It shouldn’t be forgotten that the team was dealing with the loss of captain Ella Waldron and top scorer Phoebe Head, snapped up by Brighton and Milwall respectively. In came Hannah Hutchison from AFC Wimbledon, Giulia Clini from further afield, a new formation and a new coach in Dale Bond, the girls now led by three wise men (well, sort of). The trio’s private aim was a top-three place and another cup final. Turned out alright in the end.
An unlucky opening-day defeat at usual sparring partners Abbey Rangers was followed by wins over Carshalton and Crystal Palace (Blues), either side of a typically see-saw draw with Fleet Town. Heavy defeats to pacesetters Wimbledon and Maidenhead left Teddington bruised but unbowed, and lessons were learnt: after another unfortunate defeat to Abbey, a well-deserved draw with Wimbledon amply illustrated the team’s improvement.
The season’s pivotal moment came at frosty Fleet in the Surrey League Cup quarter-final. Firstly, everybody turned up, which wasn’t a given but demonstrated the girls’ commitment; then they battled back from behind and won on penalties. Then they won four games on the bounce, including three consecutive clean sheets (they would end up with seven shutouts, a team record and more than twice as many as last season).
That run climaxed in the Cup semi-final against Abbey Rangers, whom the team had already deservedly beaten in the third league clash to demolish any notion of bogey teams. In an unforgettable four-goal second half, Teddington turbocharged past their erstwhile rivals and booked their place in a second Cup final in three seasons.
Tellingly, the team recovered from successive defeats to Maidenhead and Hampton to string together four successive wins. That cemented third place – the team’s highest finish – and prepared them for a Cup Final with Maidenhead. The Berkshire outfit had put 11 goals past Teddington in their previous two encounters, so when they raced into an early 2-0 lead a weaker team may have collapsed. Instead, the girls dug deep, levelled the score, played good football and deserved to win before falling to a heartbreaking late goal.
And so to another summer of change. Again, much-loved friends are leaving – Saskia Brewster, Millie MacEacharn, Anna Kauffmann and coach Bondy; again, new people are signing up, and Teddington will go again. The end-of-season Awards were given to Hannah (Coaches’ Player of the Year), Saskia (Players’ Player of the Year) and Ella Dodd (Manager’s Player of the Year), but all the girls are winners – and not just because they do well on the pitch, but because they enjoy it. And that’s the point. Here’s a word for each of them.
2016/17: 20 games (20 starts)
TAFC career: 72 games (61 starts), 13 goals
It seems a very long time ago that Ruby started her Teddington career by scoring in seven of her first eight appearances. It was a long time ago – nearly four years – and since then the former tough-tackling back has spent two-and-a-half seasons as the squad’s go-to goalkeeper. Improving all the time, Ruby showed her ability in the Cup quarter-final at Fleet, saving two shootout penalties and scoring her own; Teddington won eight of the next 10 games.
2016/17: 19 games (15 starts)
TAFC career: 45 games (35 starts)
After a false start in an injury-halted 2014/15, the Danish import settled into the squad the following season. Joining the squad as a midfielder, she was more usually deployed as a forward-thinking right-back. The 2016 Florida trip turned a quiet, thoughtful girl into a much more vocal presence on and off the pitch, frequently asking intelligent questions of her coaches. Rechristened “Coffee” after the arrival of the similarly-forenamed Hannah Hutchison, she returns to Denmark with Teddington’s best wishes behind her and a bright future in front of her.
2016/17: 18 games (12 starts)
TAFC career: 67 games (51 starts), 21 goals
The squad’s youngest member, yet in some ways one of its most experienced, “Little Amy” stood at something of a crossroads this season. With those troublesome mid-teens starting and a burgeoning interest in horse-riding, she could easily have walked away from a career that has seen her play with distinction in every outfield section – striker, winger, midfielder, defensive midfielder, full-back and even centre-back. But she knuckled down to battle for the right-back shirt, has re-signed for next season and has all the ability necessary to thrive – in any position her team needs.
HANNAH HUTCHISON2016/17: 22 games (22 starts)
Goals, trophies and wins pale beside the main aim of TAFC: to love the game. “H” lives for football but had fallen out of love with it at AFC Wimbledon. Welcomed into the Teddington group and quickly cementing herself at centre-back, Hannah became Ms Reliable, playing every minute of every game despite a Cup Final injury so bad it later required hospital attention. Increasingly vocal at the back, Hutch is the loveable heart and soul of the team – and her ability to turn defence into attack with a single swift clip of the ball gives Teddington a wonderful weapon on the counter-attack.
2016/17: 18 games (18 starts)
TAFC career: 78 games (69 starts)
“Millie T”, as she henceforth need no longer be specificated (but probably still will be), has been a fixture at the heart of the Teddington defence ever since there’s been a Teddington defence. It is a mark of her talent and adaptability that she has formed strong partnerships there with at least three different sidekicks: first Saskia Brewster, then Ella Waldron, and now Hannah Hutchison. Millie’s excellent reading of the game enables her to be precisely where she needs to be, covering behind her team-mates and helping keep the penalty area safe. Still rubbish at remembering to take her stuff home, though.
2016/17: 20 games (19 starts), 1 goal
TAFC career: 74 games (71 starts), 1 goal
The vice-captain leaves Teddington with best wishes and sadness on both sides. Consummately professional in her approach to training, improvement and performance, Sas was never less than a pleasure to coach and manage. Having already changed from a redoubtable centre-back to the league’s best left-back, in 2016/17 she had started to change again, becoming an overlapping auxiliary attacker increasingly confident in the opposition’s third, as demonstrated by the sole goal of her TAFC career. It’s a pity for all concerned that her football career has to go on hold, but it is in understandable focus on other sporting endeavours; whatever she turns her hand to, she will excel.
2016/17: 17 games (8 starts), 1 goal
TAFC career: 69 games (37 starts), 7 goals
Unfailingly polite – she never left a training session without personally thanking each coach – and always willing to learn, modest Millie will be much missed by staff and players alike. It’s immensely pleasing that she leaves after a season whose high-point, for the player and arguably the team, was the Cup semi-final demolition of Abbey. That afternoon at Broom Road, Macca came on as a second-half sub – and promptly surprised herself by scoring with consummate confidence to help confirm a 4-0 larruping. Notably, she was immediately surrounded by beaming team-mates, thoroughly ecstatic that this lovely human had enjoyed such a delightful moment.
2016/17: 19 games (19 starts), 2 goals
TAFC career: 65 games (49 starts), 7 goals
Engine room. Beating heart. These clichés are soccer shorthand but they thoroughly suit the skipper, who so often sets the pace – literally. Whether it’s a pre-season pitch-lap, a midweek-with-mates cardio session or a 75th-minute press to dispossess opponents, Carla leads the charge and leads her charges into indefatigable battle. Although (in accord with TAFC’s Stated Intention of Making Adaptable Players) well capable of playing at full-back or on the wing, she has now become almost too vital to be moved: when Carla goes, her team-mates follow. It’s chaos when she goes to the toilet.
2016/17: 22 games (21 starts), 8 goals
TAFC career: 33 games (27 starts), 14 goals
That Liz is one of only two girls to play in every game this season speaks volumes for her dedication and increasing match fitness, but also her tactical awareness. A creative player who knows where the goal is – in that she spends half of every training session shooting at it “from downtown” – she has nonetheless become pivotal to Teddington’s play in a deeper role alongside Carla. Frequently involved in the early stages of moves, and one of two superb corner-takers in the squad, Liz probably deserves more goals and direct assists, which may come next season if she continues her development. And as a special bonus, her dad’s a cracking linesman.
2016/17: 19 games (18 starts), 6 goals
If George was the Quiet One in the Beatles, Giulia fulfils the same remit for Teddington. Just as Mr Harrison was immensely respected by his fellow Fabs for his perception and productively artistic input, so is Ms Clini, who has settled into the heart of TAFC’s creative department and noisy dressing room. Upon arrival she declared herself a forward or midfielder, but her pleasing mixture of style and steel is ideally suited to splitting the difference in the No.10 role, where she provides the lungs of a midfielder, the eye of a striker, a tiger in the tank and a fox in the box.
2016/17: 18 games (14 starts), 11 goals
TAFC career: 38 games (28 starts), 20 goals
Although she took Cup Final defeat particularly hard, Boz can look back proudly on a strong season in which she became utterly essential to Teddington – replacing Phoebe Head on the right wing with such success that former top scorer Pheebs was hardly missed at all. Allied to a wonderful understanding with Ella Dodd and other team-mates, Boz’s talent was at times unplayable: she tormented Wimbledon, destroyed Abbey Rangers, scored 11 in 18 and provided plenty of assists. It’s notable that of the four games she missed, the only one Teddington won was against lower-league opposition.
2016/17: 10 games (4 starts)
TAFC career: 51 games (13 starts), 1 goal
Managers like players who have a sunny aspect, an excellent training attendance record, a determination to improve, no problem with being substitute and the ability to change a game when they come on. Such is Sadie Day, who squeezes time out of an incredibly busy extracurricular schedule to fit in the team she has represented since the beginning. Like her friend Millie Mac, she hasn’t always been the world’s most confident player but has continued to improve and now causes opponents problems with her pace and directness; unlike Macca, she has decided to carry on next season, meaning the coaches may still be serenaded mid-match by a subs'-bench singalong.
2016/17: 22 games (21 starts), 12 goals
TAFC career: 82 games (77 starts), 58 goals
Last summer’s departures of Phoebe Head and Ella Waldron posed a big question: where will the goals come from? The answer was switching formation in order to get certain key players closer to the danger area. One such was Emily, who had spent the first top-flight 11-a-side season working hard in midfield but rarely reaching the final third – reflected in her league goal tally dropping from 11 in 2014/15 to 5 in 2015/16. Initially pencilled in for the No.10 slot, she shifted left to accommodate Giulia and responded with 12 goals in all competitions, including strikes against the three big rivals Wimbledon, Maidenhead and Abbey, to become the team’s all-time top scorer. And there’s much more to come if she looks up and has a go more often. Think Dele Alli, Em.
2016/17: 19 games (6 starts), 1 goal
TAFC career: 33 games (10 starts), 2 goals
Pace, power, energy, determination: “Bash” is a formidable sportswoman who will happily (and does frequently) run herself into the ground for the team. Often introduced as a substitute in order to frankly terrify tiring opponents, she shows the fearlessness learned playing hockey and rugby and the attitude instilled by her upbringing. She may not be confident – Emily Bashful – but she’s well-loved by Teddington Athletic and quickly feared by the opposition, who never quite know what she’s going to do next because neither does she.
2016/17: 18 games (7 starts), 2 goals
TAFC career: 68 games (45 starts), 27 goals
Of all Teddington’s players, Ale had perhaps the most difficult season. Although not as injury-plagued as in 2014/15 and the late winter of 2015/16, she has had the misfortune to find herself competing for the sole centre-forward slot with the girl ultimately crowned the Manager’s Player of the Season. But it’s typical of Ale’s quiet determination that she has knuckled down and awaited the call, offering a cerebral skillset much appreciated by her team-mates. Furthermore, Ale’s calm equaliser in the Cup quarters at Fleet proved pivotal in a successful season for her side, if not herself.
ELLA DODD2016/17: 22 games (18 starts), 13 goals
TAFC career: 67 games (52 starts), 30 goals
Were she playing for a different team, Doddsy may have been typecast as a centre-back (after all, she’s tall) or an imposing midfielder. She’s played well in both those positions for Teddington and may yet do so again if need be, but her switch (back) up front this season has paid dividends – as has her improved fitness regime, self-imposed and monitored by her good friend Carla. In addition to top-scoring with 13 in all competitions, Doddsy has also excelled at bringing her various attacking team-mates into play, as was exemplified in the final. Cushioning a throw-in to Boz, she spun into the area to take away the defender and create the sapce for the cross which created the first goal; minutes later, she was on hand to score herself with ruthless opportunism. Literally and metaphorically, she has taken her chance, and deservedly won the Manager’s Player of the Year award.
