The Vics Column by Abbey Whittingham

THIS week, we look at how our friends at the Northwich Vixens are preparing for their new League season and their progress in the FA Cup

Last Sunday the Northwich Vixens Ladies Team travelled to The J Davidson Stadium to play local rivals Altrincham FC Ladies in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.

On a fantastic playing surface the Vixens dominated the first half and went into the break 4-0 up. Overall, it was a strong team performance with the game ending 5-0.

This result was on the back of another fine away win at Didsbury FC Ladies also in the FA Cup.

The reward for these two wins is an away draw at Sheffield Wednesday Ladies, who play in the North East Regional Women’s Football League Premier Division, on Sunday 4 October.

This will be another fantastic challenge for the Vixens who had a great run in the Women’s FA Cup last season.

The league season 19/20 was also very successful, until it was brought to a premature finish due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Vixens were looking at finishing in one of their highest league positions for several seasons as well as reaching the semi-finals of the County Cup before the competition was cancelled.

Manager Tony Heron said: “I think that the Club has done fantastically well to manage the pre-season and early FA Cup rounds under the current Covid restrictions and that’s credit to all of the club’s staff and players.

“Last Sunday’s win against Altrincham was our best performance to date and built on how we played in the previous round against Didsbury.

“We look in good shape for the start of our League campaign and its testimony to the Club that we have managed to retain all of the players that we identified as wanting to keep as well as recruiting experienced players to add additional quality to the squad along with some younger players who are really exciting prospects. We can’t wait to get started now!”

The 20/21 league season is due to start on Sunday, 11 October where the Vixens will look to carry on the progress made already in pre-season.

With a number of competitive pre-season games already played and several development team players introduced into the first team squad, the Vixens will be looking to have another successful cup run and strong performance in the league.