Head Coach Damon Lathrope insisted promotion was just reward for his players’ on and off-field dedication throughout 2022/23, after Watford Women defeated Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s (May 20) FA WNL play-off final to secure an immediate return to the Barclays Women’s Championship.
Poppy Wilson’s first-half header proved the difference in a hotly-contested clash between the Northern and Southern Division champions at Stadium MK, who had gone head-to-head in a similarly close FA WNL Cup final in April.
There was to be no disappointment for the Golden Girls this time around though, with this latest victory marking their ninth in a row in league competition, and Lathrope was full of praise for his squad after the full-time whistle.
“It feels unreal, to be honest,” he said. “We set our targets and aims for the season right back in the summer last year, and we’ve probably exceeded them if anything.
“It’s the least the group deserves, and I’m delighted for them. We all genuinely believed we’d do it - I told them before we left the training ground that we were ready and that the prep has been going on for 10 months - and they’ve gone out there and got the job done.
“I can’t praise them highly enough. They work all day, they come into training in the evening, and the way they work and dedicate themselves is outstanding.
“I think their strength in mentality has arguably been the biggest shift. We can’t forget the heartache of relegation last season - that’s the sort of thing that leaves scars - and they’ve shown huge courage to go again.
“As coaches we talk about wanting to help the players on and off the field, so they’re in the best place to cope with adversity in whatever walk of life it might come. They’ve shown how mentally strong they are this year, and as a team we’ve won the league and secured promotion our way, playing our own brand of football.”
A large proportion of the 3,007 fans in attendance in Milton Keynes were there in support of Watford, and having also drawn fan-counts of over 1,000 on two occasions at Vicarage Road during the campaign, Lathrope hailed his side’s growing following.
He said: “It means everything to all of us, to have such amazing support. All of our friends and family were there, and then to see so many other people come down and give us that backing is just brilliant.
“I think people see how we go about things, how much the players care and the brand of football they try to play, and that makes them want to watch us. We’ve had loyal fans throughout the year and people gradually start to follow us, and we appreciate it all massively.”
While focused on celebrating having added promotion to the league title credentials that were secured on the final day of the normal season away at Billericay Town, Lathrope reserved a mention for Forest and the commendable display they produced.
And, though still early days, he explained it won’t be long before his thinking turns to the 2023/24 Championship season, when they will bid to build on a fantastic year back in the second-tier.
The 33-year-old added: “I’ve been on the wrong side of a play-off defeat as a player, so I feel for Forest because I’ve been there and I know how it feels.
“For us, we’re going to enjoy the moment for now and then we’ll start talking about next year. We’ll need a big push - it’s going to be the toughest Championship ever with two teams going down - and we’ll have those conversations about how we can give ourselves a chance of being really competitive.”
