Page 14 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.34 2021-22

An interview with…..

Amy Beck (Bradford City)

It has been a good second half of the season for Bradford City,
which has seen them climb successfully away from the
relegation places in FAWNL Division One North and into mid-
table. Sunday’s 4-3 victory against Alnwick Town in their final
match of the season means they finish up in seventh place.
Amy Beck has been a regular in the side in midfield this
season and was pleased with the result against Alnwick -
particularly goalkeeper Skye Kirkham who saved two penalties
- as well as being confident that the team can build on their
good run and set their sights on higher positions next season:
WSS: A good result for your team to round off the
season on Sunday, was the game as exciting as the
4-3 scoreline suggests?
AB: Yeah it was definitely good to see the season off with a
high. The game did have its phases of excitement, definitely
with us creating many chances and linking up well. It was
good to see the two young Under-23s come on up front and
show what they can do. But Alnwick also provided their own
excitement for the last quarter of the game, but thankfully we
managed to hold on.
WSS: As well as four goals, there were also penalty heroics from Skye Kirkham
in goal with two saves, so presumably a good day all round?
AB: As we know, saving a penalty is the pinnacle for any keeper but for Skye to pull it off twice
in a short period of time was great to see and she definitely felt the relief from the rest of us. It
could have been a very different ending, not for those two saves, so was definitely a good day
all round!
WSS: The win means you end the season in seventh place and only one point off
a top half finish, so overall are you satisfied with the way things have gone?
AB: I’d say satisfied is a fair way of feeling about seventh place, especially after the stress of
being in a relegation battle. Although, I think the general feeling around the club is that we feel
like we deserved more, especially with some of the performances we put in towards the end of
the season, showed what we are capable of as a team. Just a shame we wasn’t able to produce
those performances in other parts of the season and turn some of those draws into wins. We
was able to show how much we wanted to stay in this league and showed our potential by
going on a unbeaten run of six games in the league when it was needed. All in all, definitely
happy with how our season ended.
WSS: How big a boost to the team was the arrival of Hope Knight during the
season, was that something of a turning point?
AB: Massively. Hope was able to give experience and quality to the team and provide an
overall improvement to our attacking performance. The girl definitely has a left foot we all
dream of, which can be seen from her stat of 13 appearances and 11 goals, I think! Showing
how much of an impact she had but she is also a great team mate to have around, always
providing the laughs.
WSS: What would you say was the team's best performance or result during the
season?
AB: I think our best result was the 3-0 win over FC United of Manchester, just because that felt
like our turning point and gave us the boost we needed to show us that we can do better, hence
the start of the unbeaten run. Although, I think some of our best performances came against
Issue no. 34 - 12 May 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk