, what’s best practice, and just soaking everything up, so in terms of learning and opportunity, I’m delighted with where I am and the opportunity.”

On the importance of growing grassroots: “I think a lot has been done, a lot of good stuff. Maybe it’s been focused on the higher professional level. I think the grassroots, you definitely can’t neglect that, and a lot more work needs to be done. A lot of good work has already happened. I think you see a lot of good stuff happening with the academies and now the professional contracts at the academies as well, just making that pathway easier for them to bridge the gap when they do become senior professional governors, so a lot of good stuff is happening. I’m excited for the future in that space as well.”

On the recent improvement on the pitch: “We obviously weren’t in a good place coming in after January, and then brought in a couple of extra bodies. I think you saw the lift up, lift in performance, a lot more competitive, picked up good results as well. And then the semi-final was such a tight game. I think fair play to Brighton, they probably edged it and deserved it on the day, but I mean, for us going forward, it shows where we are against Man City the week before, really unlucky in that game. A lot of good things have happened since January, and we need to kick on again, obviously, to get better as well over the summer. But I am excited, I think we’ve kind of got into a decent platform now, enough to push on.”

On having role models in a young squad: “It’s important, leadership, passing down experiences, especially in tough times. I think you can’t buy that when you’ve been there and done that, to help younger players. It’s exciting now with the likes of Zara Shaw as well coming through, Hannah Silcock, Lucy Parry, and Maizie Truman. So the future is really bright for young scousers as well, that’s what we need. So yeah, that leadership thing is huge. We have the likes of Grace Fisk in there as well, Fuka now as a senior player as well, so a nice blend and a nice mix.”

On what the future holds: “Ultimately, we want to win. We don’t want to be where we are right now, and make no bones about it. So we realise where we need to get to, and to get up there we do need to improve, but ultimately we are going in the direction where we need to be competitive, so we want that as well for the club, for the women’s side. We’ve had it in the past, the men’s have had it more recently, so that’s the aim now for the next longer-term project.”