West Ham have had a rollercoaster season, from piecing together a team in a matter of weeks and launching themselves into the top tier to looking as if their campaign had run out of track with 10 goals conceded in four January defeats. Now, however, they sit one win away from the most prestigious game in the women’s football calendar.
Their manager, Matt Beard, says reaching the FA Cup final at Wembley on 4 May would be a “fairytale ending” but there is the little matter of Sunday’s semi-final at Reading first. What is more, the Hammers’ defeat at Manchester United in the Continental League Cup quarter-finals has instilled caution at the London club. “That night we didn’t really turn up and we can use that experience to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” says Beard.
West Ham’s captain, Gilly Flaherty, a seven-times FA Cup winner, including last season with Chelsea, says: “A few players were maybe thinking about the semi-final beforehand; we’ve learned from that. We know not to get ahead of ourselves. This is a massive game. We’re the underdogs. But we have confidence.”
The signs are good for West Ham. They have suffered only one defeat in six games and secured a morale‑boosting point at last season’s double winners, Chelsea, in their most recent match. It felt like fate that it was Flaherty who scored against her former side.
“I had mixed emotions even in the warm-up,” she says. “It’s very different to when we played them at home at the beginning of the season because I was going back to their home ground where I had a very successful time and I was happy. So it was mixed emotions. But I felt like it was a massive weight off my shoulders as well and I felt I had done myself justice that day. It was disappointing to knock them out of Champions League football but that’s football, that’s the emotional side, and I’m a West Ham fan now and my focus and my commitment is to all them.”
The FA Cup means a lot to Flaherty. “Every year it gets a little more special because it gets that bit harder to get there. I’ve been blessed to have played in three of the four games played at Wembley but I do think this year, if we do get there, it would be even more special just purely for the fact this is our first year together.”
Reading lead West Ham by a point in the WSL, with a game in hand, but it is Sunday’s visitors to Adams Park who have had the edge in their meetings, the Hammers picking up an away win last month after earning a point with a scoreless draw in September. Beard says: “It’s going to be a tough game. They’re a very talented team, they’ve got a lot of experienced players but they’re in the same position as us: they’ve never been to an FA Cup final so they’re going to be feeling exactly the same nerves that we’ll potentially be feeling.
“We’re playing in their home ground in a semi-final. That gives them the advantage straight away. But from our side of things we had a good performance at Reading, picked up a big three points. But this is a completely different game now, it’s a knockout game.”
West Ham Women’s managing director, Jack Sullivan – son of the West Ham co-owner, David – describes the trip to Reading as the “biggest game in the club’s history” and as a testament to the belief shown by the players. “We’ve got 20 players who have really believed in the project and a backroom staff of 10 that have also, and fans that have believed, too,” he says. “We’ve given over 2,000 tickets to the local community this year and really started to get them engaged. It would be brilliant to give back and say thank you to them with Wembley.
“I think Wembley would mean a lot to any team in any season; for us it would mean a hell of a lot. It would put us on the biggest stage and hopefully show people we’re not here to play games, we’re here to be competitive and really push forward and push women’s football forward. We’ve increased attendances 112% this year. Wembley is a brilliant opportunity to try and boost those numbers even further.”
Flaherty certainly believes in the club’s vision. “I was at Chelsea in the first year that money and backing and support was put behind them and that first season when we came so close to winning the league, on the last day, and every year they’ve grown,” she says. “That’s the position West Ham are in now. The league is a lot tougher than it was four or five years ago. It’s a lot harder for teams to be successful.
“This year is our base building. I didn’t come here to be in a team fighting relegation. I came here to be a winner and to help West Ham win and we’ve got an exciting future.”
And, throwing caution to the wind, what of a possible final against Chelsea? Flaherty laughs: “They’ve got a really tough game against Manchester City but, if anyone could write it, a West Ham v Chelsea final would be special. But the semi-final is up first. Whoever gets through, us or Reading, is going to be underdogs against Chelsea or City, so it’s going to be a great day.”
