There may now be less than two weeks until the start of the new Genero Adran Premier season, but Cardiff City’s focus will first be on the UEFA Women’s Champions League first qualifying round this week.
Iain Darbyshire’s Bluebirds travel to the Netherlands to take on FC Twente at Sportpark Schreurserve in the semi-final on Wednesday 4 September (KO 6pm BST).
The winner of the tie will play the winner of Group 5’s other semi-final between Icelandic champions Valur and ŽFK Ljuboten of North Macedonia in Saturday’s final, for a spot in the second qualifying round. The two semi-final losers will meet in a third-place play-off on the same day at the same venue.
It has been a busy summer for Cardiff since they completed a domestic treble of the Genero Adran Premier title, Bute Energy Welsh Cup and Genero Adran Trophy in 2023/24.
Talismanic captain and defender Siobhan Walsh has retired, while Genero Adran Premier Player of the Season Seren Watkins and Bute Energy Welsh Cup final goalscorer Rhianne Oakley have both completed moves to West Bromwich Albion.
However, five players have come through the door in the Welsh capital and they are all included in the travelling squad this week.
Shannon Evans and Lily Billingham are both back at the club after spells away, while former Swansea City and Cardiff Met midfielder Nieve Jenkins adds further Genero Adran Premier experience. Meanwhile, Laura Curnock and youngster Fiona Barry have arrived from the English system to bolster the attack.
The Bluebirds will hope to show an improvement on their UEFA Women’s Champions League performance last season – their first appearance in the competition for a decade – when they lost 2-0 to Gintra of Lithuania in the semi-final before a 3-0 defeat to Irish side Shelbourne in the third-place play-off.
FC Twente have won the Eredivisie Vrouwen title in three of the last four seasons and eight times in total. Their 2024/25 campaign got off to the perfect start on Saturday as they triumphed 6-1 over Ajax in the Netherlands Super Cup, with Kayleigh van Dooren scoring a hat-trick.
Twente have reached the round of 16 of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on three previous occasions, most recently in 2020 when they were beaten by eventual runners-up Wolfsburg. They are yet to lose a first qualifying round semi-final.
The current squad managed by Joran Pot includes multiple internationals, such as goalkeeper Daniëlle de Jong – who made her debut for the Netherlands earlier this year – and Icelandic midfielder Amanda Andradóttir.
But the most familiar face will be current Cymru first choice goalkeeper Olivia Clark, who completed a move to Twente from Bristol City this summer.
