There’s no doubting Brighton & Hove Albion are a team on the up – and most-importantly that women’s football in Sussex is thriving.
Seagulls boss Hope Powell was in charge of England between 1998 and 2013 and also managed the Great Britain side at the 2012 Olympic Games in London – her arrival in the summer has been a marquee capture for Brighton’s chief executive Paul Barber.
Brighton are enjoying a solid season in FA WSL 2, sitting healthily in fourth position with 13 points from seven games, seven behind leaders Doncaster Rovers Belles with a game in hand.
And with Powell now in the hot seat and many new faces now finding their rhythm, defender Laura Rafferty believes the sky is the limit for the ambitious Seagulls.
“We were in the Premier League, a couple of divisions below, just a couple of years ago,” said the 21-year-old, who joined Albion in January 2017. “It shows the progress of the club and football in this area.
“Coming up and getting more faces in this season, like Ini [Umotong], Fern Whelan, Aileen Whelan and Hope Powell – they’re big names to bring in and shows the ambition of our club.
“I believe we’re going in the right direction. It’s not just the management and staff or the players, it’s the foundation we’re building.
“We’ve got the backroom staff here that is able to drive us even further forward and a board at Brighton who fully support us.
“[Brighton owner] Tony Bloom is so interested in everything we do and that for us is added incentive that we need to perform for our club.”
This weekend they are up against the all-conquering Manchester City, but Rafferty insists her team-mates will go into Sunday’s SSE Women’s FA Cup fourth round clash with no fear against the holders.
Nick Cushing’s fearsome Citizens, who are also the reigning FA WSL 1 and Continental Tyres Cup champions, swept aside Birmingham City 4-1 in last year’s Final in front of record crowd for the competition – more than 35,000 – to lift the coveted silverware.
Brighton will host City in front of a sell-out crowd at Culver Road on Sunday as they look to stop the City machine and book a place in Monday’s fifth round draw.
Rafferty, who won the competition with Chelsea in 2015, believes they have enough to go toe-to-toe with the best in the land.
“Winning it was something I always dreamed of and something that I’ll never forget,” said the Northern Ireland international. “For that to happen was unbelievable and there isn’t a part of me that thinks it can’t happen again with Brighton.
“We’ve got tough opposition as you do with any cup game, but that doesn’t make a difference to us, we’ll go in with no fear and be really excited for it.
“You thrive with the pressure and all we can do is play with confidence as a result of that.”
Rafferty and team-mate Ini Umotong were at Goring Primary School in Worthing on Friday to meet students, field questions and join in with a special football session.
Nigeria international Umotong joined Brighton in the summer and is the club’s top goal scorer with five goals in 11 matches.
And while the 23-year-old is under no illusion at the size of the task awaiting them on Sunday, she also believes the magic of the cup can only count in their favour as they look to upset the apple cart.
“We know it’s going to be a really big game," she said. "Manchester City obviously won it last season so we know it will be a struggle but one of the main things I love about the FA Cup is anything can happen.
“Take the men’s competition the other week – Nottingham Forest knocked out Arsenal who had won it the previous year. Results like that give us belief that anything can happen in the FA Cup.”
