Nikki Baker is delighted to have kept her Luton Town Ladies squad together, despite a devastating relegation, as they aim to fulfil their tag of promotion favourites.
Today (2pm) Town play their first home game of the season at The Brache on Gipsy Lane against Royston Women, having got their league campaign off to a dramatic winning beginning last weekend, when striker Dionne Manning completed a hat-trick in the 90th minute to beat Peterborough Northern Star 3-2 on the road.
Hatters boss Baker has seen and done it all with the women’s team in a 22-year career as a player and now the manager, but losing their eight-year long National League status last term was a bitter blow for a team that was lining up against West Ham in a major cup final for the first time in their history, just 16 months ago.
“It was a complete and utter disaster,” Baker said of the drop down to the Eastern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division.
Injuries were a major factor, as two of Town’s top goalscorers, Nicola Henman and Tasha Fensome, both ruptured their anterior cruciate ligaments early in the campaign, which removed in one fell swoop a combined 50 goals from the previous season.
Baker said: “Any team men or women, that loses 50 goals and doesn’t replace them is going to struggle. We didn’t have funds to go and buy someone.
“We had loads of injuries and Jess McKay, who got the golden boot in the end, suffered with an ankle problem too. Also, I’d just had a baby, though I was back in the dugout two weeks.”
But Baker’s team has started as they hope to carry on this season with a victory and they’ll aim to replicate that this afternoon against Royston.
Baker said: “The aim is to get promoted but it’s a tough ask because only one team goes up, so you could be out of it by September, if you lose a couple of games. It’s a very competitive league.
“We won our first game and I wouldn’t say we were lucky, because I think we deserved to win it, but we scraped it with a 90th minute winner. We could’ve scored more with a couple of one-on-ones, but it was such a big relief to get the first win.”
That’s not least because there was a time in the summer where Baker says it was “looking really bleak,” with other teams trying to poach Luton’s players.
Their geographical location is one of the biggest barriers the club comes up against, with Stevenage, MK Dons and Watford all nearby and, particularly the latter two have money, while Milton Keynes is a draw because the women’s team play their home games at stadium:mk.
Baker said: “I was really worried and at one point in pre-season, I had players trialling left, right and centre at other clubs, who were coming after my players, offering my players money to play. It put us in a difficult situation because our players pay to play, which is why Dionne started off a campaign for sponsors and I think the majority of our first team have now got sponsors, which is amazing.
“What we’re trying to get to is where they all get free football. Fair play to our players, most of them have stayed despite getting relegated and having to pay.
“In one way, I’d rather have a team that wants to play for Luton, rather than a team that’s just chasing the money.
“I’d also like to the think the majority have stayed, one, to get us back to where we deserve to be and, two, because they like playing for the club.
“We signed a few more players to add to it so, on paper, we’re probably the favourites to get promoted but it never works like that.
“But it’s good to start fresh in a league where we know we can do well. We should be doing well. We’ve got a very young side in general.”
“The aim is to get promoted but it’s a tough ask because only one team goes up”
Today will be this season’s first appearance at the men’s team’s Brache training headquarters, which became their new home ground in January, providing the team with better facilities. Previous to that, the Ladies’ first team had played their games at Stockwood Park Athletics Centre.
Baker said: “It’s an athletics stadium so, unfortunately you get holes in the pitch from hammer throwers and things like that and in the winter it just floods really easily. So, for us, it’s nice to play on a 3G pitch because the ball moves quicker, it’s more professional and modern.
“I think that made a difference to the girls, mentally. That’s a big help from Luton Town, we do appreciate that and we’re respectful of it.”
To hear Baker talk about today’s visit of Royston, fast forward to 13 minutes 18 seconds of the latest Luton Press Pass Podcast below.
You can support Luton Town Ladies with the kick-off at 2pm and entry for adults set at £2 and concessions at just £1.
