Sherwood's grand ambitions for Swansea City Women

Jamie Sherwood has worked for the Football Association of Wales, Cardiff City Ladies and Cardiff City Women, as well as Yeovil Town

Jamie Sherwood was part of the same Torquay United youth team as Garry Monk, the manager who led Swansea City to their best Premier League finish.

Nine years since Monk’s team ended up eighth in the top flight, it is Sherwood trying to rewrite Swansea's history books, though in his case it is as boss of the club's female team.

Sherwood was named Swansea City Women’s manager in May.

His team play at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday (14:00 BST) against Barry Town Women.

They will be hoping to build on victory over Cardiff Met last Sunday, on the opening weekend of the new Adran Premier season.

The initial goal for Swansea is to regain the Welsh domestic title, which has gone to Cardiff City Women in the last two campaigns.

But Sherwood has grander ambitions for a club starting their second season as a semi-professional outfit.

“We want to be the first Welsh club that gets through the Champions League qualifiers, male or female,” Sherwood declares.

“It’s a huge ambition, but if we don’t have ambition, we don’t achieve anything.”

The reward for winning the Adran Premier is a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

But to date, Welsh sides have made little impact in the competition.

Last month, for instance, Cardiff were beaten 7-0 by FC Twente in their opening Champions League qualifying game, then lost 2-0 to North Macedonia’s ZFK Ljuboten – and that was the end of that.

Swansea came from behind to beat Cardiff Met on the opening weekend of the new season, with Danielle Broadhurst (centre) scoring on her debut

It was a familiar tale for Wales’ representatives in Europe’s elite competition.

Yet Sherwood is convinced a different story is possible.

His optimism is based on a shift in approach in Welsh women’s football, with Swansea among a handful of clubs now running semi-professional teams.

When Sherwood's old mate Monk was at Swansea, the women’s side wore the same crest as the men but the links between the two teams were minimal.

Now the landscape has changed, with Swansea announcing in summer 2023 that the women’s team would be “formally brought under the umbrella” of the men’s club.

“There is real passion and desire behind the female side within the club,” says Sherwood, who has experience of managing in England’s Women’s Super League at Yeovil Town.

“We are part of the fabric of the club, we are the DNA.

“Having been involved in women’s football for a long time, it’s refreshing to have such alignment within the departments and to have that support.”

Swansea’s new commitment to women’s football saw 16 players sign semi-professional contracts last year.

In March they appointed a first head of women’s football, Alice Weekes, in their history, while under-17, under-15 and under-13 sides have been created in the last 12 months.

The plan is to go further, with younger age-group teams to be set up in time.

“We have established the pathway,” Weekes tells BBC Sport Wales.

“In principle, anything the men and boys get, we will do a version of that for the women and girls.

“I think that’s huge. I think standards in women’s football are key, and making sure most importantly that they are being looked after properly from the ground up. It’s not just a PR move.”

One recent development has seen members of staff from the men’s side of the club spending time with the women’s senior team.

Sherwood’s players only train collectively twice a week, but strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists are now provided for them by the club.

“There’s more care for players, more support, more structure, more resource,” says Sherwood.

“What brought me to the club was proper alignment, not just wearing the kit. It’s not just having a team bus, it’s having the right food on the bus, having the right schedule to make us as elite as we possibly can be.”

There are also new signings – such as Danielle Broadhurst, Charlie Haynes and Wales international Nia Jones - who Sherwood says have added to the “quality depth” of his squad.

Weekes says there is “endless opportunity” for Swansea to progress, while there is hope that standards across the Adran Premier will continue to improve.

“The league is becoming more competitive and the more competitive it is the better, because that’s the product people will hopefully want to come and watch,” says Weekes, who previously worked at the Welsh Rugby Union.

“The big one for me is the broadcast deal. I believe that’s the start of bringing in more sponsors, more fans. Maybe in the long term the league can go professional, but I think we are talking five years for that.”

Sherwood, the husband of former Wales international Katie Sherwood, says the nation’s domestic league is “more competitive than it’s ever been”.

Having seen the Bluebirds set the bar in the last couple of seasons, Swansea’s challenge in 2024-25 is to reclaim the title they last won in 2022.

“We finished second last year, so we have to bridge that gap first,” Sherwood says.

“First we have to win our league. Once you do that then you can find out what comes next.”