The buzz for competitive football is back with a bang.
St Johnstone WFC begin their 2022/23 league campaign on Sunday with a home game against Queen’s Park.
Plying their trade in the second tier of Scottish women’s football, Saints have completed pre-season preparations and are hopeful of making a positive start to lay the foundations for a strong year.
Defender Hannah Clark (20), a key player for the team in recent seasons, is relishing the return of matches where points are on the line.
“The girls are in great spirits,” she explained this week.
“From the end of last season to the start of this season, the standard, tempo we play at and fitness has improved so much.
“We’re all just looking forward to getting started and we have a mindset that there is no reason why we can’t be challenging at the top end of the table. We have a team with strong quality and I think we need to set our ambitions high.
“Other teams will probably be favoured over us but we know within ourselves how good we can be, the talent we have got and the belief we have. As long as we are backing ourselves, we don’t care about anyone else.”
Clark continued: “Pre-season is great, the friendlies are great, but there is nothing like that first league game where you are going out to win the points. Everyone is buzzing to have that competitive feeling again and being back on the pitch. Hopefully the effort that we’ve put in during pre-season is going to pay off.”
This Sunday’s match takes place at the Riverside Stadium, home of Jeanfield Swifts.
Queen’s Park were familiar opposition for Saints last term but Clark admits it can be hard to gauge how teams are going to line-up at the start of a new season.
She explained: “At the start of the season it can be difficult to know what the other teams are going to be like.
“They will have been working just as hard as us during pre-season and will be in high spirits as well.
“You don’t really know what to expect but we believe in ourselves that we can go and get three points.
“But at the same time, you can’t underestimate any team in this league because everyone will give you a good game. You can never just expect to rock up and take the three points.”
Saints head into the curtain-raiser without the services of last season’s captain Nicola Jameison, who recently departed for top tier side Spartans.
Clark is backing the Perth squad to step up, boosted by talented younger players who are coming through the pathway at Jeanfield Swifts.
She said: “The young girls that we have brought up to the team have been absolutely brilliant - their attitude and effort. They are just so happy to be playing football and they listen to every instruction given to them.
“We do have a good range of experience and youth.”
Despite her young years, Clark has plenty of experience behind her in a Saints kit and is ready to pass on knowledge.
She smiled: “I’m still young but will probably be one of the ones who has been here the longest. I feel like I’m getting old!”
Kick-off on Sunday at the Riverside is 12.30pm. Admission is £5 (cash only) but Saints season ticket holders, concessions and U16s go free.
