|
Luton Town Ladies
|
|
Club History
|
|
2004/05
|
| |
| The eighth season of Belles football, (yes eight years, how
time flies, and how quickly things have evolved) saw the first
team gain promotion to what is the third tier of the National
Women's Pyramid. After winning promotion to The Southern Region
Premier Division at the end of the 2003/04 season the target for
the 2004/05 season was to consolidate our position. But as we
now know that is not how things worked out. The team started the
season with an unbeaten run in the league which stretched to eight
games including a fine 2-1 away win at eventual champions Reading.
The realization that promotion could be achieved became apparent.
However two defeats, away at Slough Town and a 2-0 home defeat
against promotion rivals |
|
|
|
Michelle Byrne in
action against Reading
|
| AFC Bournemouth cast a doubt on those promotion
aspiration's. But a run of six wins and one draw in the last seven
league matches meant that The Belles finished the season in second
place, but it went down to the final match of the season in which
The Belles celebrated in style with a 7-0 win over Henley Town.
Promotion for the second consecutive year means that the objective
of reaching this level has been achieved a year earlier than expected |
 |
|
Promotion Winning
Squad
Back Row, Stacey Connell, Emma Leete,
Rebecca Clark, Michelle Byrne, Alice Burbury, Janine Daly, Shelley
Miller, Nikki Baker, Rhiannon Morgan......................................
Front Row, Aimee Barrable, Rebecca Kane, Tanya Blacksley, Kaylee
Owen, Ottilie Quince, Fay Howell |
| For the first time we ran a ladies reserve team
which played in Division 4 of The Greater London League. They
made it a promotion double by winning the championship which was
clinched with a 6-0 win at Brixton in the final game of the season |
|
|
|
Vicky Moody and Fay
Rolls celebrate a goal at Brixton
|
| Nine youth teams competed in The Hertfordshire Girls
League and The CJS and between them the trophy haul registered
a very satisfactory nine pieces of "silverware". The
Under 10s recovered from a heavy defeat in their first game
of the season to become a very resolute team that at one stage
went through a nine match spell when they conceded just one goal.
An eventual mid table finish gives some encouragement for the
future. Expectations were high for The Under 11s and they
did not disappoint. After completing a league and cup double the
previous year, they repeated that feat, losing just one game in
doing so. However the championship was only won by a two point
margin. Two close games at the end of the season, a 1-0 win over
Tottenham Hotspur and a 1-1 draw with Q.P.R. saw them safely over
the line. The league cup proved a bit of a rocky road. Twice The
Belles came through with penalty shoot outs against Hitchin Town
and Tottenham Hotspur. Then in the final against Enfield Town
another penalty shoot out was looming as the game was deep into
extra time. Then in the final minute Katie Davis headed in Maisie
Wyatt`s corner. Clearly this was a team that held its nerve when
the chips were down |
|
|
|
Katie Davis turns
to celebrate her last minute winner
|
| The Under 12s (Sunday) was a newly formed
team that very quickly found its feet. Right from week one they
led the second division table and stayed there almost through
the whole of the season. Although they lost only one game there
were several games during the season when they had to come from
behind to win. One game that typified that came on the day when
the championship was clinched. A nervous start saw The Belles
go 1-0 down against Bushey Rangers. But then came a five goal
blitz inside fifteen minutes just before half time to put The
Belles 5-1 in front. The championship was eventually clinched
in style as The Belles finished up winning the game 8-3 |
|
|
|
Under 12 (Sunday)Championship
winning squad
|
| Having suffered the disappointment of just missing
out in both league and cup last season the Under 13 (Sunday)
more than made up for that by winning a league and cup
double. They did it in some style too, losing just one game in
the process, and finishing nine points clear at the top of the
table. The key games were the matches against fierce rivals Tottenham
Hotspur which ended 1-0 away, and 3-1 at home on the day the championship
was clinched. The league cup almost inevitably ended with a meeting
against Tottenham Hotspur in the final. As expected it was a very
close fought match with The Belles coming out on top 3-2 after
extra time |
|
|
|
Under 13s league
cup winners presentation
|
| The Under 14s finished the league season
as runners up and were beaten in the league cup semi final. So
they missed out on the main honours. However with the Under 14
division being very small in numbers the league added two more
competitions on at the end of the league season. A second cup
competition dubbed"The Super Cup" saw The Belles get
through to the final where they beat Stevenage Borough Vixens
4-3 after extra time, the winning goal coming in the very last
minute. Then a mini league running under the banner of "The
Invitation Shield" rounded the season off. It all came down
to the last match as to who would come out on top, and once again
it was Stevenage Borough Vixens who were the opposition. The Belles
came out on top again, winning 3-1. So a of double of sorts was
achieved, but winning two out of four trophies that were up for
grabs must go down as a successful season. |
|
|
|
The Under 14s following
their 4-3 win over Stevenage Borough Vixens
|
| The Under 15s can hold one claim to fame
which they achieved in the closing weeks of the season. Run away
league leaders Q.P.R. had not so much as dropped a single league
point in nearly two years, but The Belles held them to a 0-0 draw.
The last time this Q.P.R. side had failed to win was back in September
2003 when they were beaten 3-2, by, yes you have guessed it The
Belles. However Q.P.R. put the record straight as far as they
were concerned by defeating The Belles 4-0 in the league cup final.
In the league The Belles ended with a top half finish after a
great second half of the season. Possibly the match of the season
as far as the whole club was concerned sparked the good run they
had post Christmas. At home against Tottenham Hotspur they found
themselves 4-1 down at half time. But then a great second half
comeback saw The Belles level the score at 4-4 with just over
five minutes left. However they were hit with a sucker punch when
Spurs scored a minute later to lead at 5-4. But then with one
last effort The Belles camebck again to make the score 5-5 with
two minutes left. |
|
|
|
Under 15s beaten but
still raising a smile after the league cup final
|
| Finally but by no means least our teams in the CJS
league had mixed fortunes during the 2004/05 season. The Under
12s were almost made up of first year players. As a result
they found it tough going and finished up in the lower half of
the league. Some good has come from this team though as several
of the players have now found their way into our Sunday teams.
This really underlines what this league is basically used for.
The development of new players, and giving them some competitive
football. At Under 13 level we had two teams competing
under the names of The Tangerines and The Oranges. Two
teams that without having each other to push them all the way
would have found things rather uninteresting as far as competition
was concerned. In the end it was The Oranges that came out on
top in both league and cup, with the tangerines pushing them all
the way, but having to make do with the runners up spot in both
competitions |
|
|
|
Two teams one club
after the CJS Under 13 league cup final
|
|
So Where Next??
|
| With eleven teams again running for the 2005/06
season, an additional adult team, and one less youth team than
in 2004/05 we must now be at the maximum capacity at which we
can operate. What with training and playing facilities being stretched
to the limit it does not really appear that we can go any further
as far as the number of teams are concerned. But who knows, we
can never say never, can we?. It remains a constant struggle against
more obstacle's than one would find in an obstacle race just to
keep things going the way they are. But this is not the time and
place to go into that. 2007 will see the club reach its 10th anniversary.
It will have been a long time, but to be honest for those of us
that have been at the sharp end of things since the beginning
it seems like an eternity. We will reach that landmark for sure,
and many more to come we hope. If we do as planned and produce
a 10th Anniversary brochure or something similar it could well
be titled something on the lines of "Against All The Odds
10 Years Of Belles Football" |
| |
|
|
