One year on | Swansea City Women turn semi-professional
Today (Friday, August 16) marks one year since Swansea City Women became a semi-professional side. Here we hear from some of the club's key figures on the changes over the last 12 months, and the plans for the future.
The move was an important first step in growing the women's game in south-west Wales, as part of a commitment to inspire and provide real opportunities for the next generation of girls in our local community to play football, while raising standards at the senior level.
The change in status saw the Swans formally brought under the club's umbrella, while 16 players were signed to semi-professional contracts.
This brought changes such as the additional amount of time available to the side for training, an increase in access to facilities at Swansea City’s training grounds, and improvements to matchday amenities and necessities.
The Swans would go on to finish second in the Genero Adran Premier during the 2023-24 season. They brought an end to eventual champions Cardiff City Women’s 18-month unbeaten run in the league, as well as reaching the final and semi-final of the Adran Trophy and Bute Energy Welsh Cup respectively.
Another key development was the appointment of the club's first head of women’s football, with Alice Weekes joining Swansea City in March.
Weekes is a matter of months into her role, but is excited by the work that has been done so far, and feels the previous campaign has given the side a clear focus ahead of the new season.
“The first year was partly learning about what being semi-professional looks like and outlining what it means and what it feels like for a lot of the players,” said Weekes.
“That has given us quite a clear focus on what actions we need to take moving forward to support them.
“We’ve started taking a lot of those actions already but there is a lot more we can do this year and everyone is feeling really positive about the season ahead.
“The programme has become a lot more aligned with the club as a whole, with things like medical provisions, strength and conditioning, nutrition, that is all coming under the club umbrella and we are getting a lot more support from the club as a whole.
“We’ve introduced some analysis technology so that we can review training and matches, which is going to help us make big steps forward next season.
“On pitch success is what we are striving for, (first-team manager) Jamie Sherwood has come in with vast experience across the women’s game, he’s brought in Yzzy Taylor as his assistant, so we have two brilliant coaches who have incredible pedigree.
“In terms of the longer-term strategy and where we want to be in three to five years’ time, that is something that we will be looking at over the coming months. We have already made an important step when it comes to starting to put in place a pathway for younger players to represent the club and help their development.
“We want to become more aligned with the club, and playing more games at the stadium is a big goal for this season and beyond.”
Captain Katy Hosford acknowledged there were challenges to overcome with the change in status, but is confident those experiences will only be beneficial moving forward.
“It’s been a challenging first year, but it’s been really positive as well,” said Hosford.
“I think it was a year of learning for everybody, we’ve learned a lot from 2023-24 and hopefully we can take that into the new season.
“We are a lot more comfortable with semi-professional status now, and hopefully we can continue building on what was done last year.
“Going from amateur to semi-professional, there is more expected of you, which has been a challenge but the players have adapted really well.
“The professionalism has been one of the biggest changes for us, the standards and expectations for all of us, not just when we are in training or in matches but in your free time, too.
“I think that is something we’ve gotten better at, what we do in our own time obviously helps us on the pitch, but there is a lot we’ve learned, it was a big transition and it’s looking a lot more positive this year.
“We’ve had more contact time, we’ve got used to using the gym at Landore, being together more has helped us push on the field, but I think we’ve all got really high standards, we know we underachieved the year before.
“It was great to reach a semi-final and a final, finishing second as well, but we know that isn’t good enough and hopefully we can improve on that this year."
And Hosford believes Weekes' appointment has been a very positive step that is already making an impact.
“Alice has made a massive difference for us, she’s our point of contact as players, if we need anything we can contact her, and she’s always there for training and at matches," added the forward.
“She is someone who can push the game forward, not just in Swansea but in Wales, she’s already started to do that in the few months she’s been here, starting with our younger girls’ teams all the way to our women’s side.
“She is making a huge difference and it’s a really positive change for the football club.”
Swansea City recently announced the introduction of under-15 and under-13 sides ahead of the new campaign, a step towards increasing opportunities for young players.
Weekes is excited about what this will mean for Swansea City Women and beyond, hoping it can inspire change.
“We want to have the best talent from the local area coming through our system, so from a young age we want to keep those girls at Swansea and hopefully see them play for the first team," she said.
“Beyond that, the bigger picture is to increase opportunities for girls to play football, I think that is somewhere we can make a big impact through and be proud of.
“If that means that more girls get the chance to pull on the Swansea shirt, I see that as a success no matter what happens on the pitch.”
