Match Report: Liverpool Ladies 1 - 0 Doncaster Belles

 Liverpool Ladies supporters in attendance this evening were treated to debut home performances from no less than 6 players.

 Winter signings Lucy Staniforth and Gemma Davison were each handed a place in the starting line up, Staniforth making her first start since returning from injury. Martha Harris and Libby Stout were both second half substitutes while development squad graduates Katie Zelem and Ellie Stewart also entered the fray in the second half.

 An unusual line up change meant Libby Stout played the first 45 minutes in goal for Doncaster, switching at half-time with Danielle Gibbons who had had a busy 45 minutes in the Liverpool goal.

 Liverpool also named a trialist amongst the starting 11, keep an eye on the official LFC Ladies twitter for any developments with that between now and the start of the season.

 Doncaster Belles kicked us off in the first half, immediately the game picked up a fast pace with both sides showing attacking intent. Matt Beard had named two strikers in his starting 11, Kate Longhurst and Natasha Dowie, with Longhurst seemingly playing just behind Dowie. Both strikers linked up well throughout the first half, Longhurst doing everything but scoring with a number of strikes going agonisingly close.

 Early in the first half an impressive Gemma Davison broke down the right wing, cutting the ball across the field from distance to Lucy Staniforth who tried her luck from 40 yards but the shot went into the stands.

 Sue Smith was ever the attacking threat on the left for the Belles, Lucy Bronze had her hands full particularly during the first half when Smith was sending ball after ball into the Liverpool box. Danielle Gibbons dealing well with any balls sent her way, being forced into a dive on a number of occasions.

 Bronze towards the end of last season established herself as one of Liverpool's most important players, tonight she had yet another excellent game at right back. Battling for the ball, running up and down the wing and despite moving into centre-back when Becky Easton replaced captain Gemma Bonner still finding herself in the 6-yard box at the other end being unlucky to break the deadlock on around 80 minutes.

 Gemma Davison was the catalyst to many of the Liverpool attacks, showing off the pace and skill she is renowned for and that she displayed against us with Arsenal in August last year. Davison almost set Fara Williams up after flicking the ball brilliantly around the Doncaster defender and into the path of Williams, her chip only saved by the goalkeeper at full stretch.

 At a number of points during the game it felt as though there was no way through the Doncaster defence, Katrin battled her way through the centre of midfield with her strike being put out for a corner. The resulting corner being cleared but only into the path of Staniforth who's blocked shot went back to Katrin who's goal bound strike was saved. Minutes later Kate Longhurst tried a low shot from 6 yards out, parried away only as far as Williams who's sideways pass found Staniforth. Staniforth's strike was hit into the path of Natasha Dowie but the goals continued to elude Liverpool and again the shot was saved.

 During the second half, Natasha Dowie and Kate Longhurst linked up well again as Longhurst chested the ball down into the path of the oncoming Dowie but her shot went inches over the bar.

 Martha Harris replaced Corina Schroder at half-time, Lincoln's Player of the Year last season also making an immediate impact doing well under pressure shielding the ball from Doncaster's Millie Bright and safely into the hands of Libby Stout. Harris also impressed attacking down the left wing, linking well with the midfield and making it look like she was playing three positions at once!

 Two players introduced during the second half, Katie Zelem replacing Lucy Staniforth and Ellie Stewart replacing the trialist have both been enjoying fantastic seasons with the development squad over the winter break. Both receiving deserved call-ups into the first team squad. Ellie Stewart in particular seems much older than her 17 years when on the pitch, already a commanding presence at centre-back. It was Stewart too who finally broke the deadlock minutes from time, meeting Fara Williams' corner powerfully to head home and give Liverpool the win.

 Much more happened during the course of the game, Kate Longhurst perhaps having the unluckiest 90 minutes in front of goal doing everything but scoring. For all the match updates and play by play as it happened, check out the Twitter feed at @LFCladiesfans

 Liverpool XI: Gibbons (Stout), Bronze, Bonner (C)(Easton), trialist (Stewart), Schroder (Harris), Omarsdottir, Williams, Staniforth (Zelem), Davison, Longhurst, Dowie (Rolser)

 POTM: Gemma Davison

 A very enjoyable evening back at Halton watching the first team, thanks for reading this match report and welcome to any new followers on Twitter this evening!

Match Preview: Liverpool Ladies v Doncaster Belles

 This Saturday Doncaster Belles will visit the Select Stadium, Widnes for Liverpool Ladies first home pre-season friendly. Kick off is at 6:30pm and entry to the game is free!

 On Sunday Liverpool were away at Sunderland WFC, starting 2014 with a 2-0 victory over last years Premier League winners and this years FAWSL2 newcomers. Rachel Laws, our title-winning keeper, has now of course returned to Sunderland after completing her loan spell with us and came on for the second half.

 Natasha Dowie picked up were she left off last season, tapping home a Nicole Rolser cross from close distance while Amanda Da Costa was also on the score sheet; scoring her first Liverpool goal since her double in the 4-0 league win away at Arsenal.

 Liverpool's four new signings all made their debuts on Sunday, new number 1 Libby Stout playing the first 45 minutes before Danielle Gibbons replaced her at half-time. Gemma Davison also started and played the full 90 minutes while Martha Harris and Lucy Staniforth were both second half substitutes, Staniforth making her return from injury having not played since last May.

 Also making their first appearances for the first team, Ellie Stewart started while Ashley Hodson, Katie Zelem and Hannah Dale were all named substitutes for the game. Their good performances for the development squad over the winter break clearly impressing Matt Beard enough to call them up, hopefully we will also see them at home this Saturday.

 While Doncaster Belles will be playing in the new FAWSL2 this season, they have managed to keep many of their star players. Vicky Williams, Sue Smith, Millie Bright and Bethany England to name a few players that have stuck with the Belles as they attempt to win promotion this season. The Belles also have a new manager, Gordon Staniforth - which of course makes Saturday nights tie being a family affair with our new midfielder and Staniforth's daughter Lucy!

 To conclude this match preview, the latest Women's World Football Show features a Liverpool Ladies preview. I join Adam in previewing Liverpool Ladies for 2014 and we discuss last season, new signings, Matt Beard, Natasha Dowie, Lucy Bronze, Whitney Engen and of course our chances of retaining our league title this year! Also on the show Adam and Patty have a matchworn, signed Lucy Bronze shirt to give away. The Liverpool preview is about half way through the latest show, the question to win the Bronze shirt comes shortly after. Thanks very much to Adam & Patty for having me on the show, WWF Show is a twice-monthly podcast bringing you women's news from the UK and USA and is well worth a listen.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE.

Finally, you can now follow LFCladiesfans news on three platforms, Twitter, Facebook & Sportlobster.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at Halton on Saturday!

Heather

LFC Ladies announce the signing of Lucy Staniforth!

 Today Liverpool Ladies announced the surprise signing of Bristol Academy midfielder Lucy Staniforth.

 Lucy began her career at Sunderland Ladies alongside Lucy Bronze, before moving to Lincoln Ladies where she scored 9 goals in 27 appearances.  In late 2012 Staniforth moved to Bristol Academy,  playing half a season and making 9 appearances before suffering a serious knee injury in the 2013 FA Cup Final against Arsenal.

 Staniforth has also represented England through the age groups, right up to Under-23 level.  Her first senior cap probably only delayed due to injury.

Staniforth scores Lincoln's winner vs Liverpool in May, 2011 (no37)

 Lucy Staniforth is a fantastic addition to our title-winning squad and adds to our brilliant attacking force that already includes some of the leagues best attacking players.

 Follow Lucy on Twitter here.

 Thanks for reading @LFCLadiesFans

Match Report: Liverpool Ladies 0 - 0 Doncaster Belles (Development Squad)

 The first Liverpool Ladies home game of 2014 seen the development squad battle Doncaster Belles to the final whistle for a share of the points.

 Three players returned from international duty with England, Olivia Wild, Hannah Dale and Claudia Walker have all been involved in training camps and friendlies this week with the England Under 19s. Olivia Wild also made her return to first team action after injuring her wrist in the last competitive fixture last year.

 Missing from the squad were Ellie Stewart, Katie Zelem and Danielle Gibbons, all three players are now training with the first team who returned from the off-season last week. Replacing keeper Danielle Gibbons was new signing from Blackburn Rovers Gemma Jackson.

 The game started similarly to the last two home games for the development squad, neither side really troubling the others defence and a few strikes from distance outside of the box. The game began to settle around the 15 minute mark, Liverpool beginning a nice passing move which led to Ashley Hodson shooting just wide after being fed through by Bethany Donoghue.

 Throughout the 90 minutes, the game was end-to-end. The Liverpool defence and new centre-back pairing of Sophia Riccio and Shannon Beckwith withstanding the pressure from the Doncaster attacks, Hannah Dale also made a couple of important challenges during the first half. Dale was effective at both ends throughout the match with a couple of long range efforts either side of half-time.

 New signing Gemma Jackson impressed on her debut, Doncaster perhaps had more shots on target than Liverpool but Jackson dealt with each strike well. During the first half a low cross came into the box which the Doncaster striker attempted to tap past the keeper, Jackson stayed on her feet to clear the ball.

 The two full-backs Olivia Wild and Megan Alexander also had impressive games on the flanks, as Natasha Dowie mentioned on LFC TV's Thursday Night Live the other night Matt Beard has his full-backs playing higher up attacking like wing-backs and this seems to be the case for the development squad also.

 Claudia Walker and Ashley Hodson up front also continued their good form from last year, Walker with a fantastic chance in the first half weaving her way through the midfield before shooting on goal and Hodson with an agonisingly close effort with about ten minutes to go in the second half. Walker squared the ball to Hodson in the 6-yard box but the strike went the wrong side of the post.

 Hannah Dale perhaps had the games greatest chance, pulled down on the edge of the 18-yard box in the first-half, Dale stepped up to take the free kick herself. The ball swung in and dipped but crashed off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared.

 Victoria Rumsey and Emilie Revitt were both second half substitutes, replacing Rebecca Hillman and Megan Alexander. Revitt linking up well with Riccio in the dying minutes to thwart a final Doncaster attack and keep the score level at 0-0.

 POTM: Could have gone to a number of players today, Hannah Dale gets more impressive in the centre of midfield each game, Olivia Wild had a great game at left back against tough opposition, but Player of the Match today goes to Bethany Donoghue who was a constant attacking threat on the right of midfield, putting cross after cross into the box and being very unlucky that none of these were converted past the Belles keeper.

 Team: Jackson, Wild, Beckwith, Riccio, Alexander (Revitt), Dale, Donoghue, Vella, Hillman (Rumsey), Hodson, Walker


 The squad now has a couple of weeks before their next game, away at Duham. The next home game listed here is against Notts County on 30th March.

 For more information on Liverpool's development squad follow the official @LFCLadies twitter.

 Thanks for reading!

 @LFCLadiesFans

Amanda Da Costa & Natasha Dowie on Thursday Night Live

  Tonight Liverpool Ladies duo Amanda Da Costa and Natasha Dowie made an appearance on LFCTV's Thursday Night Live alongside Liverpool legend Alan Kennedy and former player Stephen Warnock. Although neither could beat the Top Bin Challenge, it was a great chance to see the players being interviewed for the first time in 2014 ahead of the new season. For the full interview see below, the show will also be repeated on LFCTV (Sky channel 429) a number of times over the next week so if you want to watch it keep an eye out!

 Being back for pre-season

 Natasha Dowie: It's been great. We started back training on Monday, it's been nice to see all the new players and old faces as well. It's been tough - there's a lot of running involved in pre-season - but to have the opportunity to train during the day and full-time is unbelievable. It's a dream come true.

 Amanda Da Costa: [There has been] a lot of fitness testing to see what we've been doing over the off-season to keep in shape and stay fit. Now it's just maintaining that fitness level and pushing the limits a little bit, everyone looks sharp and ready to go this season.

 On the break

 ND: The season finished in September so we've had a good 3 months off. I've been quite busy with England which is good because I don't really like having too much time off doing nothing, the gym gets a little boring after a while I like to be on the field kicking a ball around. We've got World Cup Qualifiers every month with England. The break hasn't been too long but the season starts now in April so we've got a long time still until we get the games under way, I think it's a case of keeping fresh and keeping injury free and ready for the season to start.

 Q: Would you class Man City as your derby now, rather than Everton?

 ND: No, I'd definitely still say Everton. I was at Everton for 4 years so when we had the derby last year it was a huge game for me personally. Obviously you want to beat your old team mates and we came away victorious in both game. Everton - for me - 100% would be the derby game for us.

 AD: I didn't even know what [the derby] was before I came, so that was a learning experience for me! After being a part of Liverpool and understanding the rivalry between Everton and us. The first derby we had just about a year ago it was snowing and it was an intense game. I've had rivalries before at University in the States, that's probably the next thing I could compare it to and that's not much of a comparison!

 On Daniel Sturridge

 ND: He's played brilliant for Liverpool since he's signed, him and Suarez have a brilliant partnership - similar to mine and Amanda's, she knows where I'm running and picks me out every time. Him and Suarez have probably been the best two centre forwards this season so far.

 Q: Amanda, if you were Steven Gerrard would you have let Natasha take that penalty?

 AD: Tash would have grabbed that ball and ran to the penalty spot so fast I wouldn't have had time to say anything otherwise! You have that goal scoring mentality and the emotion in a derby like that, he tried and unfortunatey he came up a little short.

 ND: As a centre forward I would want to take that to complete my hat trick, I can't say how Sturridge was feeling at that time but the way he took it I don't know if he was just a bit too excited. It looked to me that he was just focusing on the hat trick.

 Alan Kennedy: You're right I didn't think he took the penalty right, he usually places them but he rushed it over the top.

 On returning from injury

 ND: I had a bad injury just before I signed for Liverpool. I did my ankle ligaments, came back 6 weeks later and then tore my groin. That always happens when you come back from one injury you tend to get another. I attempted to play through it all season, taking painkillers and trying to get through it so I probably wasn't 50% - I think I scored 1 goal for Everton the whole season. So I really focused on doing my proper rehab before the season started for Liverpool and I was injury free all last year and had a really good year. It is tough and I think as a player you always just want to try and get through it no matter what. I think it is important that you do do the right rehab because in the end it will end up putting you back longer so it is frustrating.

 Q: Amanda, how is life on Merseyside?

 AD: I like it here, I've had a year already to adjust - this is my second season back with the team. All the girls are great, we all fit in together really well, Tash is a good friend on and off the pitch and I think that shows in our play as well. We have our spots that we like to go to around town that we frequent, it's a lot of fun. I'm enjoying exploring the city, it's somewhere new and definitely different from New York.

 On winning the league

 AD: That was a lot of fun to bring home. When I first signed to come here the club had a long way to go and they were making a lot of positive changes. I was really excited to be a part of it and I wouldn't have come all the way over here if not to win the league, myself and my team mates had our sights set on it and we did what we said we would do so that was pretty cool!

 Q: Are the UK catching up to the USA in terms of Women's Football?

 AD: I think so, the women's game has come really far globally. There's a lot of other leagues - Germany, Sweden, France - England is really catching up and I think that the league in the States has a long way to go. It's definitely made some progress, it's learnt from mistakes in the past with having to shut down and reopens itself several times. University is huge in the United States, it's very competitive. It was hard for me, I came out of college at and awkward time in the league - it was up, it was down and I didn't know what to do. I've always wanted to comes overseas so for me it was a perfect opportunity.

 On full-backs

 ND: It's a very demanding position, just from the way we played last season I think our manager Matt Beard looked at the Liverpool first team. Our full-backs are literally like wing-backs and the amount of energy they've got is unbelievable. It's not an easy position, it's very tough.

 Score predictions for Liverpool vs West Brom

 ND: 2-0

 AD: 3-0

Libby Stout signs for Liverpool!

 Today Liverpool Ladies made American goalkeeper Libby Stout their third winter signing, Stout joins us from BV Cloppenburg who play in Germany's 1. Bundesliga.

 Libby Stout is a US Under 23 international, who has been included in two rosters in 2013, she played college football at Western Kentucky University before becoming a professional footballer in France playing for Yzere and facing the likes of Lyon and PSG in the league. Stout left Yzere in June 2013, signing for German side BV Cloppenburg.

 Following last months announcement that both Sarah Quantrill and Rachel Laws have left the club, Libby is a welcome addition to Liverpool and joins keeper Danielle Gibbons.

 Here is a highlights reel from 2012 (lower the volume before playing!)

 Follow Libby on Twitter here: @libbystout
 All Liverpool Ladies, inc. 3 new signings, Twitter accounts here: Liverpool Ladies

 Libby also writes a blog, talking about her experiences playing in France & Germany: BLOG!

 Thanks for reading @LFCLadiesFans

Louise Fors leaves Liverpool on loan

*Now confirmed by Liverpool

 Yesterday Louise Fors announced on her official Facebook page that she will not be returning to Liverpool for the 2014 season and instead will be playing her football on loan in Sweden.

 In 2013 Fors was a crucial part of Liverpool's title winning team, at the midway point she was our Player of the Season with eye catching and impressive performances on the left. Fors was also Liverpool's main set piece taker, scoring many memorable goals throughout the season; her first Liverpool goal a penalty in the Continental Cup derby against Everton, a thumping free kick away at Birmingham and of couse the title sealing penalty on the final day against Bristol Academy.

 The full statement from Facebook is below, translated via Google:

"I started my business in October last year where the purpose was to share with me out of my skills and experience but most of all inspire young soccer girls to what is actually possible today as women's football player. Today I had time to visit the 1:10 speech team around Sweden and have received a very good response to my presentation on "my journey" but even when I've stayed in trainings, which is very fun and inspiring to continue. So now that I 've decided to be on loan from Liverpool FC to a Swedish club season in 2014 (due to personal reasons, my wedding in June), I will continue developing my academy and it is clear that my academy will be named " Lollo Football Academy". I have already received interest from many women's teams around Stockholm which is very fun. I am also currently planning a camp in the summer out in the southern suburbs, where my own travel started. So it looks to be an exciting year for me and my academy . Help me spread my academy. Like and reshare Thanks!"

 Fors' decison to play in Sweden, while disappointing as a Liverpool supporter, is completely understandable on a personal level and I wish her the best of luck in the next stage of her career, YNWA!

 Follow Louise Fors on Twitter here & her official Facebook page here.

 In other ex-Liverpool Ladies news, former reds striker Hannah Keryakoplis has joined Birmingham City while US defender Whitney Engen has been drafted in the NWSL to play for Houston Dash.