Fans were treated to a double-header over this weekend as Wycombe Wanderers men’s and ladies teams played their respective league matches at Adams Park as part of Wycombe’s dedicated ‘Her Game Too’ weekend.
W3 have had an excellent season so far, as they found themselves top of the SRWFL table, winning 12, drawing three and losing only once before Sunday’s match, which included a 9-1 victory over Beaconsfield Town, 11-1 against Fleet and 6-0 against Sholing, reaching a goal difference of 51 and earning 39 points, currently eight clear of the team in second.
Kayla Potter and Jess Watkins are the top two in the league in terms of goal scorers, with 28 and 22 netted, respectively; Chloe Melton is not too far behind in third with 20 scored.
But they have also been very strong when defending their goal, only conceding a total of 21 times in all competitions so far this season, with only three league matches left to play.
Tickets were completely free for today’s fixture with the Origin Stand open, and the turnout was great overall.
From the start, Wanderers played very fluent football and were not afraid to send the ball up the pitch, only lacking the finish, and they stopped the visitors’ attacks well in the first half hour of the match. But it was Portchester who opened the scoring, with True finding the back of the net to send them in front.
The goal didn’t seem to get to Wanderers as they continued playing very attacking football. Watkins was close to an equaliser, but her effort on goal was collected by the Portchester keeper on the brink of the break. The second half was no different, Wanderers continuing their attacks in an effort to find an equaliser, with Hoesli-Atkins close with a free kick, but it was tipped over the bar.
Unfortunately, Wycombe couldn’t find the equaliser and the game ended 1-0, the visitors taking home all three points today.
While the result didn’t go their way today, Wanderers still find themselves top of the table with three left to play in their efforts to gain promotion into tier four, yet to play Woodley, Badshot and Portchester away.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and it was great to see that many people making the effort to go and watch the ladies play at Adams Park.
Providing free tickets gave people a great opportunity to bring family or friends to the match and was a good way to introduce new fans to the club.
Furthermore, a good turnout could inspire those to decide to hold more of their matches in Wycombe. The atmosphere during the match was good, too, and seeing people get behind the team can only help them push on to gain promotion this season.
The “Her Game Too” campaign is to tackle sexism in football and make stadiums safer and more inclusive for women and girls. At the men’s match on Saturday, the squad wore branded shirts during the warm-up, flags were handed out, and more aspiring creators were given the opportunity to create content, such as matchday graphics, for the official pages.
Showing that the Women’s team is part of the same club, not a separate entity, is great, and it should definitely be done more often. Hopefully, at some point, the club will be able to have all four stands open and achieve an even better turnout. It’s an extremely important event to have, as it could help women feel safer at matches, encourage them to attend more games in the future, and bring greater support to women’s matches.
