Ashton: Championship a Natural Fit For the Tractor Girls
Wednesday, 29th Mar 2023 14:59

Blues CEO Mark Ashton believes the Barclays Women’s Championship would be a natural fit for the promotion-chasing Ipswich Town Women's team.

The Tractor Girls currently top FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division, the level below the Championship, which is the second tier, with a big game against Oxford United at the AGL Arena in Felixstowe on Sunday afternoon.

The winners of the Southern Premier Division will face their Northern counterparts in a play-off for a place in the Championship.

Ashton says the women’s team and academy are a vital part of the the Blues which he has sought to move closer to the men’s side of the club.

“It does run at cost, let’s be really clear and it runs at more of a cost under us because we’ve tried to support [manager] Joe [Sheehan] and his team with more infrastructure,” he said.

“We’ve tried to integrate them more into the club, whether that’s around medical supervision, whether that’s around physiotherapy, whether it’s training pitches, whether that’s around kit, whether that’s around transport, whether that’s hotels.

“They’re an integral and very important part of the football club. One of the things I’ve said really clearly is that I’d like the girls and women’s team to be at the highest level possible, the Championship feels a natural fit for us if we can get there. That would be a fantastic achievement.

“I think what Joe Sheehan’s done really well is develop homegrown talent and what’s really important to me is where a young boy from nine years of age or whatever it is can see a pathway to play for Ipswich Town Football Club the young girl must have exactly the same hope and we must be able to find that pathway through.

“And I am concerned, and I’m looking at this now, I believe the way the FA are structuring their women’s game at the moment, they are removing more academies at lower levels and putting money into the higher levels.

“That concerns me because as the men’s game is for all, the women’s game has to be. I don’t think it’s right that at academy levels and in grassroots football it’s totally elite.

“I think there’s a time and a place for that, but that pathways for young girls and women are really, really important.

“And that’s something I think Joe Sheehan has done so well, I want to make sure we maintain that.”

He says that with the new pitch being installed at Portman Road over the summer, the women’s team will probably play some of their matches there, although most will still be in Felixstowe.

“I think there is a likelihood that they may play a handful at Portman Road, but I think the reality is that the majority of their games, even in the Championship, would probably stay where they are now,” he said.

“We have a really good relationship with Felixstowe & Walton, they’ve been very good to us. I think it’s a relationship that works both ways.

“We’re working through with the FA now on what a Championship licence could look like. I think again it would be a blend.”