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ON THIS MONTH: FOOTBALL<br />
Captain Kelly<br />
The Rookettes’ long-serving skipper<br />
In the pre-season<br />
friendly against Chelsea’s<br />
U23 team, <strong>Lewes</strong><br />
Ladies were cruising<br />
at 3-0 early in the<br />
second half, and it was<br />
time for manager John<br />
Donoghue to give a few<br />
subs a chance. Off came<br />
captain Kelly Newton,<br />
who’d been anchoring<br />
the midfield in the<br />
assured manner that<br />
regulars have become<br />
used to over the last 14<br />
years she’s been playing<br />
for <strong>Lewes</strong>.<br />
“Before long,” she tells<br />
me, a couple of days later,<br />
sitting on the steps of the Philcox Stand before<br />
Tuesday-night training, “it was three-all!” She’s got<br />
a glint in her eye to show she’s not bigging herself<br />
up, but I was there and <strong>Lewes</strong> certainly lost shape<br />
without her positional sense, ball-winning skills<br />
and passing ability. Thankfully, for the third year<br />
running, she’s put off her long-planned retirement,<br />
and we’ll see her for at least another season at the<br />
Pan. “I wouldn’t miss this season for the world,”<br />
she says. “And I’m not talking about the money.”<br />
This term, of course, <strong>Lewes</strong> FC are giving the<br />
same budget to the women’s team as to the men’s<br />
– an unprecedented move in global football – and<br />
this suggests that the Rookettes, who won a national<br />
trophy last season and more than held their<br />
own in the (third tier) Womens’ Premier League,<br />
will step up their game a couple of notches. “There<br />
are five new players, all of whom have strengthened<br />
the squad,” she says. “For the first time since<br />
I’ve been here I’m looking over my shoulder, worried<br />
about my place in the team.”<br />
Kelly’s long spell at<br />
<strong>Lewes</strong> FC has included<br />
eight trophies and four<br />
promotions, and promotion<br />
this year – to the<br />
Women’s Super League<br />
– would be the icing on<br />
a very rich cake. Though<br />
Kelly thinks it’s too<br />
soon to think about such<br />
a possibility. “What’s<br />
happened is historical<br />
and has struck a blow<br />
for gender equality in<br />
football and beyond,” she<br />
says. “But it’d be wrong<br />
to expect automatic promotion<br />
as a given. I’d say<br />
a top three finish would<br />
be a massive achievement.”<br />
Kelly is now 37, she tells me (I’ve been too polite<br />
to ask) and if retirement doesn’t come at the end<br />
of the season, it will surely come soon after. Whatever<br />
happens, she won’t be hanging up her boots<br />
entirely. “Both John and Jacquie [Agnew, Director<br />
of Women’s Football] have asked me if I’ll stay on<br />
in a coaching capacity after I stop playing,” she<br />
says… “I’m already studying for my FA coaching<br />
qualifications.”<br />
In the meantime, let’s be thankful we’ve got her on<br />
the pitch. Rolling subs were allowed in the friendly<br />
against Chelsea, and at 3-3 she came back on to<br />
play for the last few minutes. Out of the blue,<br />
against the run of play, the Rookettes scored a<br />
dramatic winner. “The goal was absolutely nothing<br />
to do with me,” she admits. But she’s not taking<br />
into account her talismanic presence in the centre<br />
of the pitch. Interview by Alex Leith<br />
For <strong>Lewes</strong> FC Women’s and Men’s team fixtures<br />
check out lewesfc.com<br />
Photo by James Boyes<br />
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