Liverpool Feds will get the opportunity to test themselves against Women's Super League oppposition should they triumph in their FA Cup third-round tie this weekend.
It's been an impressive season for the club, who gained promotion to the third-tier of the women's game last May following a stellar campaign in which they lost just one game. Having been born out of the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (now known as Liverpool Hope University) in 1990, the club has spent the last three decades on a measured upward trajectory.
Despite being an independent club, with a team made up of police officers, teachers and doctors, the Feds are now competing against clubs like Wolves and Nottingham Forest, who are backed by Premier League outfits. And they are holding their own; the club is currently seventh in the table with three wins and three draws from ten games.
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The Feds are also enjoying a superb run in the FA Cup. After a thumping 5-1 victory over Fleetwood Town in the first round, they comfortably dispatched local rivals Merseyrail Ladies last time out and now face a third-round tie with fellow Northern Premier Division side, West Bromwich Albion.
The Baggies currently sit 10th in the league, three points behind Liverpool Feds, however they have also enjoyed an excellent run in the FA Cup so far, having scored 12 goals without conceding in their previous clashes with Crewe Alexandra and Lichfield City.
Liverpool Feds will host Albion at Jericho Lane on Sunday in what will be the second meeting between the two sides this season. The Feds came out on top when they travelled to Keys Park in the FA NWL Cup in September however, with a mouth-watering fourth-round tie at stake, Leanne Duffy's side will be expecting a sterner test when they take to the field this weekend.
The winner of the clash will host Women's Super League side Brighton on January 29, and getting the chance to take on the Seagulls would be yet an other indicator of the progress Liverpool Feds have made over the last few years.
Reflecting on the club's rise up the football pyramid earlier in the season, club chairman Bill Stewart told the ECHO: "When promotion came, we were ready for it. The team and the club are ready for this level."
He added: "There’s just been a fantastic reaction in every way since the Euros, we’ve got people interested in getting involved with the club, we’ve got children wanting to get involved and we know we’re going to get inundated with extra players next year...you have to try and not get emotional about it all."
Liverpool Feds will take on West Bromwich Albion at Jericho Lane at 2pm on Sunday, January 8.
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