Inverurie Locos Ladies will be a family affair as the husband-and-wife duo who established the team will also coach the squad, which includes their two daughters.
Michelle and Stuart Wood will coach the newly-established women’s team, which will have their teenage daughters Riley, 14, and Bethan, 17, in the ranks.
They set up the women’s team – in association with the men’s Highland League side – after long-term ties with Colony Park at youth level.
Colony Park will now act as the youth player pathway up to Inverurie Locos Ladies.
The Woods joined the girl’s youth club to help coach their eldest daughter’s team in 2016 – when Colony only had one team and around 20 players signed up.
The club has grown to have 121 players registered between eight teams – but only up to Under-16s – so the Woods decided to take the next step and establish a women’s side.
The husband-and-wife duo wanted a senior women’s team in Inverurie, having seen girls leave Colony – including Bethan – or give up football due to the lack of opportunities at adult level.
They first proposed the idea a year ago to Colony Park, which never took off. But, after approaching Locos, it gained momentum.
The club officially launched their first ever women’s team earlier this month, becoming the third Highland League side to do so, alongside Brora Rangers and Clachnacuddin.
🚂 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚂
Introducing to you… Inverurie Loco Works FC Ladies
More to come on this exciting announcement 👏
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— InverurieLocoWorksFC (@InverurieLocos) July 8, 2022
Michelle said: “There’s not been the infrastructure for women’s football here before, so girls got to an age where they weren’t playing football anymore or were having to move to another team.
“Our two daughters play and love their football – we just wanted to give them and the Colony girls an opportunity to continue playing after school age. It’s going to be nice to have Riley and Bethan at the same club again.
“At Colony, we’ve known the girls from such a young age. You start to see them as your own kids in a way and you want them to do well. It was a shame that they had to all go their separate ways.
“It’s nice that now they’ll have the option to move into senior football together.
“Hopefully Locos Ladies can be an inspiration to the young Colony girls who can come along to our games and have something to aspire to.”
Launching the team is just the beginning
The women’s team have agreed a five-year plan with Locos as they hope to progress from the recreational leagues to the elite competitive branch of the women’s game.
Locos Ladies will be self-funded for the time being, but will play their homes game at Harlaw Park when they make their SWFL league debut in 2023.
Michelle added: “We’re ambitious and want to progress as far as we can up the leagues. We have a lot of girls in the team who want to play football for a living.
“We want to provide them with as much as we can and to give them that opportunity, or at least act as a stepping stone, to give them that platform to go and seek out professional football.
“We have this five-year commitment with Locos, because we want to make the women’s team sustainable in Inverurie.
“Ideally, down the line, if we’re good enough to move up the leagues, we would need proper financial backing.
“This is the first time Locos have had a women’s team, so they will just be wanting to see how things go before they commit to anything financially. The five-year plan is good because we can see how we go and take it from there.”
A young but ‘determined’ team
Despite their ambitious plans, the current priority is to get a squad prepared for competitive football.
Inverurie Locos Ladies are currently recruiting experienced players to make up the squad, alongside the girls who will be making the step up to senior football for the first time.
Locos Ladies will commence training in October ahead of their league bow in 2023 and, while it will be the first time a lot of their squad will have played senior football, Michelle believes they will be more than ready.
She explained: “We’ve watched a few games in the league that we’re going to play in and – technically – I don’t think there is going to be any issue for our players. They’ll be totally fine in that aspect of the game.
“It’ll be more the physicality, because the players they’re going to come up against will be a lot bigger and stronger than what they’re used to.
“I know the girls are really excited and are determined to work hard.
“I think we’ll have a good team – young – but I think they will hold their own.”