'We don't just want to exist' - Southampton FC bullish ahead of Championship campaign

And why wouldn’t she? We’re just days from something that has been years in the making; the Saints boss is certainly not going to let some rain ruin the occasion. 

When Spacey-Cale first joined in 2018 Head of Girls and Women’s Football Technical Department, the club’ announcement explained how they hoped her appointment would help realise their ambition of “competing in the FA Women’s Championship in the coming years.”

On Saturday when Spacey-Cale’s side take to the St Mary’s pitch to face Charlton Athletic, that goal will officially be accomplished. After months and years of preparation, the date with destiny is fast approaching - but the Saints manager feels it’s paramount to recognise the journey to this point before looking to an exciting present and future.

“The women’s team is only where it is because of the people that have been here before,” she told the Daily Echo. “Every player who’s played for us, every member of staff who has worked for us, this success is theirs and we shouldn’t forget that and we should ensure that we want them to know that the value of what they gave us is keeping us wanting to push forward.”

In May, Saints defeated Wolves 1-0 in the National League play-off final to earn their place in this season’s Championship. Now that they have finally reached that initial ambition, it’s been a summer of change to prepare for it. Numerous influential members of the rise through the divisions have departed while seven new signings have come through the door.

The biggest change, though, has been the shift to a full-time programme - something that was in the works regardless of which division they ended up in - but announced following the confirmation of their Championship status.

Spacey-Cale applauds the Saints fans at last season's play-off final. Image by: Tom Mulholland

“Busy is the right word but it’s been exciting, it’s been refreshing to a point,” Spacey-Cale says of the summer that’s quickly coming to a close. 

“It was hard at the end of last season with retention of players going into the full-time programme, never a nice time as a coach. But then we had to step into the next bit around recruitment, who were the right people to bring in, what values do they bring? And then what do they bring as talented footballers? 

“It’s been exciting. A big adjustment and being around Staplewood a lot more. But it’s been exciting. That’s probably the best word to describe it. Apprehensive about the new season but in a good way. And setting expectations for what we want to achieve.”

The size of the task ahead has been reflected in just how busy of a summer it’s been. Shortly following the conclusion of the triumphant 2021/22 campaign, Spacey-Cale explained to the Daily Echo that the new challenge would require serious recruitment of players with Championship experience and the quality to excel there. 

One of those that fit the bill to a tee is striker Katie Wilkinson from Coventry United - someone who boasts two Championship Golden Boots on her impressive CV.

“Give me the ball and I’ll try my best to put it in the back of the net – that’s more or less me!” Wilkinson tells the Daily Echo.

“Coventry United last season was a bit of a roller-coaster of a season, things changed a little bit in terms of their ambitions. I kept an eye on Southampton over the course of the season and their success. Marieanne showed an interest previously and it was just something that happened at the right time. For me, the ambitions met mine and from there it all happened quite quickly.”

Wilkinson pictured after signing for Saints. Image by: Chris Moorhouse

Sitting next to Wilkinson in a meeting room at Staplewood is centre-back Paige Peake, another of the new additions. Slightly on the other end of the spectrum to the 27-year-old Wilkinson, Peake turned 20 earlier this month after joining from Ipswich Town. 

Peake has no Championship experience, but more important than anything else, the ball-playing defender has the quality and determination that Spacey-Cale put at the top of her recruitment list. These influential attributes are what the two new Saints - and the rest of the squad - have in common.

“I just want to win!” Peake laughs when asked to describe her game. “I’m not in the best of moods if I don’t win. But like Wilko said, as a team we’ve got younger players, we’ve got more experienced players but we’re all hungry to succeed and we all just want to do well and we’ll give everything to do that.”

Pre-season saw Saints draw with Celtic and Lewes before being narrowly beaten by WSL Leicester. Excitement has continued to grow as the squad quickly gel as people. This has been the centre of the recruitment drive this summer - the humans.

“When we were talking about recruitment towards the end of last season, that was key to us,” Spacey-Cale explains. “That we had the right people that have that competitive element but also have a real sense of right and wrong and how to behave around this kind of environment. They’ve definitely added value.”

Both Wilkinson and Peake are quick to mention the stature and human touch of Spacey-Cale’s management as a reason for their decisions to join. But above all, it’s the project they are a part of that’s gathered them all. 

“The WSL is spoken about but that’s something that we’re looking at in the future,” Wilkinson says. “We’re looking at competing in this league, I think we have a good enough squad to do that. We don’t want to just exist, that’s not what we’re going to be doing. We’re going to be competing, we’re going to be getting results from teams and testing ourselves against the better teams in the Championship.”

“A lot of teams obviously want instant success and football is a business at the end of the day and they’re not willing to wait,” Peake adds. “But Southampton I think have done it properly, they’ve done it really well. They’ve come through the divisions and the core group of this squad have been here since the beginning. They’ve carried it. They know what it takes to get here. I’m sure it was a hard slog at times but they’re now reaping the benefits. And us players coming here just want to carry on that success and keep the club moving in the direction that it’s previously gone in.”

Peake pictured after signing for Saints. Image by: Isabelle Field/Southampton FC

Carrying that torch, being part of the next step in this ongoing journey - as part of a first full-time programme - comes with its fair share of pressure and expectation. But that’s something everyone around Spacey-Cale’s team is relishing. As the manager says; “It’s pressure because people care and want to know how you’re doing…it’s good pressure if you set the expectations right.”

“We’ve got a community here in Southampton and beyond that want to see success on the South Coast,” Spacey-Cale continues. “They want to feel part of something that - certainly in the women’s game - is growing and has got an opportunity to continue to grow. So we want to ensure they feel a part of that and that everything we do is to make the club proud and our community proud.

“We’re realistic, going into a new season in a division we’ve never played in before with a new full-time set up.  That alone brings a realism to what you can achieve. But whatever happens we know where we want to get to and we know there’s a time scale to do it. So the pressure…you can let it sit heavy on your shoulders or you can set realistic expectations and keep following the process to ensure we aspire to what we want to achieve and do it at the right time with the right support and people around.”

Of course, that increase in expectation and exposure - or pressure if you want to call it that - just made it more crucial to ensure the squad was full of the right people as well as players. This group seems thrilled by the pressure they’re under.

“For me, the pressure side of it, I think a lot of us will excel under it and hopefully achieve more from having that pressure,” Wilkinson says. “There’s lots of pressure when you go full-time, they expect to achieve and win games. That for me is a given. But we’ve got to be ready for that. We’ve had a really good pre-season and we’re going to go into every game giving it absolutely everything.

“The club want to invest in us, they want to back us and we’re just grateful for that. If we can win games and show them that their investment into us is exactly where we should be going in terms of the journey then happy days.”

Above everything though, above the expectation, pressure and hope, it all comes back to the first word Spacey-Cale used: excited. This is an exciting time for this team and while the challenge will be great, everyone at the club is approaching it full of excitement.

Sophia Pharoah celebrates her play-off final winning goal. Image by: Tom Mulholland

“It’s quite busy in the building!” Ralph Hasenhuttl told the Daily Echo on Friday. “We have not only the women’s team but the academy is coming more and more after the pandemic, it’s getting full house here. But we are a big family and we are always following everybody and hoping everybody is successful for this wonderful club.”

While they largely played at AFC Totton’s Snows Stadium last season, Spacey-Cale and her team will have St Mary’s as their home this time around, starting with the opening day clash against Charlton. 

More than 5,000 supporters attended Saints’ National League South title-winning victory against Portsmouth while over 1,000 travelled up to Stockport for the play-off final. The new venue this season will hopefully just allow more Saints fans to follow a team with even greater quality than last.

“The ability that the players in the squad have, I think a lot of fans watching us this season will be really impressed,” Wilkinson says. “I know I certainly was impressed. I had this perception of the league below being a lesser standard maybe but the youth section at Southampton and the RTC is very very good so naturally that pushes through some very good young players. We might have some experienced players but that doesn’t mean those experienced players are better with the ball at their feet. Everyone has different things they’re good at and I think it all balances us out and makes us a really tight-knit group.”

The start of the Championship season comes just three weeks after England’s triumph in the recent Euros. Southampton hosted three group games of the hugely successful tournament and Spacey-Cale is hoping - and planning - for her team to continue to push the positive momentum. 

“We’ve won the Euros now, we’ve got a World Cup coming around the corner and that’s what you want to sustain,” she says. “You want to sustain the success and on the world stage show what we can do as a nation.

"But we also have to ensure that this success filters to all levels of the game. So that girls can play football in schools, so that there’s girls teams just around the corner for any girls that want to go and play. Mixed football is frowned upon but they should play mixed football to help them get better and stronger and competitive. So there’s so many elements to success, it’s not just the players on the pitch, it’s everyone around the game and in the game to ensure that we build on it.”

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