- Sam Tierney offers her 2020/21 season reflections to LCFC TV
- The LCFC Women defender helped her side gain promotion to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League
- She scored three goals in her first season as a Fox, including a brace in a season-defining win at Durham
- The Foxes won the FA Women’s Championship by a margin of eight points
LCFC Women won 16 of their 20 league fixtures, losing just twice en route to gaining promotion to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League for the first time in the Club’s history.
Their first season as a professional outfit saw them achieve their target of winning the women’s second tier, and Tierney believes that their success came as a result of a strong team ethic.
“I think obviously when we started this season, we had that aim of promotion, whether or not we thought in the first year, bringing all the players we had to bring together, whether it was realistic or not, we went with it and it's been a rollercoaster,” she told LCFC TV.
“It's not been easy. I don't think many seasons are, but this league, I have played in it for a while, and it's got a lot more competitive, so to be able to get out at the time that we have I think is really good. But it's a credit to the Club, the investment they've put in and the staff in place we've got here now, really.
“I'd probably say we're still learning a lot about each other now. That probably won't stop. But, even with COVID-19, we didn't get chance to do the traditional team building stuff outside It was all very much make what you can and just get started with the games.
“So, we're learning as we go about each other, but I think we've shown a real togetherness and desire to win, especially towards the end of the season with the tough games, so hopefully we can build that way next year.”
As supporters were unable to attend due to matches being played behind-closed-doors, Tierney felt that connection did not waver as Foxes fans watched on from home to see their side take the FA Women’s Championship by storm.
“I think we had to put a lot of hard work in and on the outside it might not seem like that,” Tierney explained. “It might seem that everything's been perfect for us – a club like Leicester invest and we get all these facilities, but it's being far from that and we've had a lot of challenges week after week and I think that's why we sit here now and we really appreciate the win.
“I think the lack of fans, although it's been tough, again, it's made us appreciate winning more and sort of who we actually play football for. That's been the key message for us, game after game.”
Although Tierney admits that she is not necessarily a regular source of goals, her brace in the 2-0 win at title contenders Durham proved to be her individual highlight of the season, once of which was a powerful volley from inside the box.
She said: “I managed to score three goals, I'm not entirely sure how! Three quite important goals, I think. But I would say, not just for me personally, but the Durham game because I think that was a turning point.
“It was a game that got rearranged. It was something that was hanging over us for a good while. Credit to Durham, they took us all the way this year. So, that game, we knew it was going to be a tough one at their place.
“But it was good, and I think from that point on, we kind of knew this could really be our time so how we finished that game, they made it tough and I managed to score two, which again, I don't know where that came from, but, yes, that's my stand-out moment!”
In her debut season at the Club, Tierney became an FA Women’s Championship champion and gained promotion to the top flight – a division she simply cannot wait to play in for LCFC Women.
“It still doesn't really feel real I think until you get that first game, you're on that pitch and you see who your fixtures are against,” she said. “But to be honest, the mentality I think we want to take in is that we're not there to make up the numbers.
“We don't want to face teams and fear them. We want to go on, impose what we've done this year, what we've worked on, more so just what the Club's about and hopefully again, we can do the Club proud and justice and really take the Women's Super League by storm.”