Morgan: Deserved Promotion Yet To Sink In

- Manager Jonathan Morgan sits down with LCFC TV to reflect on a memorable title-winning season
- LCFC Women triumphed to lift the FA Women’s Championship trophy at the end of a long and difficult season
- It was a history-making campaign for the Foxes, with several milestones reached and records broken
- Morgan credits the whole squad, backroom team and the Football Club for making it a reality

City swept aside the competition, winning 16 of the 20 league fixtures to seal a maiden second tier title with two games to spare and then lift the coveted trophy following a memorable first outing at King Power Stadium.

Also excelling in the cup competitions, Leicester reached the last four of the Continental Tyres League Cup for the very first time, as well as setting up a second consecutive Vitality Women’s FA Cup Quarter-Final.

Looking back on the 2020/21 league campaign, the Foxes manager, who won the LMA Manager of the Year award, felt the side’s approach, perhaps different to their title challengers, paid off.

“I think we all decided, behind closed doors, that we wanted to get promoted this year,” Morgan told LCFC TV. “Publicly we didn't want to make it too clear that was our intention because we wanted to go a bit under the radar.

“And that's something we were very good at this year, is that we've just quietly gone about our business and as a result, I think people sort of underestimated us a little bit early in the year.

“People didn't follow us as much as they should have and then all of a sudden, we were stretching clear and personally I'm delighted.

“Liverpool had a massive, massive amount of attention on them and as you saw, we drew two of our first three games and then we obviously went and picked up a victory against Liverpool.

“But I think people saw that more as a fluke at the time. But from our point of view, we knew it was all calculated. It was definitely well deserved.

“I think even up to Christmas, when we were top of the table, people still thought Liverpool were going to be the team to beat this season. So, I said to the girls, that's fantastic for us because no one is putting us under any pressure on.

“We can just go about our business and the attention being elsewhere made us a more resilient team. It allowed us to sort of flow a lot better than what maybe we would have done if the attention was on us from day one.”

One major step forward during the season was LCFC Women’s move to Belvoir Drive, a dedicated training facility that has allowed the team to push themselves to the next level, Morgan believes.

The stats would back that up. The majority of City’s record-breaking 12-game winning streak in the league coincided with arriving at Belvoir Drive, as did successes in the latter stages of the two cup competitions.

He explained: “We moved into Belvoir Drive this year as well which only helped us and only made us stronger. Most importantly, it is a fantastic opportunity for us all.

“I think Khun Top and the family and King Power have given us a fantastic platform to be the best in the country at some point.

“All I kept saying to the girls all season is don't waste it. Don't waste the opportunity of being here because no other club does this. Don't get me wrong, clubs have trained at their male counterparts' training ground, but no one has an elite facility like we do that is just for females.

“What we have is fantastic. It's made a big difference for us. The structure, the routine, the accessibility, the quality in the surface, the quality of having all the equipment you need and ground staff, chefs, everything.

“You can't ask for much more to be a professional footballer and I think Leicester have provided a platform for us to be the best version of ourselves. And thankfully, we did that this season.”

The reward for their triumph is competing in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League for 2021/22 – the top division of women’s football in England. It’s an opportunity that LCFC Women’s manager is determined to grab with both hands.

He also applauded the commitment and drive exhibited by the playing squad and backroom staff to get the team to this elevated point in the league pyramid.

“I think it's still not quite sunk in yet,” Morgan admitted. “As everyone knows, it's been a long journey for me to get here. I think to manage in the WSL is obviously the pinnacle at our level, to be in what you could argue is the best women's league in the world.

“Especially now with the TV coverage, it's probably going to be the most watched female league in the world. So, to get there is brilliant and it's not just me.

“The girls have put in a tremendous shift this year and we've gone through some ups; some lows and I think the fact that those lows are now matched with us winning the league makes it all worthwhile.

“It's all the players that got us there and it's all the players that worked hard to make this a reality, and all the staff that made it a reality as well. I've lost count of how many hours we've done, late nights, early mornings, overnight stays travelling.

“Sometimes you look back on those moments very fondly because they're the moments that actually give you the opportunity to get to the WSL. I think from our point of view, we just want to now, take the opportunity and be the best version of ourselves at that level.”