Page 19 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.35 2022-23

An attacking philosophy has paid dividends for Stamford AFC Women as they carried off the
Lincolnshire County Women’s League title with an unbeaten record.
“This was a team that my assistant, David Ribakovs and I set up in May 2022,” manager Robin
Chaudhuri told Women’s Soccer Scene. “Stamford is a beautiful market town but do not have a
ladies football team.
“We were asked to establish a new team with no real expectation placed upon us. We were able
to recruit a combination of 16/17 year olds alongside a mixture of more experienced players. The
key for us was to establish an environment where the ladies could play and enjoy their football. The
facilities at Stamford are excellent and as good as many at professional clubs. From day one, we
were made to feel welcome by the board of directors at Stamford and were given access to every
facility available to our men’s team.
“As we are a Lincs affiliated club, we entered the Lincs women’s league. We were aware of some
very good teams in that league including Skegness Ladies and Cleethorpes. Our expectations were
to do the best we could and not compromise on our attacking style of football. During the course of
the season we maintained a 3-4-3 playing style in every league and cup match. We encourage all of
our players to be attacking minded and nothing gives me greater pleasure than watching our
defenders running from the back to take on opposition players.
“Our training is based on phase of plays so we are always working on game realistic sessions.
We don’t like players standing still so the key is to make sure that every player is engaged at all
times. Some of our players make 2 hour round trips to train with us, for which we are really grateful.
“Our record this season has been remarkable- of the 22 games in the league we won 21 and drew
1. We had a goal difference of 92 (next best team was 79). We also won the Lincolnshire Ladies
League Cup and so achieved a historic double. We also reached the Semi Final of the Lincolnshire
County Cup, losing to Tier 4 Lincoln City.
“One of our strikers, Molly Cunningham won the Golden Boot with a tally of 39 goals for the
season. We took her on last year as a young 16-year-old so she has done really well. Our Captain is
Lauren Bartle. She is a very experienced left back who played in her younger days for Leicester City.
She is an outstanding player and captain who has scored some astonishing goals, notably against
Brigg Town and Skegness.
“In pre-season, we hope to attract players who can make a real difference to the quality of the
team. Currently we are waiting to hear into which league we will be promoted but likely to be the
East Midlands Regional Women’s Football League. We will continue to adopt an attacking style of
football next season but before then, we plan to take the players to Hamburg for a pre-season
tournament.”

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