Cambridge City pin hopes on youth in Women's FA Cup

Cambridge City have nine 16-year-olds in this season's squad

"They've got tons of energy, they'll run all day."

Cambridge City coach Stewart Nicholls is not talking about the long-running television adverts featuring tireless battery-operated bunnies, he is referring to the fact that more than half of his players are just 16 years old.

And the youthful Lilywhites squad are understandably exhilarated about their upcoming appearance against Stevenage in the first round of the Women's FA Cup - by far the biggest match of their brief careers so far.

They have already proven they have the nerve for the big occasion, with three of the team's youngest players scoring from the penalty spot in a shootout victory at Wormley Rovers in the final qualifying round.

It is only the second time in the competition's history that City have reached the main draw and they have done it with their youngest-ever team.

"I think the average age is 17.8 or something (like that). The majority of us are still doing A-levels or learning to drive," winger Poppy MacLeod, 16, told BBC Look East.

"From a young age, I've always wanted to play in the FA Cup, watching it on TV, and to think that we, as 16 and 17 year olds at college, are in this, it's just amazing," says centre-back Isabel Beeson, 17.

There has been a major upheaval at the New Croft with many members of last season's squad either leaving the club following relegation from Women's National League Division One South East or heading to university.

It left Nicholls with pretty much no option than to put his faith in their youngsters as he began planning for life in Eastern Region League, the fifth tier of the English women's game.

"Relegation cost us a bit with players, we've had to bring them through quicker than we wanted," he said.

"We're trying to ease them in slowly and make a lot of rotations, stepping them up from the A team, then bouncing them back down so we don't overload them.

"We believe in the philosophy and the way we want to do it, but it's been a massive step up for a lot of them.

"They've worked really hard, they want to compete in this league, and as you can see from the cup run, it's starting to pay off."

Cambridge City Women - who's who

Faith Harrison (left, with Isabel Beeson) is Cambridge's top scorer this season

Aged 16 - Erica Meale, Gabrielle Guissani, Lily Horsler, Faith Harrison, Natasha Coe, Summer Taylor, Phoebe Newman, Poppy MacLeod, Ruby Rolfe Long

17 - Isabel Beeson

18 - Thea Black, Sakina Dhirani, Erin Burling

21 - Tye Smith

23 - Jade Barrett

**Zoe Winchester and Olivia Briffa have played this season but are now at university

'Hard to balance school and football'

Members of the Cambridge squad in a sport and exercise class run by teacher Cat Ruth

Several members of the squad are students at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, and their educational and sporting commitments mean free time is at a premium.

"We train twice a week and some of us play matches twice a week as well, travelling to and from college takes a lot of time, travelling to and from training takes a lot of time, so it's quite hard to balance it all," said MacLeod.

"But we all do quite well with it, we all manage to keep up with everything."

Midfielder Natasha Coe adds: "Any spare time I have, I'm doing coursework. I meet most deadlines so that's OK and the teachers are very understanding about it too."

Despite spending so much time together, there is, though, no yearning to get away from each other and do something different.

"It's nice having the company in school and outside of school. We see each other all the time, so we're really close," says 16-year-old striker Faith Harrison, who scored one of the penalties in the 4-1 win over Wormsley after the tie ended in a 1-1 draw.

She also found the target in a 3-0 win away at Woodbridge Town in the second qualifying round, the stage at which they entered the competition - the other goals coming from Lily Horsler and Phoebe Newman - also 16.

Those wins have so far earned the club £7,000 and depending on the result against Stevenage, they will add a further £,6,000 to that should they win, or £1,500 in the event of a defeat - big money indeed for a club at their level.

'Confidence to try new things'

Cambridge City beat Wormley Rovers on penalties to reach the first round

A key member of the Cambridge team is skipper Jade Barrett, a comparative veteran at the age of 23.

She was absent when they lost 6-2 to Stevenage in the league at the beginning of September - a scoreline which Nicholls says "didn't really reflect the game" as a whole.

Barrett scored the final penalty in the cup win over Wormley, but how has leading such a young team through what she describes as a "rebuild period" affected her captaincy style?

"I try to bring the best out of the girls through encouragement and constant communication," she told BBC Sport.

"I feel it is my role to give them the confidence to try new things and to be the best player they can be for the team, as well as helping them develop as the future leaders of this club."

Barrett continued: "Sometimes they do make me feel very old - and also like to tell me how old I am - but in all seriousness, a squad this young is quite unusual in senior football, and it is a new challenge for me being one of the oldest players.

"However, I think that sometimes people get too bogged down in how young a squad is, when actually it is their footballing abilities that are more important."

Coach Stewart Nicholls has been with Cambridge City since the beginning of 2023

These are undoubtedly exciting times for Cambridge City - with the entire club - poised to move to a new home at Sawston, six miles south of the city.

The women's team are part of that, even though it has taken Nicholls' young team time to find their feet in the league, achieving their first win only on 20 October, when Harrison scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Wroxham.

"It's a big prize for the club (to be in the first round of the FA Cup) and for the players. Everyone's buzzing and exposure is crucial, especially at a club that's trying to build quick," said Nicholls.

"We've got the new stadium going up, a lot of work's gone into that, and the girls are working really hard to achieve what we've set out for them."

Captain Barrett knows better than anyone what a big deal the game with Stevenage will be, having made her FA Cup first round debut for Northumberland side Alnwick Town when she was just 16.

"Coming up against a very strong side in Burnley, we unfortunately didn’t progress to the next round, so I am hoping to go one better than that this time," she said.

"We know Stevenage are a strong side who can score goals, having already faced them in the league this season - however, we have grown and gelled as a squad since that game, and I know the girls will give it their all to get the result we all want. Anything can happen in the FA Cup."