The opening weekend schedule in the Genero Adran Premier is full of mouthwatering clashes, but perhaps none more so than reigning champions Cardiff City’s trip to Wrexham – live on S4C at 5:10pm.
Both teams have had unique pre-seasons compared to others in the top-flight. For the Bluebirds, they competed in the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the second season in a row. While they were defeated by Dutch champions FC Twente and North Macedonian side FK Ljuboten, defender Megan Bowen says the experience they gained was incredibly valuable.
“Playing in the Champions League is an experience of a lifetime. It’s everyone’s dream to play in the Champions League, and to say we’ve done it now two years on the bounce is quite surreal. Yes, we did lose the games, but what we learned in those games is something you can’t learn in this league. The physicality, the intensity of those European teams is unmatched really.”
For Wrexham, they headed stateside to play the likes of Portland Thorns. Defender Erin Lovett believes that, despite the bad results, their trip to the United States will prove to be valuable come the start of the season.
“It’s been a long pre-season this year, but America was amazing. Not many people get the chance to go out and play some big teams out there, and the whole experience was unforgettable. We played in front of 10,000 people which is another great experience, and having all those fans there was amazing.
“A lot of people would have seen our trip as a business trip, but for us, it was the best pre-season we could have had. The results weren’t great, but we played some great teams who were full-time and coming towards the end of their season, while we are just starting ours.”
Now that their jaunts abroad are over, focus returns back to Wales and what they can achieve in this season’s Genero Adran Premier.
For City, being two-time champions brings with it pressure and teams wanting to knock them off their perch. There’s also been plenty of change in personnel, with influential captain Siobhan Walsh retiring, while Rhianne Oakley and Genero Adran Premier Player of the Year Seren Watkins have moved to West Bromwich Albion.
Even though there’s been a lot of change around the dressing room, Bowen believes the squad can move on and thrive under the pressure.
“There’s 100% a big target on our backs, but the pressure is a privilege. People want to bring us down, but there’s where you see who your true champions are and who can play under pressure. Last year has been and gone, it’s in the past, and all we want to focus on now is this season.
“We came back earlier this pre-season, and that’s given us a chance to gel a lot quicker. Lily Billingham has come back now and knows how we play and is a phenomenal player. We’ve lost experience, but what we have got are players who have learned under the likes of Siobhan, Seren and Rhianne, and it’s now about learning and moving on from that.”
The expectations around Wrexham are a little different. After a successful debut season in the topflight, Lovett believes the sky is the limit for this side, who will be looking to improve against the bigger sides in the division.
“There are no limits to what we can do as a team. Like every year, we aim to finish as high up the table as we can. Last year was a little difficult because we didn’t know what to expect with the likes of Cardiff City and Swansea City, but this season we know what’s in front of us and we know how far we can push ourselves.”
And the Red Dragons will be able to show their improvements straight away with an opening day clash against the Bluebirds.
Wrexham lost all four of their league games to Iain Darbyshire’s side but showed a vast improvement in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup final despite defeat, and Lovett is looking to take the positives from that game in Newport into their opening game.
“We’ve got some unfinished business against them. In the cup final, we were unlucky not to come away with something, and we hope we can keep improving against them. We can take a lot out of that final. There were a lot of positives, and we will try and implement those into Sunday’s game. Cardiff City are a fantastic team, there’s no getting away from that, and they’ve got some great players, but we can do just as much as well.”
Bowen is also aware that this is a Wrexham team that have improved a lot since they first played them at the beginning of last season. However, the defender says City need to focus on themselves to get the right result.
“Wrexham had improved massively by the end of the season, especially in that cup final. We only won 2-0, and it was 1-0 for most of that game. We don’t really know what we’re expecting from them, they’ve been a little quiet transfer wise, but they’ve been to the United States and had a good experience playing against better teams. It’ll be a competitive, physical game, but we’re focusing on ourselves and what we can bring to the table.”
