‘Big boots to fill’ – Pontypridd United striker on appointment of James Fishlock

Pontypridd United forward Alison Witts is hoping her side can push on in this season’s edition of the Adran Premier.

The Dragons finished last season in fifth place, winning the Plate Conference Shield in the process, and reached the semi-final of the FAW Trophy, losing to Cardiff Met.

Witts, however, while recognising that it was a season of progression, wants to see her side kick on this season.

She said: ‘I think there’s ups and downs. We had some absolutely fantastic performances, and we had some performances where we probably let ourselves down a little bit, and we’ve been very aware of that.

‘We were very disappointed to not hit that fourth mark, but when you actually take a step back and look at the fact that was Ponty’s first year as a group with collective staff members, you have to realise that we have done quite well for the group of players and the staff that we have.

‘There are so many positives that we can take and build upon this year, and we have to look at last season as a stepping stone for this year.

The start of this season will see Ponty managed by James Fishlock, as Fern Burrage-Male goes away on maternity leaves. Witts is looking forward to playing under the former Cardiff City Ladies’ manager.

‘It’s been really positive. It’s always a hard job to come after Fern, in my opinion, so I think James has got big boots to fill, but I think it’s a really exciting prospect.

‘It’s really nice to have him, it’s a breath of fresh air as well. We’ve taken to him really well and his coaching style has been brilliant, everyone is enjoying the training sessions.

‘We haven’t really thought about the fact he’s only here for six months. He’s come in and said these are the goals for the season, and it is a long-term conversation.

‘He wants to do a good job and when he eventually passes back to Fern, he wants us to be in the best position, and that’s nice for us as a team.

While Burrage-Male is away, she will stay in the hearts and minds of all the players and management, as she has done so much to shape the club into what it is today.

‘I’ve been here for three or four seasons now, and what Fern has done for the club has been absolutely brilliant.

‘I think we always have that nervousness around when Fern steps away because we worry about who’s going to come in and what are they going to be like.

‘I know Fern took a lot of time and care, along with the rest of the staff, to make sure that Fern’s replacement was someone who was going to fit with the ethos, the philosophy, the style of play that we at Ponty want to work towards. So that fills us with a lot of confidence.

Witts is originally from England and was delighted to see her side lift the European Championship trophy last month.

The moment will stick in her memory for years to come, and she believes it’s a pivotal moment in the unstoppable rise of women’s football.

She said: ‘I’ve been playing football now for like 20 years and just the growth that I’ve seen in that short space of time is great. I come from a small club in England where we didn’t even have a women’s team when I started playing football.

‘We don’t have that issue so much anymore and there are so many young girls playing football in boys’ teams or girls’ teams’

‘The opportunities are now there for them and it’s fantastic that there is so much buy-in from the men and boys to the women’s game’

‘I went into the office the other day and I had so many people asking me about the England game!’

‘And it’s actually a lot of men that are asking me about it more than the women, which is really positive to see, because in order for the women’s game to grow you have to have buy-in from everybody.

When asked about the season expectations about the Dragons, Witts identified where the team needed to improve in order to compete, but also discussed what would make her happy personally about the season ahead.

‘We’ve competed with the likes of Cardiff City and Cardiff Met. The problem is we can’t do that for 90 minutes, and that’s where we suffered last year.

“We would put in a really good 50–60-minute performance and I think that’s where those three teams set themselves apart, is that they’re able to push on for that last 40-30 minutes of the game, and that’s maybe where we need to work on.

‘For me, my happiness comes from the success of the team. Obviously, as a striker, I’m always going to say score more goals, but I think we need to have this real collectiveness this season.

‘We have had that in past seasons but it’s a really important part of every season for me. If we are collective and we attack games together, our results are always going to be better than if we’re individuals going into these games.

Pontypridd kick off their Adran Premier season away to Cardiff City on September 4^th.

(Pic by Lewis Mitchell/FAW)