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Burnley FC Women Captain Lauren Bracewell reflects on the recent campaign, the impact of new signings and ambitions for next season

2022-06-06T11:10:00.000Z

BRACEWELL LOOKS TO BUILD ON GOOD CAMPAIGN

Burnley FC Women Captain Lauren Bracewell reflects on the recent campaign, the impact of new signings and ambitions for next season

2022-06-06T11:10:00.000Z

Burnley FC Women Captain Lauren Bracewell reflects on the recent campaign, the impact of new signings and ambitions for next season

The Claret women ended the 2021/22 season with an an emphatic 6-1 win against Middlesbrough Women last month, securing a fourth place finish in the Northern Premier Division of the FA Women's National League.

Since the start of the new year, the women’s team lost only one fixture, against Brighouse Town Women and Captain Lauren Bracewell was pleased with the positive end to the campaign.

“I think we improved massively since the start of the season. Certainly, from January, we had some really good results. We had one loss since the new year which shows that we really have improved, and we need to continue to do this heading into next season.”

On whether there was a turning point that could be identified, the Burnley native believes there were various factors that contributed to the upturn in results.

“I don’t think there was a specific game. I think it helped in a way, it being the start of a new year. You always look for a fresh start at the beginning of a new year, so because we had a bit of a dip in form at the start of the season, I think we made good progress towards Christmas and then we made a real push in January to win all the games in January, the same in February and having those targets throughout the months. I think that really helped.”

At the beginning of last season, the Club signed several new faces, who Bracewell believes had an impact on results throughout the season.

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“We had a few younger player’s sign. Probably one of the standout players is Millie Ravening, she’s been fantastic. She came from Man City, and she’s had a huge impact, a great player. Dom Cooper as well, she had a great season. They are just adding to the team, so we’ve got older players, well I wouldn’t say older! Not in age but those that have been at the Club a lot longer.

“Evie Priestley she had a fantastic season, another new player Courtney Willis, she came into the squad and did really well. People are really stepping up, getting some goals as well. Nic Worthington scored some absolute screamers. Liv Wilson, she stepped up in defence and scored a goal against Brighouse.

“All over the pitch, whether they are new players or people who have been here for a few seasons, they’ve settled into the squad more and more and I do think we are getting better as a squad.

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“To say that we beat teams that are up there, the wins over Wolves and Derby County, teams that were higher up the table is positive. Also, the wins were convincing, for example Derby, I don’t feel like they had many chances. I mean looking back on my performance, I probably only had to make three saves during the entire game so that’s a massive credit to the girls in front of me.

“Wolves, who were crowned league champions, we dominated, the 3-0 performance was fantastic, I can’t give enough credit to the girls who played outstanding.

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“We had a poor result against Brighouse, but I felt that we did well to reset and move forward from it. It happens in football, sometimes you can play big teams, teams that are at the top of their game and then you can travel to a midweek Wednesday night away game against opposition that are lower down the table and have a poor game ourselves, so it’s just up and down unfortunately.

“Next season, we want to push for the league and win it. We want to win the Lancashire FA Women’s Challenge Cup again; we want to get as far as we can in the Women’s FA Cup. I’m sure the Club will put some plans in place next season but hopefully we’ll be driving forward for promotion.”