Having qualified for the first round proper of the Women's FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, Hammersmith FC are preparing to face AFC Wimbledon on Sunday and received a visit from the famous trophy ahead of the occasion.
Hammersmith were founded in 2021 by friends Akin Okunola and Tommy Fish, with the aim of creating a community-centric football club in West London that brings together and celebrates diverse communities, while maintaining a long-term goal of winning silverware.
Since their inception five years ago, the team have won back-to-back promotions, with four league titles. Alongside this league success, this year’s Women’s FA Cup run has been their best yet, reaching the first round proper and taking down Tier 4 side Wycombe Wanderers in the third round qualifying to progress.
Off the pitch, the club are doing great things too, attracting big-name sponsors such as Chase & Status. The club launched a new shirt with the band this week, which the team will wear in Sunday's clash with AFC Wimbledon.
“I was friends with Akin (co-founder) since our school days and he set up the men’s team and wanted to set up a women’s team too, so he gave me a ring and asked me if I wanted to help get it off the ground," explained Maddy Hills, Head of Women’s Football at Hammersmith, speaking about the club's inception.
"I was playing a bit higher up in the Women’s National League but thought ‘I’ll come down and help’.
"I wasn’t too sure whether I was going to drop down full time or not, but I came in and saw in the first few weeks what he was creating and wanted to get involved and honestly I haven’t looked back since.
"I love the community here and what we’re building.”
Reflecting on a hugely successful few years and the prospect of competing in the Women’s FA Cup first round proper, Maddy added: “It’s pretty huge, we’ve had back-to-back promotions, four promotions in five years and now this, it’s really crazy.
"This will be the biggest game in Hammersmith history and we’re all really excited for that.
"It’s nice that we get to show a bit of what we’re about on a bigger stage and get a bit of recognition for what we’ve been creating in the last few years.”
Meanwhile, for Rachel Anderson, Hammersmith has provided a sense of community she needed after stopping playing football for a while.
“I was looking for a team in Tier 6 at the time and found Hammersmith," Rachel reflected.
"I’ve been here for two seasons and it’s just the energy and the atmosphere around the club and around training that has been amazing.
"It’s a special group of people, not just the players on the team but everyone surrounding the club, you get to build great relationships which I think has been incredible.”
Amy Swanton, Women's General Manager, has been with Hammersmith for two seasons and has been key to the success of the club, with both the second and first teams securing promotions in their respective leagues.
Looking ahead to Sunday's big game, Amy said: “It’s amazing; they always say the FA Cup is everyone’s cup, everyone’s game.
"It’s those little teams that always cause the biggest upsets. So being able to play in this and playing against AFC Wimbledon, which is such an established club, you couldn’t write it better really.
"I think it’d be an incredible story to tell, especially winning it - there’s no better atmosphere than winning as the underdog.”
Hammersmith v AFC Wimbledon is one of 48 ties taking place in the Women's FA Cup first round proper this weekend, with fixture details available to view here and results to be published here
