AFC Bournemouth: building a bright future full of ambition with inspirational unbeaten streak
AFC Bournemouth Women are on an incredible run of form, with an unbeaten streak of over nine hundred days. During this period, they earned promotion to tier three and now compete in the FA Women’s National League, Southern Premier Division. This is an incredible feat for the Cherries.
The team have big ambitions to continue their remarkable form and gain promotion to the Barclays WSL 2, and eventually the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Bournemouth’s Bruce Saraci, Helen Bleazard, and Jessica Hennessey spoke to the media about the Cherries’ positive form and ambitions, alongside the future of the club.
The club are on a journey of development and success that aims to inspire the next generations within the sport and spotlights the growth and power of the women’s game.
Bruce Suraci, Head of Women’s Football
Suraci is new to his role of the Head of Women’s Football at AFC Bournemouth. He brings a wealth of experience in player and coach development, academy leadership, and has a strong track record of advancing the game across both men and women’s football.
Regarding the club’s unbeaten run and reasons behind their development in the past few years, Suraci broke down the steps to success. In particular, praising the players’ quality and togetherness:
“In any organisation, there’s varying levels of the system that leads to success and you can’t take away from leadership to management, to coaching, to the holistic support of the players in past which I hadn’t seen myself but obviously I’ve seen the fruits of now and then the current group from Helen as head coach, to the support staff around Helen from Craig to Antonio, you know Kieran and Tash.”
Despite the hard work behind the scenes to give the Cherries the best possible chance of success, ultimately Suraci believes the squad must be credited for their impressive track record and progression up the women’s football pyramid:
“All of those individuals have set up a really good environment and do some professional work, but I think ultimately the credit has to go to the players. It’s very, very clear that we’ve inherited a strong group of players with a really good togetherness and there’s no doubt over the years of this record you speak of, a lot of it will be down to the quality of the players so I think credit goes to everyone but in particular the players need a big pat on the back for what they’ve achieved.”
On his long-term objectives, Suraci eagerly spoke abroad his plans to make Bournemouth WSL ready, and to build a strong community base that embraces local talent whilst also utilising resources to recruit top talent elsewhere. This all features in his three-year plan:
“One of the things we did when I first joined the role was create a three year plan and for us there is something about being WSL ready, obviously we can’t control whether or not we end up with WSL directly, that’s definitely an ambition for us to be WSL ready, but to do so with three key pillars; sustainability, professionalism, and having a strong community base. We don’t want to want to recruit players from around the world and spend millions of pounds, we want to build in a way that really embraces the local community and allows young players opportunities whilst also utilising our resources to recruit some of the best, and there’s seven pillars to this three year plan and in terms of where we are now, there’s some really really good parts.”
Praise also went to Bleazard for her contributions at the helm of Bournemouth Women. Since joining the club as head coach, Suraci recognises the culture she has built and understands the impact it has on success:
“Helen’s beginning to set a really strong culture which is a big part of it, we’re already training at the performance centre for part of our time, we’ve already got some good things in place in terms of our processes but there’s a long way to go and you know we will get there.”
However, it also remains essential to the Head of Women’s Football that his club do not become overcompensated financially, instead focusing on the gradual development of the women’s side. Suraci spoke about the importance of building a team slowly and smartly to maintain sustainability and allow the women’s side to be independent:
“Sustainability is really big. It’s really important for us to understand the pitfalls of throwing millions of pounds or something, you know? We need to build slowly, we need to build steadily, we need to build in a way that allows the women’s team to be as independent as it can be, as robust as it can be, to grow in that way.”
With the growth of the game, often financial investment is relied upon to build a successful team. But this is not Suraci’s definition of investment:
“I think for us whether that’s salaries, whether that’s investing in overnight stays, coaches etc. It all has to be done in a smart way, and intelligent way, not a lavish way, so we are being incredibly diligent with how we spend money , what we use it for, does it align with our mission, does it align with our purpose because again, I know money’s been thrown around, that’s fine that’s great, but from our perspective it’s about sustainability for sure.”
Helen Bleazard, Women’s Head Coach
Bleazard is one of the most decorated individuals to have played for AFC Bournemouth, having enjoyed a sensational career in the game: including the team’s promotion to the third tier, alongside forty-three international caps for Wales. Thus, she is the perfect individual to take on the role of head coach.
Only a short period into her time as manager, Bleazard was named Manager of the Month for August. This was an incredibly proud moment for the coach, but still she credited her players for their contributions to her success:
“It was huge pride, I’ve got to give it to the players because I wouldn’t get the award if they hadn’t have done everything we had set out as a team and as staff to try and implement the game plan of what we wanted to do and it’s not only for me, I’ve come in, the players have had a massive adjustment over preseason and they took it like a Dutch waltz which is great, and the performances really spoke for themselves so I can’t take full credit, it’s definitely down to the players who managed to get the really really good results and performance, it’s was a really proud moment for me but I think the club and the girls themselves.”
Having spent a long time of her career with the Cherries, Bleazard spoke about the benefits this brings to her new role. She feels she can better empathise with the players having been in their shoes, and expressed great pride in their adjustment to her new managerial techniques:
“I think being a player in general helps because in those environments I know what the girls are probably feeling and the pressures that come with that, but also being at Bournemouth I know the culture, the values and the environment and also what we needed at that moment, so I think that was quite key.”
Ultimately her words praised the squad she has at Bournemouth, reminding of their resilience and adaptability to new environments:
“Three months ago, I was their teammate for quite a few of them so I knew what a few things about what they needed but also just as a player what I can bring from that side of things, I think it’s definitely helped, but it’s like I’ve said they’ve taken it, they’ve taken everything I’ve asked, I couldn’t be prouder of them really.”
Since her move to Bournemouth, continuing not only the club’s unbeaten run, but also the positive mentality is at the heart of Bleazard’s aims. She credited her staff for helping the players prepare for the season before her arrival as manager, and for utilising each individual within the squad to the team’s advantage:
“I only came in a week before preseason, so all of that preseason, the fitness and everything that comes with that I have to give a massive credit to the rest of my staff, because it’s not only the players, but the staff that have got them from a rehab point or view, from a fitness point of view they came in to the season really, really flying and I think it’s shown with some of our results we scored late on in quite a few and I think even against Plymouth at the weekend, we looked the fitter team and I noticed a cliché. If we had ten more minutes, we probably would have nicked a goal, but that’s quite consistent in a lot of our games, so I think not only that, but I’m very, very passionate on making sure our squad is used.”
With injuries on the rise within the Cherries’ squad, the development squad have stepped up in the absence of these key players. Bleazard spoke about the importance of rotation and building a culture where teammates accept and support one another, whether in the starting eleven or from the sidelines:
“We have a very, very small squad and we’ve already had quite a few injuries so far, so we’ve really had to maximise that and use our development squad. So it’s not just going to be an eleven that plays the whole season and I think the girls have really bought into that and I’ve really tried to bring in a philosophy and talk about the values and everything that come with that to really build that culture and the girls and the staff have jumped on board straight away and I’ve realised that everything that we’re trying to do it’s not just me it’s everyone else with that.”
There is a bright future ahead of the club. Bleazard reiterated the importance of both a group of players who believe in the vision, but also those beyond the pitch willing to invest in and promote the women’s side:
“We’re really trying to build the club and that culture, and I’ve got a great group of players, but also people that are buying into us so I can’t fault them”
Jessica Hennesey, first team player
Jessica Hennessey is an Irish central defender who recently joined AFC Bournemouth from Nottingham Forest Women, after helping them secure promotion to the WSL 2. Her wealth of experience in football and multiple achievements bring valuable knowledge and leadership to the squad.
When choosing Bournemouth as the destination for her new chapter, Hennessey found this an easy decision: everything about the club attracted her. In particular their desire to push for the women’s team to reach the same standard as the men’s team:
“It was everything about the club that appealed to me. Since coming in, everyone has just been so welcoming. The facilities are top notch and overall, everything appeals to me. Not many clubs have as high standards as AFC Bournemouth, and they want us to be just like the men, and I think that was a real attraction to a lot of us new girls.”
When asked about their ambitions to secure promotion to the WSL 2, alongside their long-term development plan, Hennessey praised everyone’s support and efforts in supporting the women’s team. She vowed to keep pushing on and performing at a high standard:
“I think that’s the next step Bournemouth want to take and that’s why they’ve brought in girls to add strength to the squad and add experience as well. There’s so much support around us as a team from the club from every one of us and it’s really great to see. Now, it’s just up to us to keep pushing on and to keep our standards high and keep playing well and keep getting the results.”
The Cherries even have regular opportunities to play at the Vitality Stadium, where fan support spurs them to perform with even stronger intensity and desire to succeed. Hennessey spoke happily about her excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to play on the big stage, and thanked the fans for their incredible support, particularly in the closing minutes of matches:
“This will be my first time playing at the Vitality so I’m so excited and I think all the new girls in particular are excited, all the girls are excited. It’s a massive game and it’s a privilege to be able to play at the Vitality. I think the fans have been unbelievable for us and they’re like the twelfth man for us. You see those games, our previous games coming down to the last few minutes, they really push us on their support had just been unreal, so we’re really grateful for that and we’re really excited for the game.”
Bournemouth are paving the way for the next generation of women’s football, on a journey that must be recognised and supported for the greater good of the game.