Webb wants good Vase run alongside promotion push

Rosi Webb guided Stanway Pegasus to the 2022 Essex & Suffolk Border League title

"I don't ever walk into the changing room and think I'm a female coach, I just see myself as a coach - and the boys are really receptive."

Stanway Pegasus boss Rosi Webb is one of very few women in charge of a men's team in England and is hoping for another good run in the FA Vase alongside their ongoing push for promotion.

The Eastern Counties League Division One North side are away to London Lions - from a level above - on Saturday, having beaten the same opponents on penalties last season during a run to the fourth round.

"We played them last year and we're expecting it to be another tight game this year. We know they're a good side and move the ball around really well. We know they're going to be direct. But we focus on what our strengths are ahead of the game," Webb told BBC Essex.

"Any cup game has a different feel, it's a break from the league, it's a one-match-at-a-time attitude and gives you a little bit of a buzz around the club.

"The financial side of it is really big for clubs like us, we rely a lot on investment and sponsorship. And we enjoy these little cups runs, it unites us as a squad the further we progress."

Webb's team, who play home games at Stanway School in Colchester, are second in the league, having won 14 of their 18 games with Max Booth scoring 13 goals.

And Webb is hoping it will be third time lucky in the promotion race following near misses in the last two seasons, having won the Essex & Suffolk Border League in 2022.

"We fell short in the last two seasons in the play-offs, we regrouped, we tried to better ourselves off the pitch this year and implement different stuff into the side which has gone down really well," she said.

Webb has a Uefa B coaching licence and also works at the FA Women's High Performance Centre at the University of Essex.

Despite her first team responsibilities at Stanway, she is also keen to create a pathway for young players to come through, which has led to the setting up this season of an under-23 team and increased the option of rotating players between squads to give them extra game-time.

"The club have been brilliant, they've backed everything I've tried to implement," she added.

"Reaching the fourth round last year in the Vase and getting to the play-offs are highlights, but for me it's about bringing players through the club and seeing them progress.

"We're really keen to develop the youth pathway through our club which we've spent lots of time trying to develop and evolve over the last four years and we're slowly starting to see those players come through into senior football.

"Even though it (football) is about results, it's also about those little gems, when you get to see the under-16s come through to the 18s, the 23s and make their first-team debut and we've had a couple already this season."

Webb is sure that in only "a few years' time" there will be female coaches making their way in the men's professional game.

And she is keen to encourage more women to dip a toe in the water to see if the role appeals to them.

"I'm a big advocate of supporting your local team, find out who your local team is, go and watch them," she added.

"Teams are always looking for volunteers so whether it's just going along to training and supporting around the training ground, just give it a go, it might be a pathway you'll be taking for many years to come."