Glentoran boss Billy Clarke has told his players to forget all their successes over the past two seasons ahead of their most challenging campaign yet.
The East Belfast side have won successive Danske Bank Women’s Premiership titles but are facing a unique system with multiple star players balancing club commitments with international duty for Northern Ireland.
That has hampered the Glens preparations for the new campaign and boss Clarke insists that all his players must be at their best if they are to retain their title. The experienced boss told NIFL: “The last two seasons have gone and this is a fresh start. None of those victories or titles matter for this campaign and we have to do all that hard work all over again.
“Our main rivals have strengthened and we have to rise to that challenge. Other teams have brought in players that bolster their first-team squad and we have had to deal with a few player exits.
“We have brought three players in who will play a part this season but a big focus for us this season is to bring in players from our youth teams and give them first-team opportunities but that is something that we welcome.”
The Glens have had to cope with four significant player exits: goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns has joined Swedish club Hacken, star striker Kerry Beattie has moved on to Glasgow City, right-back Annie Timoney joined Celtic while Danielle Maxwell has switched to title rivals Cliftonville. All four players have been involved in the Northern Ireland international setup.
The champions have had a relatively quiet transfer window of incomings with striker Michelle McDaid joining from Sion Swifts. Kirsty Cameron and Sasha Clare – both formerly of Crusaders – will join the club for three months from May as they temporarily return to Northern Ireland from the US.
“The biggest challenge for us is that we have not been able to prepare for this season with our squad of players because they have been in the international setup since January,” Clarke added.
“This is going to be a season like no other because of the mid-season break where we will have a big group of players at the Euros, and other clubs will have these challenges too. We have six of our players away at the moment and that curtails your preparations because you cannot work together as a team in training.
“Another added challenge for us is another Champions League campaign that will start in the middle of August, but we will have that big group of players only returning to us that month. It is a difficult challenge but also a new challenge for us, we have tried to look at how other clubs in similar positions in other countries have dealt with situations like these.”
The Glens are planning on moving into a professional setup which will compliment their ambitions of becoming regulars in the knockout stages of European football and being able to attract players from further afield. Clarke continued: “Our next goal is to progress through the Champions League group.
“We look at Glasgow City as a sample club and to use the model of what they have done to attempt that success on our own scale. They have dominated Scottish football for over a decade and are regulars in the European knockout stages – but they are a standalone club who are an example.
“We need to broaden our horizon of the players that we can bring into the club – there is not much beyond the Northern Ireland international setup that we can currently look at. We have plans to bring in players from elsewhere when that becomes available.
“Teams in Scotland are increasingly looking to players who are in Northern Ireland – because those players are currently amateurs who do not cost us any money and managers there see our players as easy pickings. These girls can go to university in Scotland while playing football on professional contracts, so their studying is paid for through the contracts.”
This will be a season and a challenge like no other from the Glens but their mix of youth and experience will ensure they will be in the mix for success on every front once again this campaign.
