Sedgley and Gornal United FC Women play in the first round of the Vitality Womens FA Cup for the first time in the clubs history having been given a home tie against National League opponents in Solihull Moors. Whatever happens in tomorrows fixture the players and staff can be very proud of the achievements that have been made this season and the progress that the team has made having been started in 2015-16 when the then U18 side joined with players from Wednesbury Wildcats to become the second Gornal Womens open age side
Opposition
Tomorrows opponents in the 1st round of the Vitality Womens FA Cup, Solihull Moors, currently sit fourth in the National League Division 1 Midlands having won four of their seven matches played to date, drawn two and lost only once. Moors went through a period of rebuiding their team initially led by manager David Healey and then taken on by Tom Blaymires and his team after joining Moors in November 2021 from Redditch United. Tom has built a strong team which will be looking to challenge in the top half of the league this season
How did they get here ?
Solihull Moors entered the Vitality Womens FA Cup in the 1st qualifying round and were drawn at home against Arnold Eagles from the East Midlands Regional Womens Premier League. Moors ran out comfortable 7-0 winnners in that tie with goals from captain, Zoe Creaney, Rebecca Knight (a pre season signing from Stoke City), Lyndsey Ro9ss-Baker who followed Tom from Redditch United, and Cheyanne Jarvis.
Sedgley and Gornal United
Sedgley and Gornal United (SGUFC) are currently playing in the West Midlands Regional Womens league Division 1 South, two divisions below Moors.
In a similar situation to Moors, SGUFC had to begin a complte rebuild of its side four years ago. The rebuilding effort was seriously hampered by covid however the team led by manager Vince Gordon did achieve third place in the 2021-22 season before Vince moved up to become Director of Womens Football at SGUFC and the managerial was taken over by Sam Taylor-Whitehead. This season sees the team continue the rebuiding process with the introduction of a number of 16 – 19 year olds who the club will be looking to take it forward in the coming seasons with the intention of joining the National league within the next 5 years.
How did SGUFC get here?
Sedgley and Gornal United were handed a third qualifying round draw away against Staffordshire County league Norton Canes winning that fixture.
In the second qualifying round the team entertained Midwest Counties side Hereford Pegasus running out 4-2 winners.
The first qualifying round gave SGUFC an away fixture against Basford United from the East Midlands Regional Premier League. A goal in each half from Stacey Barbaccia and Captain for the day Olivia Lloyd saw them race into a 2-0 league only for Basford to pull one back in the final ten minutes providing a nail biting finale but SGUFC held on to take the tie 2-1 and set up an historic 1st Round tie.
