Nieve Jenkins | Stadium opportunity means everything to the team

Swansea City Women’s midfielder Nieve Jenkins hopes to inspire the next generation of young players when they host Wrexham at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday. 

Jenkins will play at the stadium for the third time in her career, having played twice last season against Cardiff Met and Cardiff City.

The midfielder is excited to be playing at the stadium once again, and by the potential for the future offered by the team’s move to semi-professional status and the continuing growth in girls and women’s football.

“I’m excited, it’s another opportunity to play at the stadium, the last couple of times we’ve played there we’ve had amazing crowds, so we are all really looking forward to it,” said Jenkins.

“Any young girl would dream of playing at a stadium like the Swansea.com Stadium, so it’s really great to have another opportunity. It is another amazing experience, and for the fans it’s another opportunity to see what we have to offer and what is possible.

“When you hear the young girls and boys shouting, even the adults as well, it really pushes you right to the end.

“We will look to put on a really good match, with the way that women’s football is going at the moment it will be really good for young girls and boys watching on.

“It means everything to the team, it’s further steps along the way for the club going forward, we are doing things and having experiences that have been a long time coming.

“We’ve won multiple trophies and titles and I think the next step for women’s football is to be playing in these kinds of stadiums.

“Becoming semi-professional has made a massive difference too. When we come to training we have analysis, additional gum work, and I think we’ve all come on so much.

“We’ve got our own programmes to do now with Jack Spillets, our strength and conditioning coach, and these little improvements make such a difference for our performances.

“We’re going into our first game at stadium this season, last season we had two, you’re seeing other teams across the league starting to do it now, so hopefully we can see that continue to grow and help inspire the next generation.”