New team-mates enjoy warm welcome as things start hotting up at the Pan

Sian Cheedy and Nicole Matthews both enjoyed warm welcomes to Lewes (Photos: James Boyes/Lewes LFC/Chelsea LFC)

Two players at opposite ends of the experience scale are liking what they are seeing of the gradual revolution at Lewes.

Sian Cheedy, the experienced former Wales international defender, and former Chelsea starlet Nicole Matthews, whose star might well still be in the ascendancy, have turned up at the Dripping Pan with different stories behind them but a shared desire to continue their career paths at the Sussex FAW Premier League club.

New faces pass audition as Lewes ring the changes

Lewes 2 (Spice 8, 59) Southampton Saints 1 (Wilson 44)

Two sides tentatively feeling their way through those first steps towards match readiness each declared themselves satisfied with their first 90 minutes of competitive football in conditions they are unlikely to face too often once the season starts.

Recognition for Sent Her Forward

Sent Her Forward is honoured to be featured in the end-of-season awards of fellow women’s football supporter Clive Jones.

Clive, an enthusiastic follower of the game, is a great friend of women’s football, recording matches and events all over the Midlands, where his excellent photos are a feature of the digital landscape, and beyond.

Tough start for Premier League champions Portsmouth

Fliss Gibbons was among the scorers when Brighton won their opening fixture last season against Copsewood Coventry (Photo: Geoff Penn/BHAFC)

Premier League Southern champions Portsmouth will need to make sure their Super League play-off disappointment is well and truly out of their system when they begin the defence of their title with a daunting start to the new Premier League campaign.

It’s a football family affair for Hannahs and their sisters

Hannah Lane (left) is the extrovert but happy for sister Danni to be in the limelight. Rachel Johnson continues to bag the goals for Abbey, but Hannah is making a big impression (Photos: Neville Dalton/Sent Her Forward)

They talk about the football family, but you’ll be hard-pushed to beat the kinship on show at Worthing Minors’ crunch clash with Abbey Rangers towards the end of last season.

Lewes transformation gathers pace

The Rookery all-weather training complex opens officially on July 8

Lewes mark the next stage of their march towards the Super League next week when the first phase of their regeneration project – a state-of-the-art all-weather training complex – is officially opened.

Coventry City change identities in pursuit of Super League dream

Both the Premier League’s Coventry teams now have new identities after Coventry City severed their links with the men’s club in a move that they believe will safeguard their future.

City become Coventry United Ladies – the new female addition to the progressive men’s outfit – in a move that the club believe offers them the best opportunity to succeed in their quest for Super League football.