Club News
Andrews praises players and supporters
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on December 14, 2009
Gillingham may have seen their FA Women’s Cup dreams ended by Southern Premier League leaders Barnet Ladies this weekend, but the match showed that the Gills are making superb progress as a football club as they look to climb the ladder and play their way into the higher echelons of women’s football.
Speaking exclusively to the Gillingham Ladies Official Website, Director of Football Martin Andrews praised everyone involved in the cup tie.
Once again the supporters turned up in force to lend their support to the Gills and Andrews spoke to us to extend his thanks to everyone who turned up on a cold, wet Sunday afternoon to cheer the team on.
“Here at Gillingham I think we’ve probably got the best supporters in women’s football,” Andrews said.
“For them to turn out for the game in cold wet weather is amazing. The atmosphere in the second half in particular was fantastic. And although the result went against us, the performance on the pitch did not let the supporters down. Everyone gave their all.”
“On behalf of myself, the manager and all the players I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to the match. With just four home games left this season, I hope they’ll come back and cheer us on to the league title and, more importantly, promotion to the Southern Premier League.”
The players found themselves on the losing side for just the second time this season, but Andrews said the team’s performance against the best team outside the FA Women’s Premier League was something they should take great pride in.
“The players were simply amazing,” he said.
“If ever you needed evidence that we can compete at a higher level, that performance should have answered all the questions. Obviously the result is hard to take, I thought we should have won! But regardless of the result it was clear to see that every player works hard for the team and that’s why we are where we are in the league.”
Andrews also had a word for manager Ian Varley, who has taken the team to new heights this season and transformed the Gills from lower-division also-rans into one of the most feared up and coming teams in the women’s game.
“Ian has worked extremely hard to get this team to where we are and it’s our dream and ambition to take little Gillingham all the way,” Andrews explained.
“We are lucky to have Ian on board as he is such a young ambitious manager, but what a lot of people don’t realise is that he has sacrificed his own semi-professional career to share in my dream.”
With a committed squad of talented players, a First-Team Manager with a desire to succeed and a Director of Football with huge ambition, Gillingham Ladies Football Club are a club on the way up.