A third year Sports Science student, Brophy is entering her fourth season with UEL having chaired the club for the previous two years. In an exclusive interview with Rising East, the 22-year-old defender reflected on how the club has progressed during this time:
“My first year was 2015-16 and we weren’t that great, but we lost out on the league on goal difference to Kent. For the past two years it’s been really good. We’ve been smashing the leagues, we’ve won back to back promotions and cups, so it’s been really good. Last year, we started up a second team for the first time.
“This year probably looks like one of our strongest years in terms of the depth we’ve got in the first team, everyone is a high-performance scholar. In the second team, we’ve got a lot more players who have come in wanting to play. Last year, it was a bit more recreational.”
Winning Mentality
Recent achievements for the UEL women’s team have created a foundation on which to build further success. Brophy, with little hesitation, was quick to stress the importance of raising expectations:
“We play to win, we don’t play to lose. For the first team, we’re definitely looking to get another promotion and if we can another cup final and a win again. We’ve set the tone now for the last two years, now we’re in a bigger league there is no time to mess around. We want to be in the Prem really, that is the aim.”
A desire to kick-start their season in style will be fuelled by the nature of the opposition, an old foe in the University of Kent, who visit Hackney Marshes this Wednesday at 2pm. Brophy, one of few remaining players from the 2015-16 league title disappointment, is keen for UEL to make a statement this time around:
“They went up and they stayed up. Like I said, we lost the league to them first year. They’ve climbed the ranks and we’ve tailed them all the way up. I was here in first year whereas a lot of the girls weren’t, so they don’t know that there is that kind of rivalry already. I think if there is anyone there who played us a couple of years ago they might be thinking it’s only UEL, but I think we’ve got a point to prove.”
Work in Progress
Women’s football has made significant steps in the right direction during recent years. The FA’s decision to launch a bid to host the European Championships in 2021, plus the restructure of central contracts for the Lionesses, are positive attempts at helping to promote the game.
In spite of this, Brophy’s honest assessment of the position of women’s football in England shows there is still plenty of room for improvement:
“We’ve come so far but we still have so far to go. It’s still only the first teams in the top league who can do full time football and not work outside of it. As soon as you go a league below that, there will be first teams who are getting paid but they still have to work. When you compare it to the men’s game, we’re climbing but we’re still not there. There is so far to go.
“There are so many teams where they only get enough funding to pay their first teams, so they might be a high level but they’re still struggling. The media side of things is getting a lot bigger and we’re getting a lot more coverage which is good. We’re nearly there but not quite.”
Defying Stereotypes
It is clear that gender stereotypes are a frustrating stumbling block when it comes to growing the women’s game. Brophy stated that changes in opinion are needed if women’s football is to move forward more effectively:
“It’s just getting the general football fans to appreciate the women’s side of the game. I think a lot of men push it to the side and think it’s not as entertaining. In my opinion, what’s missing from women’s games is the atmosphere. It’s not the standard of play or anything like that, I just think it’s the atmosphere.”
On a national scale, the debate concerning the trajectory of women’s football is ongoing. However, there is no doubt that UEL’s sporting philosophy will see the women’s team remain high on their list of priorities for years to come.