Brentford Women head coach Carly Williams' half-season review | OneFootball

As Brentford Women sit top of the London South East Premier Division at the Christmas break, head coach Carly Williams sat down to discuss her first five months with the Bees.

Williams joined Brentford from Arsenal Women in the summer of 2025 and has taken to life in west London with ease.

At the time of writing, Brentford have a three point lead at the top of the table, with teams close by having games in hand.

“It's been an exciting season to start off with. The facilities here and the fantastic people in the building on and off the pitch have made it a lovely welcome over the first 18 weeks,” she explained.

“The connections that I’ve seen the players make and the togetherness in the environment that we've created here have really impressed me.

“Coming in on the back of last season with the team having done so well and with all the personnel changes on and off the pitch, I think it was so important to get that environment right.

“It was vital to let those new players grow, but also the older players adapt to the new environment. It was a fresh start for all, so it's been fantastic to see it grow and develop.”

In Brentford's first season in tier five of the women’s pyramid, Williams began with a bang, leading the west Londoners to 10 straight wins.

“As you can see, those performances on the pitch, and even off the pitch, the players have been great in getting to know each other,” she said.

“I don't think I can particularly single a game out. I think that performance on Sunday [a 6-0 win against Millwall] was coming, but over the season we've won 13 games so far which is an impressive start.

“We’ve scored 47 goals as well so I can't really complain. There’s been lots of highlights, lots of goals to reminisce on, but the defensive work and being hard to beat has also been good to see.”

Despite such a positive start, it is extremely tight in the promotion race in the division, and losses to both Dartford and Saltdean in the latter stages of 2025 have made it anyone’s game in the second half of the season.

“Obviously, the losses are always going to hurt. But we've had far more wins than losses this season,” she reiterated.

“We are looking back on them and they're always something to learn and grow from so that's what we're using them for.

“There are games where we feel that we probably should have got points from.

"I think the players have done well utilising that as a strength and power to move on and push forwards and not dwell on those games.”

At the start of the campaign, Williams appointed lifelong Brentford fan Maddie Phillips as her captain for the 2025/26 season.

“Maddie has huge potential and is an amazing leader on and off the pitch,” she explained.

“I think we've seen with the recent injury she’s had; she's still around the pitch and is the first one who turns up on matchday.

“Maddie and myself will always say that as leaders, we always have somewhere to grow, and I think she's been fantastic at being receptive to learning and growing and becoming the leader that she wants to be.

“She’s a brilliant, positive vibe in the changing room, but also off the pitch in making sure that everyone's keeping to the standards that we need to push on.”

A key feature of Williams’ squad this season has been the youth that she has utilised throughout.

“There’s a range of ages and experience within this group and I think that's special when you see those connections as well,” she said proudly.

“From the start, we've had a leadership group. That’s been fantastic and seamless when Maddie's not been able to be on the pitch, other players have stepped up in a positive way.

“But we’ve seen the younger players actually showing those leadership skills as well.

“We’ve done a lot of team bonding, where the younger ones have come out of their shell and there's been some funny moments, but in terms of how they're doing on the pitch, I've been so proud of them.

“They never shy away from a challenge or a task I give them and they give their all. This year is so important for their development for the future.”

The Bees recently appointed George Wells as technical coach to work alongside Williams, who joined the club from Arsenal Women Under-21s.

“I’ve known George for quite some years now, but him coming over and joining Brentford, I think is a real important step forwards in terms of pushing us on,” she said.

“Obviously Lois Fidler [women’s football consultant] and I have come in to really push that performance culture at Brentford in terms of the women's set up and having George on board is a fantastic addition.

“You'll probably have seen him developing his relationships with the players, and he's a fantastic person to have around. The players seem to really like him and he's pushing forwards and that's where we're going.”

Williams has high hopes for what her exciting squad can achieve in 2026 and beyond.

“As a club we’re obviously extremely ambitious,” she explained.

“We want to be competing at the top of the league. We want to make it difficult. We want to try and get that promotion. That's something we're chasing and that's where performance comes first.

“That's what's important right now: making sure that we're in our best place, that we can compete with every team in this league and dominate and push forward.

“We're also in a quarter-final of the League Cup. A cup run is always a fantastic run to be on, and we've also got the Capital Cup coming up.

“To compete on all those three fronts is the main aim for the second half of the season and to keep putting pressure on our rivals at the top of the division.

“It’s been a great start and I'm excited to see how the players grow and push on after Christmas as well.”