A New Era for County Women: Tracey Neville Outlines Her Vision
Members of the Supporters’ Co-operative board recently visited Edgeley Park to meet Tracey Neville MBE and hear about her plans to transform the County Ladies team into County Women.
It’s now over a month since the club announced the launch of Stockport County Women, not just a change of name but a radical departure from the way the team has operated in the past. This new approach is typified by the appointment of Tracey as Managing Director of a new board to take the women’s programme to the next level.
Tracey is a Vitality Ambassador, and her involvement with County stems from a Wellness Event that she and fellow Ambassador, Gabby Logan, attended at Edgeley Park last November as part of the EFL Week Of Action. Discussions with club officials eventually resulted in an offer to spearhead the transformation.
It would be completely counter to the club’s well-earned reputation for community focus to suddenly sweep aside everything that has gone before in the thirty-seven-year history of County Ladies. It’s plain from Club Secretary Jane Morley’s comments at the time of the announcement that she is completely behind the move and that she sees it as a positive step towards more girls playing sport across Stockport. Jane will have input into decisions going forward as she is part of the working group headed by Tracey.
Although she is clearly still finding her feet at County, it’s plain to see that Tracey is impressed with the atmosphere around the club and she particularly cites two individuals; Mark Stott, for his drive and determination to make the club central to the wider community, and Steve Bellis for his enthusiasm in maintaining the traditions and values of the club, especially in its dealings with the supporters.
Many of the changes of approach planned for County Ladies will only become apparent in the coming months, but work is already underway to gain approval from the FA for the change of team name and the adoption of a semi-professional model from July onwards.
The team currently compete in the FA Women’s National League Division 1 North, which represents Tier Four of the women’s game. The plan is to progress to the second tier, Women’s Super League 2, over the next three years. That would see County Women competing against established and well-funded outfits such as Charlton, Birmingham and Crystal Palace, to name but the current top three.
Talking to Tracey about the experience at Stockport Sports Village for the Ladies’ games, she sees it as very different to the more fevered atmosphere for the men’s matches at Edgeley Park. It’s far more family orientated, with scope for younger fans to burn off some energy along the sidelines and to get closer to the players before and after the game.
When most people hear the name Tracey Neville, they automatically think of netball and it’s obvious that she retains a love for the sport.
The Co-op board are very grateful to Tracey for agreeing to meet us and give us insights into her plans for the future of County Women. We hope to be able to include the women’s fixtures alongside those of the men in our unique supporters’ calendar next season, providing the details can be obtained early enough. It is part of our remit to further the cause of inclusion among both the board and the membership and this would be a good step towards that goal.
