01 May 2024 , 08:30
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Sunday starts early but drags. The pain of late kick-offs. Lauren Smith is agonising over how to make time go faster.
The Bristol City head coach needs to know what to tell her squad: whether West Ham have dropped points and the survival fight is still on, or if relegation has been confirmed before the ball is kicked.
Ask anyone before the start of this Women’s Super League season, and the answer was always the latter. The Vixens lifted the Championship trophy last April to become one of only two WSL sides without Premier League backing - Leicester were the other, though their operation is arguably an unfair comparison. Even Smith, humorously, admits as much: “Our relegation fight started before a ball was kicked.”
Smith is not a defeatist. If anything, the Wales native’s energy is aggressively positive. Every week, she espouses the same doctrine: “Every game, anything can happen."
At half-time against Manchester City with the scoreline level and the visitors spraying shots from wild directions, Smith’s romantic rationale felt, well, rational. Ashton Gate’s home changing room gurgled with confidence. The team which had beaten them by an aggregate score of 19-1 in their last three outings was being held in a noose.
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In the end, the scoreline read 4-0 in the title contenders’ favour. Bristol City’s relegation back to the Championship was confirmed, 371 days after their promotion was secured and their last home win was clinched. In the stands sat 8,749 fans. None left early.
Thirty-six hours later Smith wants to dwell on this: “At any other game, fans are sliding down the alleys at that point.”
Smith is a proponent of little victories. Blame her disposition, add in the circumstances. This season has been a trudge: 16 losses, three draws, one win. In such a season, what are the victories?
“Everything goes back to the Arsenal game at home,” Smith says. “At that point, that was our biggest crowd.” (7,500 attended, roughly what the club averaged all season.) Rachel Furness drew City level nine minutes after Katie McCabe’s seventh-minute stunner. The crowd erupted. In the next half, Satara Murray tackled McCabe and ignited a similar frenzy.
“It was huge,” Smith says. Bristol City lost. But their reputation grew.
There are others. The 3-2 win over West Ham was not only Smith’s lone league victory. Brooke Aspin’s winner was the 18-year-old’s first WSL goal and the first game the former academy product played the full 90 minutes after struggling with persistent cramp.
The 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City is another highlight.
“I go to that second-half often,” says Smith. “Down 5-0 to City, you’re not scoring six. You have to be realistic. I walked into the changing room and asked the players, ‘What do you want from the second-half?’ They said pride. It was the simplest and most honest moment. And they did it. It was 0-0 in the second-half, they walked away with pride. That was the moment we knew it was going to be really hard but if we do it, we have to do it together.
"We have to find pride in moments.”
Manchester City players celebrate scoring against Bristol City (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)If there is a mantra this season at Bristol City, this cuts it.
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Many fans won’t accept that, Smith knows. There’s room here to ask: is this really good enough? No clean sheets, one win, 390 shots faced (the league’s most), 20 goals scored, 58 conceded (the league’s most). In December, Bristol City were level on points with their closest rival in West Ham United (both on five). They’d surprised teams and stultified others. The Arsenal display had all the hallmarks of watershed territory. But there always lurked a margin: lapses in judgement, defensive foibles, a final third crying out for a star
There was also the elephant in the room: Investment. With the threat of relegation curling around the edges, West Ham brought in Shelina Zadorsky, Kristie Mewis and Katrina Gorry. City, beset by injuries and lacking the depth which saw them compete initially, couldn’t match the business.
“It’s tough because you know what the squad needs at that point,” Smith says. “We wanted to replace [injured players] like-for-like so we could continue our momentum. That caused problems. We didn’t have the squad as full as we did when we got the points.”
After the season’s restart the Hammers arrived for what was billed as the relegation-decider, despite the fixture’s placement smack in the middle of January. City’s matchday experience was on display: twerking robins, a Lizzie McGuire-approved soundtrack, pre-match multi-table sticker swaps, an inflatable apple relay. Vivianne Asseyi lifted the Hammers to a 2-1 win. The value of twerking robins only reached so far.
Amy Rodgers of Bristol City is challenged by Kristie Mewis of West Ham United (Photo by Ben Hoskins - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)“I would never talk bad about the ownership because they’ve been very honest throughout everything we’ve done,” Smith says when asked whether a lack of investment in December cost them survival.
“We don’t have the budgets of other teams. At no point was I under the illusion that we were going to get that. Yes, every coach in the land would want more money, resources, staff, players. It’s the competitive beast in all of us.
“We were the lowest resourced in terms of money on the pitch, money everywhere. But we knew the challenge: to get a team of talented players to work hard and make Bristol City proud. I don’t feel like someone sold me some dream I wasn’t aware of. The ownership doubled their investment from the Championship to this season. But we’re a Championship men’s team, so that plays a part as well.”
Smith pauses. “I always look at things in a positive light so for me, it’s a huge credit to us that we made West Ham react. They recruited well. My hands were tied. I guess I have to take it as a compliment.”
Smoke from the pre-match pyrotechnics clouds surrounds the Bristol City team before kick-off (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)Compliments are a complicated subject. Post-match briefings from rival managers often included praise for City’s pluck and discipline. Smith had to remind herself no snide lurked behind the flattery. “It’s the end of the game. We’ve lost. It’s raw. I know what they’re saying is meant in all the right ways but I have to swallow it for about 10 minutes.”
With relegation confirmed, Smith’s phone buzzed not with compliments but commiserations. The first was Matt Beard. The now-Liverpool boss suffered relegation with Bristol City in 2021 before Smith’s arrival and revamp.
“He shared some nice words about all of the changes that have happened since and reminded me to be proud of that,” says Smith.
Beard wasn’t alone. Managers from the top-flight and Championship followed suit. “Most of them were gutted. They were rooting for us.”
It’s hard not to, with the landscape of fairy tales shrinking by the season. For the first time in WSL history, all 12 teams will boast Premier League backing next season after Crystal Palace ’s promotion from the Championship.
Make no mistake: Smith doesn’t condone these excuses. She’s been frustrated. There’s the unmatchable individual brilliance of rival players, but equally avoidable mistakes. Mary Fowler popped up with a beauty to break the deadlock on Sunday, but no one engaged with the striker to stop her.
“That comes from having a young, inexperienced squad,” Smith says. “They’ve never played in the WSL against this level of opponent. There will be moments when their focus goes. That’s when someone picks on it. That was the big learning curve. There’s no room for errors.”
The other learning curve was the tactical changes elite sides are capable of compared to the second tier. While they successfully stymied Manchester City’s play through the middle, at half-time Taylor twisted. City won.
Matt Beard, now manager of Liverpool Women, was the former manager of Bristol City Women (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Injuries didn’t help. The goalkeeping situation was a nightmare. First captain Fran Bentley fractured her knee in the season’s first week. Next Arsenal loanee keeper Kaylan Marckese ruptured her ACL. Keeper Olivia Clark was recalled from loan, only to suffer a month-long concussion.
Defender Jess Simpson, on loan from Manchester United, ruptured her ACL. Abi Harrison, last season’s goal supplier, missed the season’s start, then damaged her ankle when blocking a shot after recovering. Summer signing Carrie Jones suffered similarly. Aspin was carried off the pitch during the loss to Manchester United. Fellow defender Naomi Layzell spent a spell sidelined, alongside veterans Megan Connolly and Rachel Furness. Chloe Mustaki, a source of composure and experience, hardly set foot on the grass all season. Amalie Thestrup was forced off on Sunday having suffered whiplash.
Most injuries suffered were impact-driven, suffered when making saves or blocks or tackles. War of attrition stuff when the pressure hits.
Much has been made of Smith’s squad, routinely the youngest fielded in the league. After the turn of the year, City’s bench featured three academy players. But taking on the Bristol City mantle in 2021 was Smith’s first-ever head manager’s role. This season was her first in the WSL. Smith is conspicuously one of the youngest faces on any touchline.
“There’s been so many different challenges this year that have stretched me,” Smith reflects. “I’m always asking: Am I doing this right? How did that go? When I have hard conversations or deal with a situation that I think is best, I ask my staff what they thought to give me feedback. So I’m very much still on the journey.”
Lauren Smith celebrates WSL promotion last AprilSmith is hopeful for the future. She has the club’s full backing. A new recruitment officer is being hired as they look to the next season. Ashton Gate will be their home once more. Rarely do relegated clubs offer a blueprint beyond what not to do. Yet, Bristol City have curated new revenue streams to compete in the ever-striated field. “When you see families with young kids, they’re not inspired by the league we’re in. They’re inspired by what they see on the pitch. That’s going to happen next year regardless of the league we’re in.”
Still, despite many soothsayers' predictions, the arrival of Newcastle United, and clubs such as Southampton upping their game with their men’s team’s promotion, means the Championship promotion fight will be fierce. Budget demands will increase. Recently relegated sides tend to have targets on their back. Losing players who have impressed this season, such as Layzell or Morgan, remains a threat.
Smith isn’t looking that far. When we meet, she’s answering emails, skimming analysis videos, making notes. On the weekend are Chelsea away, then Everton at home. The first offers the chance to tilt the title race. “You could see how frustrated Manchester City were because they needed goals against us,” Smith says. “What fires me up is can we make an upset here? And we’re still searching for things. We still want that clean sheet, more points. We’ve got things to play for.”
Which segues nicely to the season’s finale. The spectre of a first home win in front of a fanbase that has only grown in support despite the tribulations carries significance.
“Because of the fans this year and how amazing they’ve been, that day is also about giving back to them,” Smith says. “We want to celebrate all of these things. We want to make it a huge occasion of saying thank you. That’s the day to do it, at home against Everton.”