Cheltenham Town Ladies have announced the signing of experienced defender Emily Owen from West Brom.
The 27 year-old has represented numerous clubs across the Midlands including Derby County and Stoke as well as playing for Aston Villa in the WSL ( Womens Super League).
Speaking to ParkLifeSport manager Tom Davies admitted he was thrilled with the addition: “We’re delighted. Dan (Liddiard-First Team Coach) and I had conversations towards the back end of the year and over the Christmas break about how we wanted to improve and the players we potentially wanted to bring in and Em was someone that I identified and someone that had immense quality and experience. “
“She’s someone who we feel is really capable of adding to the player group that we’ve got.”
Cheltenham currently play in the National League South West Division and at the moment are top of the fourth tier of women’s football.
Davies feels that getting players like Owen to join Cheltenham highlights the ambition the club has.
“Just to have a conversation with somebody like Em and just for Em to be initially interested is a huge step for where we are. Holly Reed is similar with that and other players who we’ve got coming in, the fact that we’ve got those players coming in and that they’re looking at us as a team that they would potentially join is a big step. “
He added, “Then to go and recruit those players and bring those players in allows us to go yeah, this is where we want to be for the next six months or 12 months however long it is. It’s a massive statement and one that I’m delighted that we’ve made as a club.”
Davies’ has prior history of working with Owen at Stoke and feels that she will have no trouble in settling in at the club.
“Em is a brilliant character. When I’ve worked with her at Stoke she was a big character there and a big part of that dressing room. Alongside that we’ve got some brilliant characters here already but I just felt we needed someone that would come in who would have that character and that experience and that knowledge of the game. She’s played at WSL level at Villa, she’s played at Sheffield, she’s been at Derby, Stoke, West Brom. She’s been in and around those leagues for a while, under some fantastic coaches and managers. So to bring someone like her in was key.”
“Knowing what she brings from a personal level is always important. We always look at people and we try and find the right people that fit the group and we felt she would slot in and she’s done that straight away. She’s come into the group and jumped in herself and everyone’s getting along with her already .”
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Davies is clear that promotion is the target for his side and although Owen is dropping down in level he insists that is no reflection of her quality.
In fact Davies believes that Owen could be the key factor in helping the side achieve their goal of reaching the third tier.
“It’s not one of those signings where you’re going she’s playing a level down to get more game time. Em was playing on a regular basis for all the clubs that she’s been involved in, which is provided by the stats that she’s got.”
“She’s someone who’ll bring in the fantastic amount of quality that she has. And that’s matched by some of the players we’ve brought in already and by the players who are already here. And what we felt was that she was one of those missing links that we needed for the team. And that she could provide depth and quality in certain areas, so that we could hopefully go on and achieve the things that we want to achieve.”
