Emily Auld on our reserves cup semi-final!

Holly Porter sat down with Emily Auld as we look ahead to our reserves L&SERWFL Plate semi-final this Sunday at Champion Hill

“There’s a bit of pressure there, but not negative pressure, there’s just more anticipation” states Women’s Reserves Captain Emily Auld ahead of their semi-final clash in SE22. “That’s a great thing, it’s a great opportunity for us”. 

5 goals and a clean sheet at Champion Hill saw the Women’s Reserves into the semi-finals of the L&SERWFL Plate, setting up a Champion Hill clash against Bognor Regis Town. 

Two goals from Mikaela Beynon, as well as strikes from Ana de Pellegrin, Izar Olano-Barnes, and Katie Smale sealed the victory against Bexhill United in early March, with an attendance of 146 and 4 dogs in South East London. 

“The game, for myself and a few others, was our first time playing at Champion Hill. It was really sunny, we had a good crowd, so I think that excitement of going back to Champion Hill, having our friends and families there, I know the girls are just super excited.

"So I think the excitement of being back at Champion Hill gives us that momentum, and then the experience of us being there and playing really well, knowing the pitch and how big it is, and I think that one of our strengths is that we can actually get the ball down and play really well. 

“So when we’re playing on a pitch like Champion Hill, I think that’s where we play our best football”. 

In her first season at the club, Auld is determined that her side can go all the way in the competition, and bounce back from league appearances which have not necessarily shown their true form. 

“I don’t think our league performances have been what we’ve wanted throughout the whole of the season. So I think for us, it’s kind of like a way for us to be able to prove ourselves, to prove how much talent we have in the team [...] and to show that we had a successful season with this really talented group”. 

Moving this forward, Auld spoke about how a good cup run could shape the future of the team, looking ahead to next season: “I think that would give us a huge amount of confidence and momentum going into next year. 

“You know, especially if you’re competing against teams in the league above you, in different leagues that we haven’t come across before, having that confidence that we can compete and beat this caliber of teams, I think that’d be great for us going forward and going into the league next year”. 

This will then go on to affect team spirit and motivation, something that as the captain Auld has a responsibility to ensure remains positive and high, perhaps a bigger task with a high-stakes game just around the corner. 

“We’ve always had good team morale. I think naturally the girls are just really close. I’ve just been here this past year, but we’re all a really close group. So I think there’s nothing I need to do to kind of keep people together. I just think people are good friends, people get on, so it’s kind of all quite natural that people are happy. 

“They are in a happy environment, and when you’re in an environment that you enjoy and people are sociable and kind to one another, it’s all quite natural in that way”.

In this group of people, Auld stressed that “there are loads of different leaders”, which helps to drive the success of the team even further.

“I don’t necessarily see myself as the only leader. There are people who have been in the team a lot longer than me. They’re more familiar with the club. So I think we have different traits that we bring, maybe across four or five people in the team [...] We kind of have more of a leadership group, rather than one individual captain”.

As a leader within the team, another of Auld’s roles is to help manage the nerves that her teammates may be feeling on the day, and in the lead-up to the clash. 

“I think just positivity, we can try and have a really positive environment on the pitch and off the pitch. I think we’ll just keep that going in training. Obviously, the main goal is for people to enjoy the day as much as they can. And people need to be confident, they need to be in a headspace where they’re happy. 

“So I think, especially for the younger players, just encouraging them, and knowing that also in the game, if things aren’t going 100% as we expect, just to encourage people, speak to them respectfully and make sure that we treat each other as we should”. 

In preparation for the game, Auld spoke highly of the ambience around the training ground, and their relationship with the first team. 

“There’s a really good atmosphere around training. Everyone’s very encouraging of each other. 

“We’re going to have a tactical session and we do an 11v11 at training versus the ones” stated Auld in relation to the sessions that they will be undergoing before the game. “When we play against the first team that’s always really competitive, and it’s really good to push ourselves against them.

“Obviously, they’re in a couple of divisions above us, so we’re really lucky that we have such a close relationship with them, that we can play them, and that is really good preparation for our team”. 

Reflecting on the support from the fans in that 5-0 victory at Champion Hill, and in hope that the support remains high, Auld closed with one message for the fans: “I guess we would hope that the fans of the men’s team, the fans of the first team, would be just as excited to watch us play as they would them.

“So I would encourage the Pepper Army who have supported us, who are great throughout, if they could come down and cheer us on for the semi-final, we would love that”. 

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