The plan
They say no one is indispensable but, even so, life after Fara Williams will not necessarily be easy for Reading and their impressive manager, Kelly Chambers. The England midfielder’s retirement has deprived them of a key player and natural leader. “Fara was a huge part of this club,” says Chambers. “Her infectious personality is something our dressing room will miss.”
Reading’s manager is keen to better last season’s seventh place and looks to have bought well, recruiting six new faces. While the 33-year-old former England striker Natasha Dowie has swapped Milan for the Madejski, the 22-year-old Canada forward Deanne Rose arrives from the University of Florida with an Olympic gold medal from Tokyo.
If Dowie’s 14 goals in 24 appearances for Milan last season bode well, Chloe Peplow’s installation in midfield following a transfer from Tottenham seems a characteristically intelligent move on Chambers’s part.
Much vaunted as an England youth player, Peplow has arguably not kicked on quite as spectacularly as was once predicted but, at 22, time remains on her side. “I don’t think anyone’s seen the best of Chloe yet,” says Reading’s manager. “I’m excited to push her to new levels. She knows she’s got plenty to learn but she’s hungry and, importantly, comfortable on the ball.”
Chambers and her staff have a stellar reputation for honing raw talent and the manager is desperate to confound those who believe mid-table is the club’s natural ceiling. To do so though, Reading will need to start converting more of the type of chances missed last season when they consistently struggled to break opponents down and drew nine of their 22 matches – at least three more than every other WSL side.
The versatile Rachel Rowe was top scorer with five goals, while the excellent goalkeeper Grace Moloney became the club’s player of the year. The Canada manager, Bev Priestman, is confident Rose can redress the attacking imbalance. “Deanne’s just so quick and dangerous,” she says. “The moment you put her on the pitch you’re filled with confidence.”
If the combination of Rose, Dowie and another exciting newcomer, the 29-year-old Belgian international forward Justine Vanhaevermaet, suggests Rowe could be set to lose her leading scorer crown at the club, Natasha Harding’s captaincy can help compensate for the loss of Williams. With the irrepressible and influential Wales player around, Chambers not only possesses a charismatic leader but the sort of midfielder who ensures a side studded with a homegrown players are rarely beaten easily.
At only 19, Emma Harries, a fast and physical striker, seems set to become another of Chambers’s successful youth team graduates. After joining Reading’s academy at the age of eight she has benefited from a junior coaching philosophy rooted in the conviction that an unusually high percentage of the academy intake will graduate to the first team.
Accordingly Chambers is not the type of manager to ignore young players. “Kelly’s brilliant,” Harries says. “But she’s also prepared to be critical of the young players. This encourages us and allows us to develop.”
This process can only be accelerated by the women’s summer relocation to the state-of-the-art training base they now share with Veljko Paunovic’s men’s team. “Moving into Bearwood Park has really raised our level of professionalism,” Chambers says. “The amazing facilities allow us to really push for what we want this season.
“The biggest thing for me this summer has been making sure the girls are physically ready for this league because, year on year, it gets tougher. It gets faster and, first and foremost, we’ve got to compete with that. Then we can let our football do the talking.”
The manager
Chambers has been in charge of Reading since the 2014-15 season though the team have been stuck in the mid-table for the past few campaigns. Despite a few bumpy seasons, she is dedicated to the club she represented as a player and her passion for the side is clear at every match.
Key players
Justine Vanhaevermaet The Belgian international is a huge signing and the club is a great fit as the forward wants to be successful in the league. She brings experience from competing in Norway and Germany as well as playing for her country. The experience of playing in the WSL will add to her game and she will be a different option for Chambers.
Chloe Peplow She was a talisman for Tottenham and, as Reading have lost Angharad James in the midfield to North Carolina Couage, Peplow is a good signing to rally the troops and lead them in buildup play. The midfielder is still young at 22 but she has a huge amount of experience after making her WSL debut at 16 for Birmingham.
Natasha Harding She is a dependable and great role model for her squad, making her an ideal captain at the Royals. The midfielder has been at the slub since 2017 and has performed well throughout. Her good form has also won her more international caps with Wales and added experience.
