A look back at the 2024/25 season for Posh Women Under 23s.
Peterborough United Women Under 23s ended their FA Women’s National League Reserves Midlands Division campaign fifth in the table, with six wins and three draws from 16 matches.
Michael Allsebrook’s side also reached the FAWNL Reserve Cup quarter-finals and third round of the Northamptonshire County Cup.
Allsebrook summed up the season: “Whilst it’s not lasted long in terms of months, it’s been a long one in terms of games packed in. I feel like we’ve played a lot of games and it’s been a rollercoaster in terms of results. It’s weird to see the season finish in March but it gives us a lot of time to look back and reflect.”
One of the Academys’ aims is to produce players for the First Team. This season saw centre-back Edyn Osker and striker Ella Bale enjoy breakthrough seasons with the First Team whilst defender Jess Abrantes and Rebecca Mears have also featured for Jake Poole’s side. Allsebrook shares his delight at the pathway success this season:
“We knew Edyn, Ella, Rebecca and Jess are really good players. We feel like we’ve added value to them. They’ve developed so much. Our job is to produce players; they come through the academy as good technical players and in the under 23s we add the tactical and confidence aspect to their game. They’ve been the shining stars to our academy by making the step up to the first team.”
With players making the step-up to the First Team, the academy continued to produce players with five players making the transition from Under 16s to Under 23s this season. Allsebrook has been pleased at the player development this season:
“Chloe (Biggadike) was the first player to step up from the under 16s this season and has been really consistent. Eve (Cragg), Lola (Cook) , Elle (Ford) and Imogen (Hollway) are good players and have contributed huge amounts to our pathway. We’ve got more players coming through the pathway that aren’t quite ready yet but ultimately the future is bright for us. We look at each player one by one and they’ve all got better at multiple assets of their game.”
Allsebrook recalls some of his highlights of the season: “It would be obvious to choose the victories against Barnsley (12-0 and 9-0) but personally the two matches against Derby are stand out games. Derby have a great set-up in terms of their First Team and academy so to be the team that causes them as many problems as we did is great credit to us. The games both home and away against them were matches where we were great both in and out of possession, and as a manager that’s something I’m always striving for.”