'There’s something special we can achieve' Huddersfield Town Women looking to new challenges after trophy double
Town brought the curtain down on their season with a 7-0 win over Sheffield FC to regain their County Cup crown.
Huddersfield Town Women boss Glen Preston has heaped praise on the Town higher-ups after his team ended their season in style with a convincing 7-0 victory over Sheffield FC in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Cup Final.
Everton loanee Jess Lightfoot was the star of the show with a hat-trick alongside goals from captain Beth Stanfield, Hannah Burgess, Laura Elford, and a first for the club from Lucy Allman.
After the game, Preston told We Are Terriers: “I’m so proud of the team. It’s 15 years since Huddersfield last won a double.
“I’ve never won one. We’ve won three league titles, multiple County Cups and made National League cup and plate finals, but I’ve never been able to get a double in as a group. It’s an immense achievement.
“All credit to Sheffield FC. They put in a really good effort today. They haven’t got the resources and tools that we’ve now got and the ability to change things like us.
“They have to make the best with what they’ve got.
“We’ve been in that position. They put up a fight but ultimately our quality shone through.”
A tail-off in form last season had seen Town ultimately finish in fifth place and a long way short of promotion, with the sting only accentuated by a disappointing defeat to Sheffield United in the County Cup final.
But new investment from the men’s side from last summer has helped the women’s side to add what they needed to go all the way and lift both the FA WNL Division One North and County Cup trophies this season.
Town are now looking forward to getting straight back to it in the third-tier Northern Premier Division after two seasons at the level below.
That means that for Preston and his staff, the work has already begun again.
He said: “I don’t really have days off. I’d like to say we’ll have a couple of weeks off to reflect, take stock and see what the plans are…but I’ve got agents and players being recommended to me already, so we need to get on a big recruitment drive again.
“We need to work harder than we’ve ever worked before because we need to identify the right players to move this club on and see what we can achieve next season.
“We have a lot to thank Kevin Nagle, David Threlfall-Sykes and Chris Markham for. They’ve come in and worked so well with us - it was great to see David and Chris at York last week to see us clinch the title.
“They’ve given us the tools to do what we’ve done this season and to succeed. They set our mission and our remit and I feel we’ve worked incredibly hard to repay their faith, so nights like tonight go a long way in showing what that means to everybody and playing a little debt back.
“Now hopefully that faith continues because something special is brewing here - you feel there’s something special we can achieve.”