Captain's Blog, Features
Captain’s Blog: I have enjoyed every single minute
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on June 2, 2010
It is fair to say that Captain Becky Lyon has lived her dream this season, winning the League and Kent Cup.
In the final instalment of the season Bex takes a look back at the most successful season in Gills Ladies history.
Against Norwich in the final game of the season we didn’t start the best and they put us under a lot of pressure. I think they were probably buzzing from the League Cup win over us. I think they thought that we were going to be a walk over, but once we settled down and got in our stride that proved why we won the League by as many points as we did.
We definitely wanted to go out on a high when we played Norwich and go out knowing that no team has beaten us twice this season. If Norwich had beaten us again they would have been the only team to have done it, and I didn’t want to finish the League season knowing that had happened.
Ian has been great this season, some teams think he is cocky and that he screams and shouts too much on the side of the pitch. He will only shout when he is at the side of the pitch because he has to, he does it because he knows how to get us going. It is what a good manager does and they know how to do it properly.
He gets the girls going and it is part and parcel of Ian’s job and it is part of my role on the pitch as well. Ian will shout things to me and I will put them across to the girls and I take onboard what Ian says and then say it to the girls as it will help us. We work hand in hand as he is the voice on the side and I am the voice on the pitch.
I am very vocal when I am playing and it is a good thing for me and a good thing for the girls as it keeps me switched on and focussed. It is a bit of a confidence boost for Ian as well having me on the pitch to do the talking as we can be quite quiet at times.
Looking back on the season I don’t think we could have had a better season, obviously we had a few hick ups here and there but it has been an absolutely brilliant season. I cannot fault any of the girls or even Ian and Martin, everything they have done has been spot on. I have enjoyed every single minute of it.
Looking back to when we started the season in August it feels like an absolute lifetime ago, bringing all those new faces in everyone is a bit wary of it but every single new face that has come in has fitted in really well.
All the girls have welcomed everybody in and there is a great team spirit there, everyone got involved and that is what we are all about, making it a club and not just a team that plays on a Sunday.
At the start of the season there were a few of us who we knew had to step up our games. I knew that Aj would be fine. Les and I were a bit wary of what was going to happen and we just stepped our game up a bit and we worked hard trained hard and worked on what we weren’t so good at.
I think that Les has been outstanding to go from the centre of midfield to left back, I think she has been outstanding and definitely one of the best players at the club. She puts in a great performance week in week out and that is what we have all had to do step up our game to the next level.
Going forward to next season we all know we have to step it up again, and we probably have to step it up another 5 or 6 notches for next season now. Everybody needs to their own fitness work leading up to pre-season and hopefully they will do that.
We want to go out there next season hitting the ground running with no injuries because we are doing things properly in pre-season. We want to go out there knowing that we are in with a really good chance.
With the new players coming in and the players that we already have we can hit the ground running and be four or five steps ahead of everyone already. Everyone is going to expect us to be one hit wonders because we haven’t been in the League before and it is the first time we have won the South East Combination League for the first time and the pressure is going to be off of us.
We are not one hit wonders as it is a testament to Ian and Martin’s hard work and the effort that the girls put in to have won the League and the Kent Cup and also having been in the League Cup final.
Bex a few years older and wiser is ready to lead the Gills to glory.
We will be defending the Kent Cup for all its worth next season that is my little pride and joy that, I have always wanted to win that. That is one trophy that I want to hold on to and I want our name on there for the next however many years.
I have to say well done to the Reserve team for winning their League as well, they did it the hard way as well. They struggled for numbers and you have people like Terri Reynolds who left part way through the season but came back and that just shows her love for the club. She deserves a big thumbs up for that as not many people would come back and do what she did.
Everyone has stuck it out in the Reserves and they have played really well and those that do stay next season will be really pleased with the level of football that they are going to be playing.
Next season as a club we are going to have better facilities and a better regime and it will be more professional with everyone knowing what they are doing.
The pre-season fixtures are coming together and we need as many as we can because you can do so much in training but people need game time. It also gives Ian a chance to look at new people and try different things as well.