GoFundMe: Can You Help Millie Take Her Next Steps?

by Stuart Barker (8/2/25)

Above: Millie with the Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson. Photo: @theposhwomen

Millie Blair is no ordinary 11-year-old. A natural leader, fierce competitor, and unstoppable sports enthusiast, she has spent her life chasing dreams on the football pitch and in the showjumping arena. From captaining her local girls’ football team to competing in British Show Jumping, Millie has always pushed herself to new heights.

Her family describe, “Millie’s dreams were sky-high – she wanted to play for Chelsea and the England Lionesses. And why not?”

But in the summer of 2024, everything changed. What started as a routine football injury turned into a life-altering diagnosis—Osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer. By January 2025, Millie had undergone life-saving surgery that resulted in the amputation of her left leg above the knee.

Despite this unimaginable challenge, Millie’s determination remains unshaken. She refuses to let cancer define her future. Instead, she has set her sights on new goals—playing for England’s Women’s Amputee Football Team and competing in the Paralympics. But to make that dream a reality, she needs a high-performance prosthetic leg that will allow her to run, jump, and play again.

The family hoped that surgery and chemotherapy would be enough, that the doctors could remove the affected bone and that she could return to the game and sports that she loved. But as the tumour grew, there was no other option.

In January 2025, Millie’s left leg was amputated above the knee.

To this date, Millie has had seven operations, blood and platelet transfusions, and over 70 nights in hospital so far, with many more to come.

“Her dreams were shattered. But Millie is not the type to give up.” The family add.

This is where we can all help. The family have set up a Go Fund Me campaign to give Millie the mobility she needs to pursue her passion and reclaim her future.

You can find it at https://www.gofundme.com/f/making-millie-mobile-help-her-take-her-next-steps

They are raising £130,000 to fund:

  • A high-performance prosthetic leg that will grow with her.
  • Specialist rehabilitation to help her regain strength and mobility.
  • Adaptive sports equipment so she can continue to chase her dreams.

The amount required is not for just one leg but as Millie grows she will need component parts such as knees and sprockets for her future.

The best prosthetic leg for Millie at the moment to grow into would be the Genium X4 microprocessor knee with a price of £134,000.

Every penny raised will go directly to Millie’s mobility, prosthetic leg and rehabilitation. If we are fortunate enough to raise additional money this will solely go for Millie so that she has a leg for life.

This is not about luxury or extras. This is about giving an incredible young girl the chance to live life to the fullest again.

As a father to a four-year-old daughter, this resonates greatly with me, and so I’ll be getting behind this campaign if you would be able to donate anything, even small donations of £1 make a big difference.

Find out more and follow Millie’s journey over on her Instagram account.

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Honours even between Canberra and Mariners in tense stand-off

Canberra United 1-1 Central Coast Mariners

by Alice de Koster Kitto (8/2/25)

Above: Canberra United celebrate Michelle Heyman’s equalising goal today. Photo: Canberra United.

Central Coast Mariners and Canberra United have shared the points in a well-fought battle at McKellar Park on Saturday. 

The meeting was a crucial one for both sides, with Central Coast Mariners looking to maintain their current fifth-place ranking, whilst Canberra United fought to make their way into the top end of the table. 

While the Mariners were the favourites to take the match and held the majority of the possession throughout, it was a fairly even pairing that could have gone either way. 

The majority of the action took place in the midfield, with few opportunities presenting themselves early on. It was the Mariners however, who were responsible for most of what few shots on goal there were. 

An excellent chance from Brooke Nunn, assisted by Jade Pennock, almost saw the Mariners take the lead early on, but Nunn was just out of position when taking the shot. Though the strike was missed, the attempt brought the visitors further into the attacking line, and was the start of a series of great attempts from Emily Husband’s side. 

Although Central Coast maintained their dominance, Canberra put up a good fight, retaliating with a dangerous run from Maja Markovski that was intercepted by Mariners captain Bianca Galic. 

Hayley Taylor-Young proved to be a crucial part of the home side, making several ambitious strikes that could have gotten the hosts in front in the first half. 

The scoring was finally opened in the 39th minute when Nunn ran the ball to Pennock, whose strike bounced off the post and into the back of the net, leaving Central Coast Mariners with a 1-0 lead at the break. 

The scoring continued less than a minute into the second half, when Markovski delivered the ball directly to Michelle Heyman, who shot home, earning Canberra United their equaliser.   

The goal shifted the momentum for the hosts, as Markovski looked to set up another goal almost immediately, but was caught offside. 

Although Canberra settled into their attack during the second half, the Mariners continued to dominate on both possession and shots, while their almost impenetrable defence kept their opponent out of the box. 

As stoppage time approached, Canberra’s attack became more aggressive, as they seemed to finally find and capitalize on the Mariners weaknesses. Heyman looked desperately for a brace and it looked as though her unrivaled scoring history, combined with a seamless link-up with Markovski might prove fruitful – but it never quite happened.

The final minute of play saw one last attempt from the hosts when an extremely close-range header from Emma Robers was saved down at the bottom corner by Sarah Langman. 

Round 16 of the Ninja A-League will see great pressure for both of these sides, as they head on the road to face two of the league’s top teams. Canberra United will take on i-form third place side Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium, while Central Coast Mariners will travel to the Home of The Matildas, to take on Melbourne Victory, who currently hold second place on the ladder. 

Teams: CANBERRA UNITED (4-3-3): James, Anton, Satanic-Floody, Robers, Taylor-Young, Christopherson, Markovski, Heyman, Malone, Bertolissio, Gordon. Substitutes: McKenzie, Ayson, Dos Santos, Keane, Majstorovic.

Scorer: Heyman 46’.

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (3-4-3): Langman, Seaman, Nash, Martin, Pennock, Galic, Ray, Fuller, Rowe, Quilligan, Nunn. Substitutions: Carmichael, Rasmussen, Kraszula, Puxty, Trimis.

Scorer: Pennock 39’. 

Referee: Caitlin Williams.

Attendance: 1,376.

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Phoenix sparkle but Victory character earns a point

Wellington Phoenix 1-1 Melbourne Victory

by Ben Gilby (8/2/25)

Above: Maya McCutcheon celebrates after putting Wellington Phoenix ahead against Melbourne Victory today. Photo: Wellington Phoenix.

Wellington Phoenix produced an impressive offensive display against Melbourne Victory at Porirua Park but were left to rue a combination of an error and loss of concentration that denied them all three points.

This was a hugely enjoyable match and the action started with a bang. With just 90 seconds on the clock, Annalie Longo’s corner from the left came in high to the near post where Maya McCutcheon came in running to nod the ball back behind her and into the net to give Wellington the lead to scenes of huge joy.

However, Victory hit back hard. Just over a minute later, only two superb saves from Carolina Vilão kept them from levelling.

First, Sara D’Appolonia took advantage of a defensive switch-off to break through into the right-hand side of the box which brought about a diving parry. Then, Alex Chidiac’s shot reared up after taking a deflection off of Alivia Kelly which caused the Phoenix keeper, already down on the floor, to twist and sweep her legs at the ball to keep it out.

The hosts came close on the 26-minute mark when a knife-through-butter move ended with Lara Wall’s glorious high ball into the mix from the left which found Manaia Elliott who got up between two Victory defenders, but directed her header narrowly wide of the near post.

With the Nix holding their lead into the break, they came out confidently and another clever move saw another close shave for the visitors six minutes into the second half. It was another set-piece from Longo’s that caused the danger.

This time, her free-kick caught Victory off guard as she took it quickly and it came in low from just outside the box to the right of centre for Elliott to run onto in a pre-planned move to force a save from Courtney Newbon.

Above: Wellington Phoenix captain Annalie Longo (right) had a hugely impressive game against Melbourne Victory today. Photo: Wellington Phoenix.

However, as ever when playing a champion side, when you don’t take advantage of opportunities and momentarily switch off, you get badly burned. This was the case on the hour mark.

A loose pass across from the left flank was gobbled up by the onrushing Holly Furphy who advanced to find Emily Gielnik on the edge of the box. Tiana Jaber rushed in to extinguish the danger, but the defender didn’t look up to see where she was placing the ball. It fell perfectly for Nikki Flannery on the left-hand edge of the box to chest down, run onto and fire home a rocket from 10 yards out to level the scores.

Shortly afterwards, another easy on-the-eye move from the hosts forced Newbon into another save when McCutcheon played a perfectly weighted low pass with the outside of her foot into Olivia Fergusson on the right-hand edge of the box, who was facing away from goal. The attacker turned Kayla Morrison and hit an effort goalwards that the Victory keeper got down to.

Phoenix produced another excellent opportunity with 10 minutes remaining thanks to another classy pass from Longo who rolled the ball forward into the path of Emma Main whose first touch wasn’t quite perfect enough which allowed Laura Pickett sufficient time to hold the substitute off and deny her.

The final word went to Victory on the counter with five minutes left as Flannery advanced down the right to bend a pass into the path of Gielnik who rounded Vilão but couldn’t direct her shot on target.

This was a match that Wellington Phoenix felt that they should have won. They played some sparkling creative football, and, in the end, the outcome came down to a couple of losses of concentration as head coach Paul Temple reflected when speaking to the media afterwards.

“I think we’ve probably come away from it disappointed with a point to be honest. I thought we controlled the game from start to finish. We had more possession, more of of the ball, made more passes, looked the more likely. 

“Ultimately, they got a goal off a mistake of ours, and that’s a horrible way to concede. For the players involved, they’re really frustrated with themselves, we’re frustrated as a team, but it’s just part of football as well…after that we responded quite well, and the team was probably going to score the winner if there was going to be one.”

Teams: WELLINGTON PHOENIX (4-4-2): Vilão, Jaber, Kelly, Barry, Wall, Whinham, McCutcheon, Longo, Jale, Elliott, Fergusson. Substitutes: Abbott, Brazendale, Jerez, Main, Neary.

Scorer: McCutcheon 2′.

MELBOURNE VICTORY (3-4-1-2): Newbon, Curtis, Morrison, Bunge, Jančevski, D’Appolonia, Murphy, Pickett, Lowe, Chidiac, Gielnik. Substitutes: Candy, Flannery, Furphy, O’Grady, Sakalis.

Scorer: Flannery 61′.

Referee: Kelly Jones.

Attendance: 1,015.

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Skinner: “The biggest respect we can give to Wolves is to bring our very best”

By Catherine Mackenzie (07/02/2025)

Above: Marc Skinner (Manchester United’s manager) Photo: The Guardian

Manchester United face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup on Saturday

In their bid to retain the FA Cup title, Manchester United have so far faced opposition from well below them in the English football pyramid. Earlier this month, they beat third-tier West Bromwich Albion 7-0, scoring six goals in the last twenty-five minutes of the game. However, West Brom held United to a 1-0 for most of the game, making life difficult for the Red Devils with a low block and defensive play.

This weekend, United again face a team from third-tier National League in Wolverhampton Wanderers. Asked what he has learned from previous encounters with opposition from the third tier, United manager Marc Skinner spoke about the need to respect their opponents, asserting that “we have to treat them like a WSL opponent” and “I expect them to be a big challenge for us”. He added that he hopes United bring their best, and that he will not underestimate Wolves’ potential to be a difficult opponent to break down.

He also provided an update on the squad. Forward Geyse has returned from compassionate leave and is available for selection. Midfielder Dominique Janssen has taken part in team training and may be available, however is expected to be assessed again before the game.

Skinner was also asked about Grace Clinton. Clinton played a large role for United in the early stages of the season and has recently earned plaudits for her performances for the national team as well.

Due to injuries in the England national team, Clinton is expected to play a role when England face Belgium and Spain in the Nations League later this month. However, she has had limited game time for United since January, and did not feature in the Red Devils’ game against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Speaking about her role in the team, Skinner again asserted that she has an important role and will continue to do so moving forward, suggesting that she may be involved against Wolves.

United signed goalkeeper Kayla Rendell from Championship side Southampton in the January transfer window, and Skinner was asked whether he sees cup games as an opportunity to give the keeper matchday experience. He asserted that the focus for Rendell in the coming months is to adapt to the step up from the Championship to the Women’s Super League, highlighting that she is developing for the future.

A win on Saturday would see United progress to the Quarter-final, a big step towards retaining the FA Cup winner title.

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Adelaide extend unbeaten run with win over Perth

Adelaide United 3-0 Perth Glory

By Emma Burke 7/2/25

Above: Adelaide United celebrate their win. Photo: Adelaide United

Adelaide United’s win over Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium furthers the Club’s record breaking undefeated streak, which now sits at eight games.

Adelaide’s American import Erin Healy opened the scoring for the home side with a shot that beat Perth keeper Casey Dumont before she had realised what had happened. Emily Condon supplied the assist.

With continued pressure applied to the Glory, Adelaide doubled their lead when Chelsie Dawber received a cross from Lucia Leon inside the six-yard box. Dawber was cleverly able to lift the ball up and over her defender and the waiting keeper.

United continued pushing for a third goal to seal the win, while doing everything they could to ensure they did not have a repeat performance of last week’s game against Sydney FC where they let go of their 2-0 lead.

Perth had a few decent opportunities on goal, but they were no match for Adelaide keeper Claudia Jenkins, who put in another impressive shift between the sticks for the Reds.

After multiple missed chances, Adelaide finally found their third and final goal, in the third minute of stoppage time.

Healy collected her brace by pouncing on a loose ball in the box that had not been effectively cleared, smashing the ball into the left corner and collecting all three points for her side.

Adelaide’s win now sends them up to second on the table only four points away from the top, and leave Perth seated in ninth with their finals hopes slowly dwindling away from them.

Adelaide United (3-4-1-2): Jenkins, Tolland, McNamara, Tonkin, Leon, Sasaki, Morgan, Hodgson, Condon, Dawber, Healy. Substitutes: Dewey, Condon, Worts, Karambasis, Grove

Scorers: Healy 16’, 90+3’, Dawber 31’

Perth Glory (4-3-3): Dumont, Johnston, Thomas-Chinnama, Zogg, McKenna, Tathem, Wainwright, Dalton, Doeglas, Sunaga, Wynne. Substitutes: O’Donoghue, Foletta, Brown, Abdul-Massih, Templeman

Referee: Bec Mackie

Attendance: 1,859.

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Vidošić: “We’ll do everything we can”

By Aimee-Lou Caldecourt (6/2/25)

Above: Dario Vidosic addresses the media. Photo: Brighton and Hove Albion FC

Dario Vidošić’s Seagulls head to the Bescot Stadium to face Aston Villa in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup on Saturday.

Vidošić has been vocal about the fact he wants to win trophies with Brighton, though he believes this will be “a tough game.” He reflected on the 4-2 victory in the league earlier in the season, and said that there should be more of the same to come on Saturday. “We’ll do everything we can to get ourselves into the draw for the next round.” Vidošić is not currently thinking about getting to Wembley yet, taking each game as it comes.

Maisie Symonds’ straight red card she received against Crystal Palace means she will be out for three games across all competitions. “It was a tough one… [about appealing] I’ve left the club to decide. My sort of view on it was there was a contact, whether we thought it was harsh or not. It’s similar to like a VAR decision… when there’s contact usually it’s very hard to overturn… it probably felt a little bit like a harsh red.”

Bruna Vilamala will also be sidelined “for the foreseeable future.”

Over recent weeks we have seen Vidošić rotate Sophie Baggaley and Melina Loeck in between the sticks. “It’s always nice when you’ve got two really good keepers at a high level that they’re competing, and help to push each other.” Both will be assessed against what is needed at the weekend and a decision will be made then.

New signings Caitlin Hayes and Nadine Noordam have been adapting to the style of play and have at the moment been playing with players who are returning from injury, as the busy schedule has not given them opportunities as of yet. Now, after a busy period, the new signings are getting stuck in and Vidošić believes that “they’ll definitely help us in this next part of the season.”

Villa’s new manager, Natalia Arroyo, poses a danger to Brighton, although she did give Vidosic high praise previously, noting that she wanted to play the same style of football as Vidosic’s Seagulls.

A win on Saturday would see the Seagulls progress to the Quarter-final, two matches away from their first appearance at Wembley.

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Tijan McKenna: It’s time to switch on

by Ben Gilby (5/2/25)

Above: Tijan McKenna speaking to the media at Perth Glory’s Fremantle HQ yesterday. Image: Perth Glory.

Perth Glory’s Young Matildas midfielder Tijan McKenna believes that one of the keys to the team picking up three points will be maintaining focus and attention to detail.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s trip to Adelaide United, McKenna said: “We start well, we do everything we’re supposed to do. I guess it’s (now) switching on for the second half or crucial moments…a set play, or halftime. But we definitely have the engine, creativity, and confidence to do it for a full 90.”

Perth’s season has been hampered by a seemingly never-ending injury list, with the majority of those struck down being the team’s key creative players. Whilst so far the 20-year-old has avoided the jinx, it has meant that it has been extremely tough to build up a regular partnership around the centre of the park. That has been something she admits has been a challenge.

“It’s definitely frustrating with like having a main three and then someone gets injured, someone else comes in. They have worked for their spot, and I think it’s a gelling time. In training, step by step we get stronger, and then each game we progress.”

Above: Tijan McKenna (far left) celebrates with Kelli Brown during Perth Glory’s 3-1 win at Adelaide United in December. Photo: Rob Lizzi for Impetus.

Perth’s game with Adelaide this week brings back memories of the team’s brightest performance of the campaign, a 3-1 home win over the Reds in Round Six. Reflecting on how that result was achieved, McKenna once more emphasised the importance of focus and staying on task.

“We definitely knuckled down on what we had to do, and we followed Stephen (Peters, head coach) and his protocols. Our desire and well-being that we had going into it was definitely way better than other games that we’ve gone into.”

The Glory players have spoken all season long about how the belief and confidence given to them by head coach Peters remains strong despite all the injury-related hurdles placed in front of them.

With that 90 minute laser-like focus that McKenna mentioned in this media conference added to the belief installed by their impressive win over Adelaide earlier in the campaign, there is no reason why the Western Australians cannot return from their shortest away trip of the campaign with points.

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Holly Mac scores three as City defeat Western United

Melbourne City 5-1 Western United

By Kieran Yap 5/2/25

Above: Holly McNamara. Photo: Melbourne City

A first half hatrick by Holly McNamara helped Melbourne City to a 5-1 win over Western United as the defending premiers solidified their grip on top spot in the A-League Women.

City’s comprehensive win continues their undefeated streak and it was their finishing that got the job done. After scoring only goal in each of their last three games, Michael Matricciani’s team were ruthless in the final third as they increased the gap at the top of the ladder to five points.

Melbourne City welcomed back Matildas winger Bryleeh Henry. The versatile and in-form attacker had missed the last three games through concussion and returned to the bench for the visit of Kat Smith’s team.

Western United made the trip to cntrl:cyber Pitch undefeated in their last four games, and having drawn 1-1 with City in their last meeting on the 17th of January.

City looked sharp early, and after three minutes, Holly McNamara had opened the scoring. Rhianna Pollicina’s defence splitting pass, combined with McNamara’s well timed run put her one-on-one with Chloe Lincoln. The Western United goalkeeper saved the first effort on goal, but McNamara tucked away the second chance with a cool finish amid a now crowded penalty box.

McNamara almost doubled the lead in the 19th minute after Lordes Bosch played her in behind the Western defence again. This time, Lincoln’s save was enough and the score stayed at 1-0.

It looked like it might have been a crucial miss when Chloe Logarzo turned a half chance into one of the goals of the round. With the ball loose about 30 yards from goal, Logarzo unleashed a low missile of a strike out of nothing that left Malena Mieres grasping at air.

Parity lasted less than 10 minutes before Holly Mac struck again, this time turning in a Bosch cutback from the edge of the six-yard box and somehow unmarked in the area.

The recent Matildas call up had her third just minutes later. Chipping Lincoln from outside of the area with a delightful display of precision and audacity.

The sides went into the break at 3-1 despite Isabel Dehakiz’s best effort to reduce the deficit with another long-range effort that brought the best out of Mieres.

The second half saw Western try and fight their way back into the game but to no avail. Kahli Johnson battled bravely up front and Chloe Logarzo hit the woodwork with another effort, but without the injured Catherine Zimmerman, Western struggled to create  consistent good chances on goal.

At the other end, City were lining up to shoot at goal, and Pollicina added to her assist with a low finish in the 59th minute to put the result beyond doubt.

Bosch capped off her brilliant performance on the right with a goal of her own in the 71st minute. The rampant winger tucked away the rebound after Bryleeh Henry’s shot was parried away by Lincoln. If not for McNamara’s hatrick, Bosche would have been comfortably player of the match after some sparkling football on the wing for City.

Western were spared further pain when Leticia McKenna’s effort rifled over the bar, and the game ended 5-1.

The win keeps City top, undefeated and five points clear of second placed Melbourne Victory, although they have played one game more than their closest competitors, they are starting to look unassailable as they march to a second consecutive premiership.

Both of these teams had a short turnaround for this game. While City had one day less to recover, this was still a comprehensive and impressive performance. While Western’s attack struggled somewhat without Zimmerman, City have the depth to have a player of Henry and Kathryn Harvey in reserve.

Western United will now prepare to face Sydney FC on Sunday while waiting on the fitness of Melissa Taranto. The vitsl midfielder was subbed out with a concerning looking knee injury in the 61st minute.

City also travel to New South Wales, to face The Newcastle Jets, who are in patchy but always threatening form.

Teams: Melbourne City (4-4-2): Mieres, Apostolakis, Stott, Otto, Roestbakken, Speckmaier, McKenna, Hughes, Bosch, Pollicina, McNamara. Substitutes: Henry, Barbieri, McMahon, Vlajnic, Harvey.

Goals: McNamara 3’ 36’ 38’ Pollicina 59’ Bosch 71’

Western United (4-4-2): Lincoln, Sardo, Dehakiz, Maher, Grove, Medwin, M Taranto, Eggesvik, A Taranto, Logarzo, Johnson. Substitutes: Mihocic, De Domizio, Ibarguen, Prakash, Dall`Oste

Goals: Logarzo 26’

Referee: Rebecca Durcau

Attendance: TBC

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Are Manchester City’s ‘title dreams’ over?

Above: Manchester City Women vs Manchester United Women in the Subway Cup Photo: Manchester City Women

by Bethany Monkhouse (4/2/25)

After the 2023/24 season ended in devastation for Manchester City, the danger signs are now flashing that this campaign could end the same way.

Sunday’s home defeat to Arsenal has set City back and virtually out of reach from the title as Chelsea steam away. Sonia Bompastor’s side sit at the top of the league with a total of 37 points – 12 ahead of City, who are currently outside of the Champions League qualifying places in fourth.

With Chelsea adding to their already formidable squad in the transfer window, with City’s January experience somewhat different, the immediate future looks challenging for Gareth Taylor’s side.

With only nine WSL match days left this season, and the league title becoming out of reach, head coach Gareth Taylor stated that City’s main objective is “to be in Champions League qualification places at the end of the season.” Is this a lowly aim for a club of City’s resources and potential?

With Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United all ahead of City and, arguably having greater strength in depth, City will need to perform to their best for the rest of the season to make sure a spot is achievable. 

With key players, Lauren Hemp and captain Alex Greenwood both out with knee injuries, this means City are having to adapt to other players filling their roles. Hemp played a total of seven games in the WSL before her knee injury, scoring twice and provided five assists. Gareth Taylor’s side are visibly missing her pace and her flexibility of being able to play both left and right wing, and Greenwood’s game reading abilities, as the main starting centre back.

Whilst the race for the top three is a real battle, there is still hope for the Sky Blues in other areas. City are also still competing in the Subway League Cup, the FA Cup, and the Champions League which means the players are going to have less rest and be under high pressure to perform well.

With a spot in the League Cup Final to be won, City are going to have to beat Arsenal away on Thursday night – no easy task. However Gareth Taylor is going into it with confidence as his team are usually, as he puts it, “Really good at fighting back.”

Manchester City’s chances of winning silverware this season, will come down to them performing at their best, every game. Nothing less will do it. That’s asking an awful lot. The team has plenty of silverware they can attempt to win, but they have absolutely no breathing space now. The time has come for them to be clinical.

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Matildas welcome back Holly Mac & name a new Freier for the She Believes Cup

By Kieran Yap 4/2/25

Above: Holly McNamara in action at the 2022 Asian Cup. Photo: Football Australia

The Matildas have announced the squad to take on Colombia, The United States and Japan at the She Believes Cup this month.

Interim coach Tom Sermanni remains in charge of the team as the search for a full time manager continues and has chosen a squad featuring a few new or returning faces among the familia names.

Headlining the changes is the much welcomed return of Holly McNamara. The Melbourne City striker has been in sparkling form since recovering from a third knee reconstruction. She will look to showcase her prodigious talents against some of the world’s best after her promising international career was previously stalled by two long term injuries.

While one of the stars of the last window Sharn Freier is absent due to an ankle injury, her twin sister Laini has been called into camp for the first time. Until this season, the highest level of football that  the Brisbane Roar forward had played was the NPLW QLD.

After making a strong impression in the A-League Women including two consecutive hatricks, the striker will hopefully add pace and composed finishing to a strike force still looking for new options ahead of 2026.

“We’ve selected a squad with the clear objective of winning this tournament,” Sermanni told the media.

“While some challenges came with players returning from European winter breaks and the restart of the USA and Scandinavian leagues, these realities also created opportunities. It’s important to carry on exposing emerging players to high-level, tournament-style football early.  

“Our Technical Staff have been watching Ninja A-League matches all summer, ensuring we get a full picture of player form and fitness. Selection is always competitive, and we’ve built a squad that reflects that. It’s crucial to have depth and balance in the group as we prepare for the challenges ahead.

“We know how important it is to keep this team on a stable footing, and that means performing at our best every time we step onto the pitch. We want to play the Australian way — aggressive, front-foot football, always looking for ways to win. This tournament is another opportunity to reinforce that style and build momentum. 

“With the AFC Women’s Asian Cup on the horizon, internal competition within the squad is key. Every player knows they need to push for their place, and this tournament gives us another chance to see how they respond in a high-pressure environment. SheBelieves will provide valuable insights as we fine-tune our preparations moving forward,” Sermanni concluded.”

The challenge that Sermanni referred to includes the fact that some players selected are short of recent match minutes.

Stalwarts such as Emily Van Egmond, Alanna Kennedy and rising stars like Kaitlyn Torpey have not played since before Christmas, while Caitlin Foord is currently sidelined with a leg injury.

A lack of match fitness was a concern at The Paris Olympics, but with Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mary Fowler both in the first XI at their clubs, The Matildas look to be in better condition heading in to this tournament.

Natasha Prior’s inclusion comes after some eye catching performance in the last window and Winona Heatley returns once again after playing in all four matches during the previous international break. The versatile defender’s passing ability and positional flexibility are welcome attributes to the side.

Steph Catley will once again wear the armband while Sam Kerr continues to rehab from her knee injury. The Arsenal defender will be deputised by Ellie Carpenter.

The Matildas campaign begins on February 19 against Japan, and will be continued with matches against the United States on February 23 followed by Colombia on the 26th

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