Watching on from the comfort of his front room will be Ray Smith, the coach who took a giant leap of faith when a young Lucy Bronze turned up at training and became the first girl to play for youth football for the Northern Alliance League side.
“I had picked my squad when I got a phone call from her mother,” Smith told The NLP. “She told me that one of her family wanted to sign up for us. I said we still had a couple of places left.
“Then she said ‘she’s a girl’. Nothing like this had ever happened in the history of Alnwick Town FC. At the time, no other girl had ever played for us.”
Times have clearly changed since, but back then Smith’s immediate concerns were of the young Bronze getting ‘kicked off the park’ in a part of the world where no quarter is asked and no quarter is given.
He needn’t have worried.
Denne historien er fra August 20, 2023-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
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Denne historien er fra August 20, 2023-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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SHAKERS REVEL IN MAKING HISTORY
DAVE McNabb says Bury's FA Cup heroes are proud to be writing their own chapters in club history.
WILCOX: WE FEEL COMPLETE WITH WIN
RUSS WILCOX'S verdict after watching his Gainsborough Trinity side outmuscle and outplay their hosts was that it was \"probably our most complete performance\".
CRACKER BY KABIA TOPPLES TUDORS!
ASSISTANT boss Stewart Yetton said his Truro City side were good value for their win over table-toppers Hemel Hempstead Town.
BRAKES PUT STOP ON BORO BATTLERS
SEPARATED only by goal difference before kick-off, these sides remain neck and neck in the embryonic table after playing out 90 minutes in the October sunshine that was a great advert for the division.
BOSS COTT'S GOT A REALLY GOOD THING WITH ROVERS
STEVE Cotterill hailed Forest Green Rovers’ first class performance as they produced a spirited comeback to topple fellow high-flyers Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium.
SKIPS STEER HEED'S SHIP
GATESHEAD captains of the past and present are playing a lead role in helping the National League club move on from the departure of FA Trophy-winning manager Rob Elliot.
FA CUP PREVIEW: SWEET! 'DREAM' DRAW IS CHANCE OF OUR LIFETIME
DAVE NORTHFIELD says minnows Biggleswade FC were like 'kids in a sweet shop' when they drew out York City in what he describes as the 'draw of a lifetime'.
PARKER'S HEART IS STILL AT HOME
FORMER England right-back Paul Parker has revealed he would never completely rule out a return to management – but says he would only do so for one of his beloved local clubs.
LOCALS RALLY TO REBUILD BRIDGE
WHEN committee members at Bamber Bridge set out to raise £30,000 to protect the club's future, they were apprehensive about the response they'd get.
RUTHLESS BEES FIND THEIR FEET
ASTERLING second-half performance resulted in league leaders Barnet brushing aside a Boston United outfit that led at the interval through Keaton Ward’s early strike.
