Tractor Girls manager Joe Sheehan has explained why switching Sunday’s glamour Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with top-flight West Ham to Portman Road was never even considered an option.
Instead, the game goes ahead at the Goldstar Ground in Felixstowe, the team’s normal home venue, where they KO’d Southampton in the previous round after a dramatic penalty shoot-out was required to separate the teams following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
The record 2,000 crowd squeezed into the stadium on Sunday will be almost double in size from that which witnessed the previous cup tie and Sheehan couldn’t be happier that the venue remains the same.
Asked if the club had considered a switch to Portman Road — capacity just under 30,000 — Sheehan replied: "First and foremost, Felixstowe is our home ground. We enjoy playing there and I think I speak on behalf of the players, staff and supporters that we all enjoy being there.
"I’m sure we would all relish the opportunity to play at Portman Road at some stage but for the moment we are definitely keen to play at Felixstowe because we know it and they have been great hosts to us for many years now.
"They deserve to be part of the tie and because of the magnitude of the occasion it’s important for us to be in familiar surroundings and make the most of our home advantage.”
The women’s game in the UK has soared in popularity in recent years and it was announced earlier this week that prize money for the FA Cup is to increase from next season to £3 million, a massive rise on the current fund of around £400,000, from which the winners pocket £25,000 and the runners-up receive £15,000.
These figures are still dwarfed by what is on offer in the men’s equivalent, where the current prize find is a whopping £16 million, with the winners and beaten finalists receiving £1.8 million and £900,000 respectively.
But the rise reflects how far women’s football has come in a relatively short space of time and Sheehan laughed: "We’ve peaked a year too early, haven’t we? It was a similar topic two years ago when we played Manchester City but I’ll be honest, it’s not something I’ve thought too much about.
"We’re trying to prepare the team to win and try to progress in the competition. We’re very aware of the prize money in the women’s game and the news that it is increasing can only be good for it.
"Let’s hope we can have a similar run next year and benefit financially because it would be huge for a club like us as we look to progress up the pyramid.”
Sheehan was full of praise for those responsible for tackling the extra workload necessary to prepare the Goldstar for its biggest-ever game, which is being broadcast live via the BBC Red Button channel.
"There has been a lot for staff to tackle but they are excited to be taking on the extra tasks behind the scenes,” he said.
"We know how important it is and how good it is to be on TV. The club and the people at Portman Road have helped enormously.
"People like Stuart Hayton, the club secretary, while a lot of the staff have been supportive in terms of protocols for response teams, paramedics on site and sorting out gantries.
"The club are also providing stewards and the support to make sure the game goes ahead at Felixstowe has been brilliant. It has been a new experience for us but one that we have really enjoyed.”
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"We know that Southampton, Oxford and Wolves, for example, as well as ourselves, have been looking to make an impact in the women’s game,” Sheehan reflected.
"I really respect the job that my counterparts are doing at these clubs because we are all trying to do the same thing and we know the opportunity to try to reach the level is going to be really difficult.
"We’re trying to fly the flag for the National League because there’s a lot of good work going on there and we are all striving for the same thing.
"As we know, there are a lot of clubs doing some good things in this part of the pyramid. We’ll be representing the National League as best we can.”