UK Armed Forces women prepare for crunch fixtures against Dutch Forces and Irish Defence Forces
The UK Armed Forces women's football team are set for a crunch double bill this week as they take on the Dutch Forces and the Irish Defence Forces.
The team will travel to Eindhoven for their President's Cup fixture against the Dutch Forces which is set to take place on 6 June, as they look to bring back the trophy that they lost to the Dutch Forces on penalties last year.
The team will then host the Irish Defence Force at Quorn FC, near Loughborough, on 8 June in their first encounter since UKAF thrashed the Irish 8-0 in 2019.
Speaking at a training camp before travelling to Eindhoven, Royal Navy forward Sub-Lieutenant Jade Widdows is coming in fresh of her impressive hat-trick against the Army at this year's Inter Services, where she expects the Dutch Forces to provide "tough competition".
She said: "We definitely need to bring that trophy back home, it's going to b a tough competition and especially going over to the Netherlands this time, they cam to us last time, and unfortunately we lost out on penalties but we definitely want to get that trophy back in the UK."
Having never played against the Irish Defence Forces before, Sub Lt Widdows hopes that their "natural rivalry" with the Irish side will make for an exciting fixture.
"I think there's going to be that natural rivalry that's going to occur", she said.
"I've never played the Irish Defence Forces, I know that others have, so it's going to be my first one after a long break due to Covid, so its going to be interesting and hopefully we will get a good result."
UK Armed Forces women's Head Coach Flight Sergeant Karl Milgate hopes that the quality of play shown by the Army, Navy and the RAF in the Inter Services will bring enough momentum for UKAF in the upcoming fixtures.
He said: "It was one of the best years and I expected that because of the quality, but the Air Force are a strong squad at the moment, the Navy game was very close down at [HMS] Temeraire and what an evening that was and they really pushed them [the Air Force].
"But ultimately of course, it helps, there's four or five new players in the group so it shows momentum is important and I've said that since I have into the position.
"People will get chances, this isn't a closed ship and it's now a click, if you perform you will get a chance, but ultimately, there's also players who are not here who could perform as well."
The UK Armed Forces women v Irish Defence Forces will be shown live on the Forces News YouTube channel on 8th June, while serving personnel can also catch up via the BFBS TV service.
Find out how you can watch here.
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