Why Rick Passmoor was so keen to sign Rachel Williams for Leicester City | OneFootball

Rachel Williams (Leicester City)

Rachel Williams has returned to her hometown club Leicester City at the age of 38.

It also reunites her with Rick Passmoor – her former boss at Notts County – a decade on.

And on Friday he spoke to the media about why she was on his wishlist to bring in to the Foxes.

“When you looked at [the situation] in terms of my late arrival [at the club at the start of the season], and you looked at a young squad [with] a lot of outgoings during the summer, and we didn’t probably replace with depth that was required,” he said. “So it’s a massive credit for the squad in the first half of the season firstly, but what we want to do is help them out with the right sort of player and character to come in the building.

“One of the areas that we’ve recognised to improve is the forward line, so therefore, what sort of forward, what sort of character as well off the pitch, [is it] that you need? What sort of pool that you are actually fishing in to bring to Leicester?

“She came into our thoughts and obviously then you’ve got the history, but very much so where we are is that we need the right sort of personality and character in that changing room to help this young squad develop and progress. I obviously worked with her – now unfortunately it’s nearly a decade ago! – and I know exactly what sort of personality and what sort of leadership and winning mentality that she will bring to the group.”

Passmoor: Rachel Williams adds value

He added that Rachel Williams had already been chatting with the academy players, saying: “You won’t know how much that would be inspiring for them because we want to grow our own talent through the system.

“She started here and then the WSL blossomed and she’s had a great career and she’ll continue it here.”

And on her longevity at the very top of the game, he told SheKicks.net: “Credit to her. Credit to her in terms of her passion, of her focus, of wanting to be a footballer, professional footballer, how then she’s looked after herself physically, nutrition-wise – that’s now part of the game.

“Throughout the clubs that she’s gone to, she adds value both on and off the pitch and scores goals.

“A local homegrown girl, she’ll want to do well and we’re really excited to see her in the blue colours of Leicester – but I think this weekend it’s in the pink of Leicester!”

Rick Passmoor: Leicester City need to maintain consistency

Passmoor confirmed that Sam Tierney will be taking the captain’s armband following the departure of Janice Cayman, and that Ash Neville will be vice-captain.

This weekend’s Women’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur will give Neville a chance to rectify what went wrong last weekend – when her former club beat her current one 1-0 in the Women’s Super League thanks to an own goal.

And the head coach said he thought facing the same opposition two weeks running should add something more to the occasion.

“It should motivate you more because I’m listening to people saying we deserved something from the game. That’s great, but we didn’t. The outcome, the performance during that 95 minutes, we had some good spells. What we’re looking to do with the new signings as well is maintain consistency during the 90 to 100 minutes – and obviously we’re looking to achieve both performance and an outcome this weekend.”