Reading Women completed their pre-season preparation, not in the way they wanted, with a 2-1 defeat at Penn & Tylers Green on Sunday August 26.
This match brought to a close four weeks of friendlies, with the Royals now looking to kickstart their second season in the Southern Region Premier League (tier five). They take on Badshot Lea (last season’s fellow 2024/2025 ’mini league’ strugglers) in the opening league fixture at Arbour Park this weekend (Sunday August 31, 2pm kick-off).
It’s been another
summer of ‘all change’ for the Women’s team. The new management duo of Ed Jackson-Norris and Max Scott has been appointed, alongside many new players and faces to recognise, after a successful open-trials application campaign, including the appointment of Nat Cowell as player/coach (who grabbed the late goal against Penn & Tylers).
Pre-season
Last season there wasn’t time to arrange any pre-season friendlies, so it’s been a very welcome and normal change to have what feels like the luxury of six such fixtures (the original plan was to have seven friendlies, but more on that later). They culminated in three defeats, two comprehensive victories, a draw and some shenanigans from a local team that should know better.
After a couple of weeks training, to allow time for the new and ‘old’ players to get to know each other, the Royals kicked off the first of of their pre-season friendlies on Sunday July 27 – just hours before England’s Women’s team claimed their second consecutive Euro title – with a trip to Leatherhead.
The home side edged a 3-2 victory but it was a great opening test for the Reading players, getting some valuable matchday mileage in their legs against an established Leatherhead team who, although a tier below, compete in a very competitive London & South East Regional D1 South league.
A week later came the battle of the Arbour Park residents, with Reading – the ‘visitors’ that day, running away with an emphatic 8-0 win over Slough Town, after only being one goal up at the break. That score line is worth putting into context, with the Rebels only having one substitute available, compared to the Royals – who, still in trialist stage – made nine changes for the start of the second half.
After a popular open window for applications, the triallists were quickly narrowed down to a manageable and exciting number of prospects, including some who had already played under Jackson-Norris during his time at Maidenhead United and were keen to continue their development with him.
There were players from last season whose gallant efforts helped the club survive, alongside some looking to make the journey back to Reading after leaving following the demise of the Women’s Championship side and under-21s’ pathway last season. That was the often-overlooked part of the club that died in battle, before the Sell Before We Dai war was finally victorious.
And then came the shenanigans!
The third friendly was due to be against Maidenhead United, a fixture arranged before Jackson-Norris’s move to Reading. It would have been a good early test and benchmark against a tier-four National League side.
“At best it was unprofessional. It felt personal, petty and unnecessary”
It didn’t happen. The Magpies not only called off the match on the Sunday morning, thus leaving no time for the Royals to find new opponents (although they did manage to arrange a training session), but also underhandedly they had arranged a new fixture of their own for that afternoon.
At best it was unprofessional. It felt personal, petty and unnecessary, seemingly designed to be revengeful for something that happens all the time in football – as the new head coach of the Maidenhead United club will know only too well from his own playing days.
There was, however, still plenty of time to get some footballing miles in the tank.
A 4-1 defeat away to Farnham Town provided another valuable reminder of how competitive matches are at this level. The Surrey-based team provided evidence of the threat of what a well resourced and well funded team are able to achieve, running away as champions of their tier-seven league last season, after only being formed in March 2024.
Fitness is a big driver of new manager Jackson-Norris (“I want my team to be the fittest in the league”), so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise to hear Reading squeezed in two more matches, on consecutive days. Both of them were played behind closed doors just this week: a 7-0 victory over Thames Valley Police and a 1-1 draw against Abingdon Town’s development team.
The season ahead
The squad of players registered is currently showing as 26, slightly more than Jackson-Norris initially suggested may be his target. There will be some familiar faces, with retained players including last season’s player of the year Lucy Bolitho, as well as Poppy Airey, Assia Fatri and Mollie Dench.
As you’ll see, details of signings are being released on the various socials by the hard-working volunteer media team (and if the club are reading this, the media team could really do with access and permissions to use some of the more modern and up-to-date graphics and backgrounds please), and we will learn and hear more about these as we go through the season.
What to expect this season?
Although there’s a new Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair regime in place, the women’s team still sits under the stewardship and financial resources of the Community Trust. Home matches are still played at Arbour Park, Slough (and eventually must surely be brought back to Reading in order for the team to grow and progress?).
There’s no new training kit and no new second or third top, the team (kind of) choosing to play in the away strip from last season. Although the girls haven’t played in the new biscuit-tin home kit yet, it should be ready for the team to wear for the first league match of the season, this coming Sunday.
Jackson-Norris is keen to provide football that fans want to come and watch.
“It’s about entertainment, isn’t it? You want to see the team playing on the front foot, you want to see your team score goals and try to be expansive and be on the ball.
“You want to see a team that works hard and that will run through brick walls for the badge and for the supporters.
“A team that tries to be on the ball a lot and will try to play, will be front-footed or will be really aggressive in everything we do in and out of possession.
“We will very much be a team that works incredibly hard.“
The first five fixtures have already been released and are available on the FA website.
- Badshot Lea (H, league), August 31, 2pm
- Beaconsfield Town (A, league), September 7, 2pm
- Oxford City (H, league), September 28, 2pm
- Woodley United (A, league), October 12, 2pm
- Ascot United (A, Berks & Bucks Cup), October 19, 2pm
The draw for the Berks & Bucks Cup has already been made, with Reading facing a tricky tie at newly promoted Ascot United, the undefeated champions of Southern Region Premier League last season.
The Royals enter the FA Cup in the second round of the qualifying stage, with the first qualifying round fixtures towards the end of September. Who now wouldn’t look forward to a draw against Maidenhead United?
What do we know about the opposition? It’s a league that’s already down to only 11 teams, with Selsey sadly having to withdraw last month, after a couple of tricky years.
Some teams look better-placed than others, certainly in terms of squad size and recent signings, including Reading!
Wycombe Wanderers finished last season as runners-up and will be looking to continue their form, with ex-Royals assistant manager Shelley Strange joining the coaching team.
You’d expect AFC Portchester and Oxford City to be competitive at the top end and it will be interesting to see if the two newly promoted teams – Beaconsfield Town and Fleet Town – can continue their form, together with a regalvanised Southampton after their relegation last season.
It certainly feels there’s a new vibe around the team: a lot more positivity and energy, together with an expectation to compete at this level, so it’s all to play for. Bring it on!
Tickets are now available for this Sunday’s Badshot Lea match via the Fanbase app, or treat yourself to a season ticket at just £30 – or £15 for under-18s. See you there!
