Iron Acton add Tuffley quartet to ranks ahead of Women’s FA Cup debut
Iron Acton Women have confirmed the signings of Ellen Knight, Emily Hawley, Meg Hamblett and Robyn Lee from Tuffley Rovers ahead of their first competitive game this weekend.
With their game against Bristol Brunel in the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, the club have announced the signings of the quartet as part of their final player announcements before the big kick off.
Hamblett, Hawley, Lee & Knight add experience to the ranks of James Eveleigh’s side and speaking to Severn Sport, he believes they can all make an impact to their new side.
“I’m really pleased to get all four girls over the line,” said Eveleigh. “Each one brings a different dynamic to the team on and off the field.
We know it will take time for them to settle in and get used to the way we want them to play, but early signs have been encouraging and I don’t think it will be long before they are flying in an Acton shirt,” Eveleigh added.
The quartet alongside striker Hannah Thompson, Amy Jeffries, Emily Waldron, Zoe Wynne, Adele Elliott and former Gloucester City goalkeeper Hannah Hughes have all been announced as new signings within recent weeks and with his squad taking shape, Eveleigh says he is happy with the recruitment and believes Iron Acton’s squad is nearly complete.
“Starting from a blank piece of paper with a new side is never easy but I drew up a list of players that I wanted to bring to the football club and those conversations have led to some fantastic signings.
Throw in the Trialists that have come to our open sessions and a couple of brilliant dual signings and I think it’s fair to say we have an excellent group of players signed on, so to be honest I don’t think it could have been better.
There are still a few areas we are looking to strengthen and we hope to be able to do that in the coming weeks ahead, but the foundations are there now and this is where the hard work really begins,” Eveleigh said.
Sunday sees Iron Acton head to Bristol Brunel in the Women’s FA Cup Preliminary Round, before they make the same trip on 14 September for their first game in GCWFL Division One and ahead of Sunday’s game, Eveleigh admits that his message will be to enjoy the occasion this weekend as it is likely the new side will need time to hit their full potential.
“I’m hugely excited [for Sunday] – more for the girls and the football club who deserve this. It’s been a massively busy four months for me to get things up and running, but when you watch the training sessions and the friendlies there is a huge sense of pride of what we have achieved in such a short space of time,” said the former Olveston United boss.
“The FA Cup is a historic competition and to just be part of it for the first time in the clubs’ 130 year history will be magic.
We don’t have any aims or targets for the game, we just want everyone to go out there and enjoy it, wear the shirt with pride, give 100% and if the result goes our way then brilliant.
Our main focus is the league and as a group we have a target for the season ahead, but we aren’t naïve and know it will take some time for a new group of players to gel and form that understanding together and unfortunately that will have to happen during the opening weeks of the season – but once we have that understanding I expect this team to fly,” Eveleigh added.
Iron Acton Women head to Bristol Brunel in the Women’s FA Cup Preliminary Round on Sunday 24 September; kick off at the Lockleaze Sports Centre 14:00
READ MORE: Check out the list of Saturday’s fixtures in and around Gloucestershire right here
