A LOCAL women’s football team may be just over a year old, but it’s already hitting the back of the net as a real success story.
Saddleworth 3Ds Football Club launched its first ever women’s team in November 2023 – bringing together players who had either never played before, or hadn’t in over a decade.
The team has now grown to have around 20 players – with a diverse range of ages and backgrounds within the squad.
Explaining how it came about, player manager Stacey MacNaught told the Independent: “In October 2023, I was discussing with our club chairman John Lees that Saddleworth 3Ds had never had a women’s team before, and the fact there seems a sizeable lack around our area of more ‘recreational’ type teams where it’s not taken too seriously and you don’t have to commit every week.
“The club basically said they’d fully support setting up something like that so, the following month, I did. Our first kick around had eight women in their 30s and 40s. Most of us have kids playing in the junior teams and the majority of that starting eight hadn’t played on a team before – those who had hadn’t played since school or university, so it was very beginner centric.
“We got a grant from the FA and became a JustPlay centre – a session where women can just turn up and play and we initially set our audience to women aged 30+. It became clear there was quite a demand for recreational football for women.
“Before we knew it, we had 12 players and then 16. Today we have a squad of 20 women of mixed football experience and ability, mixed religions, backgrounds, jobs. It’s such a lovely and diverse group who get on so well together.”
Since September, they have been competing in the Manchester Women’s Flexi League and won five of their first seven games – a run of form which has put them in contention to win the division, despite boasting an average age of more than double some of the teams they face.
“We started to play friendlies against other similar teams in March 2024,” said Stacey. “We took a few heavy defeats, a few narrow defeats and then we won some. The more we played against opposition, the more appetite there was for playing regularly.
“So we made a decision, as a group, to enter the Manchester Women’s Flexi League at the start of this season. We entered into division four, of five, without any real expectations at all.
“The Flexi League was perfect for us – you play 14 league games each season, so it’s not every week, which makes it much easier given the commitments that our group have with children, work and generally busy lives! It’s a really well put together league.”
The team’s first league match was a surreal experience at a former Football League ground.
“We played Bury FC Blues in September 2024 and they play their home games at the Gigg Lane stadium,” Stacey explained.
“It was a bit surreal to find ourselves playing under floodlights in a stadium, just months after some of our team had even started kicking a ball! We won that game 1-0 and it was such a good feeling.”
The team has since continued to make progress – whilst having fun and making friends along the way – under the guidance of an experienced coach.
“Everyone in the team is really starting to believe now that we might even top the table at the end of the season – that’s not something we’d have imagined at the start,” admitted Stacey.
“More than the results though, what’s really been amazing to see is how people have progressed and are enjoying their football. This group of women play football together for so many different reasons.
“It’s not just about football. There’s the social side, the motivation and accountability that comes with team sports, the friends people have made within the group. It’s such a wonderful group of women. With an average age of around 40, we’re often competing against much younger players and it just doesn’t faze any of them. We just go out, play football and have fun doing it.
“Having operated without a coach for a year, we were then joined by one of the club’s longest-serving coaches, Neil Beevor, who has been incredible, patient and very supportive in his training of us! We’re seeing progress every week.”
A group of the players are heading to Scotland in early March to play in friendlies against teams north of the border and enjoy some social time too.
More recently, the squad’s minimum age has been lowered to 25 and there’s potential to expand into two teams.
Amid these exciting times, the club is inviting new players – if there are any women in the Saddleworth or Oldham areas aged 25 or over who fancy a kick about in a low pressure and fun environment. Training is at 9pm on Tuesday evenings at Waterhead Academy.
Anyone interested is asked to get in touch at https://saddleworth3ds.club/womens-over-35
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