BARRY OUTGUN BRIGHTON TO BECOME FIRST WELSH SIDE IN TOP FLIGHT
In a Southern Division season which regularly threw up surprise results, there at least remained some consistent themes. Most notably: Barry Town were goal-hungry and ruthless; Brighton & Hove Albion were hard to beat; if Barnet scored it was probably through Sarah Flint (she netted 28 of their 40 goals); and if struggling Whitehawk were in action, they would lose.
Although topsy-turvy and frequently high-scoring encounters occurred throughout the campaign, the table took shape early on as Barry set the pace with Brighton in their slipstream.
Welsh side Town scored 19 times without reply in their first four games, all of them won and including a 7-0 thrashing of Barnet with new signing Trudy Williams netting six of the goals.
Town’s manager Jon Edwards was charitable towards the Bees: “It sounds like a hammering,” he said, “but Barnet’s young side was the best we’ve played to date.”
By that stage Edwards and others already believed that Brighton, who had won their first three outings, would provide the main competition for promotion.
But then Langford sprang a surprise against the Seagulls just a week later. A 1-0 win, courtesy of Louise Earley’s first-half strike, led jubilant Langford coach David Buey to observe: “The standard of football was an excellent advert for the women’s game. And Brighton can be beaten!”
Brighton could indeed be beaten, but so could Barry – and by Barnet, who ended Town’s six-match unbeaten start to the campaign with a revenge 2-1 victory over them in mid-October.
Aside from the promotion tussle between the team from the south coast and the side from South Wales, the other big story was the transformation of Ipswich Town. Having finished rock bottom in the previous season, the Tractor Girls were now an entirely different proposition.
In early November they upset Barry with a 4-3 win. Shelley Pleasance scored a hat-trick as they built a 3-1 lead and, though Town then pulled themselves level, a last minute Penny Farrow free-kick gave the now potential title chasers a thrilling victory.
The inspired Tractor Girls won eight successive games until a 2-0 loss at Barking in early December, though they remained in top spot until Barry drew level on points in late January.
Wembley Mill Hill, and to a lesser degree Langford, also put in strong showings; but their lack of consistency meant they were never a real threat to the main contenders.
The first of what it seemed would be two promotion six-pointers between Barry and Brighton was played in February, ending in 1-1 draw. Town were a point clear at this stage, but the Seagulls had a game in hand so it was all to play for as the run-in to the end of the season began.
Brighton’s 3-1 loss at Barking was a costly blow, whilst Barry leapfrogged Ipswich with a 5-0 win over Langford. Prolific striker Williams hit the latest of her several hat-tricks, while Ayshea Martin and Claire O’Sullivan also found the net.
Barry firmly buried Ipswich’s promotion hopes once and for all with a 2-0 win at Jenner Park the following weekend. Williams, almost inevitably, bagged both goals.
When Town then beat Barking 4-0 in their penultimate match of the season, it meant that only a 7-0 home defeat by Brighton on the final day would overturn the advantage that had been built up in goal difference. So not a six-pointer after all.
The Seagulls won the game 2-1, but it was a hollow victory as Barry, though level with their adversaries on points, took the title on goal difference and so became the first Welsh side to reach the top flight of the Women’s Premier League.
Many of the plaudits for their success were handed Williams, a natural-born scorer who had been prolific in her early teens but had then spent years away from the game before joining Barry,
She finished as the League’s top scorer with 39 goals and hoovered up both the division’s and clubs’ Player of the Season awards. Powerful, brave and uncompromising, she and her strike partner, the pacey Martyn, were a handful for any defence.
“The two of us were really fast runners, sprinters,” said Williams as she reflected on the season. “Often, they could just play the ball over the top and we would run on to it, and that was it. Nobody could catch you.
“Ayshea was a funny player, she would sometimes not know what she was doing herself. But she had all the ability and a great left foot on her. So if I wasn't scoring, I was setting her up. (She was) a big, tall girl. I'm a bit shorter, although saying that a lot of my goals were headers.”
Barry’s goal tally of 73 was only bettered – sadly in a negative sense – by the 125 conceded by Whitehawk as the Brighton-based team ended the season with zero points and a relegation that had looked a certainty from the opening weeks of the campaign.
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Town | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 73 | 25 | +48 | 49 |
| 2 | Brighton & Hove A | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 59 | 22 | +37 | 49 |
| 3 | Wembley Mill Hill | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 56 | 20 | +36 | 44 |
| 4 | Ipswich Town | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 54 | 41 | +13 | 42 |
| 5 | Langford | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 37 |
| 6 | Berkhamsted Town | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 46 | -5 | 32 |
| 7 | Wimbledon | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 58 | 44 | +14 | 30 |
| 8 | Barnet | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 28 |
| 9 | Barking | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 67 | 57 | +10 | 27 |
| 10 | Cardiff City | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 31 | 63 | -32 | 21 |
| 11 | Three Bridges | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 30 | 48 | -18 | 18 |
| 12 | Whitehawk | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 15 | 125 | -110 | 0 |
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE SOUTHERN DIVISION RESULTS 1999-00
22/8/1999
Barry Town 5-0 Whitehawk
Berkhamsted Town 2-2 Cardiff City
Ipswich Town 1-0 Barnet
Wembley Mill Hill 3-0 Three Bridges
Wimbledon 4-2 Langford
25/8/1999
Langford 3-0 Berkhamsted Town
29/8/1999
Barking 2-2 Three Bridges
Barnet 4-3 Wimbledon
Ipswich Town 2-0 Berkhamsted Town
Wembley Mill Hill 0-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
1/9/1900
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Wimbledon
2/9/1999
Barking 1-2 Wembley Mill Hill
Barnet 2-2 Berkhamsted Town
Barry Town 4-0 Cardiff City
5/9/1999
Barry Town 7-0 Barnet
Berkhamsted Town 2-6 Barking
Brighton & Hove Albion 5-1 Three Bridges
Wembley Mill Hill 11-0 Cardiff City
Whitehawk 0-9 Langford
Wimbledon 4-0 Ipswich Town
9/9/1900
Wimbledon 1-1 Three Bridges
12/9/1999
Barking 4-1 Wimbledon
Barry Town 3-0 Berkhamsted Town
Ipswich Town 3-6 Wembley Mill Hill
Langford 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Whitehawk 0-4 Barnet
19/9/1999
Barking 9-0 Whitehawk
Barnet 1-1 Langford
Berkhamsted Town 2-1 Wimbledon
Brighton & Hove Albion 5-0 Ipswich Town
Three Bridges 1-2 Cardiff City
Wembley Mill Hill 1-2 Barry Town
24/9/1999
Cardiff City 1-3 Barry Town
3/10/1999
Ipswich Town 2-1 Langford
Whitehawk 1-9 Barking
Wimbledon 2-3 Cardiff City
10/10/1999
Berkhamsted Town 3-2 Barnet
Cardiff City 0-5 Brighton & Hove Albion
Ipswich Town 3-2 Wimbledon
Langford 2-2 Barking
Wembley Mill Hill 4-0 Whitehawk
17/10/1999
Barnet 2-1 Barry Town
Brighton & Hove Albion 5-0 Berkhamsted Town
Ipswich Town 4-0 Cardiff City
24/10/1999
Barking 5-1 Cardiff City
31/10/1999
Cardiff City 1-2 Berkhamsted Town
Ipswich Town 4-3 Barry Town
Langford 2-0 Three Bridges
Wimbledon 5-4 Barking
7/11/1999
Barry Town 3-2 Wembley Mill Hill
Berkhamsted Town 3-1 Whitehawk
Langford 0-2 Ipswich Town
Three Bridges 1-3 Barking
Wimbledon 4-0 Barnet
14/11/1999
Barnet 0-3 Ipswich Town
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Barking
Langford 4-2 Wimbledon
Three Bridges 0-2 Wembley Mill Hill
Whitehawk 3-5 Berkhamsted Town
21/11/1999
Barnet 2-4 Wembley Mill Hill
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Langford
Ipswich Town 3-2 Three Bridges
28/11/1999
Barry Town 5-1 Wimbledon
Berkhamsted Town 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Cardiff City 2-1 Barking
Ipswich Town 11-0 Whitehawk
Langford 0-0 Barnet
5/12/1999
Barking 2-0 Ipswich Town
Langford 0-2 Wembley Mill Hill
Wimbledon 3-1 Barry Town
9/1/2000
Berkhamsted Town 1-1 Three Bridges
16/1/2000
Cardiff City 2-2 Barnet
23/1/2000
Barnet 7-4 Barking
Cardiff City 3-1 Ipswich Town
Three Bridges 1-3 Berkhamsted Town
Wembley Mill Hill 0-1 Langford
Whitehawk 1-7 Barry Town
30/1/2000
Berkhamsted Town 2-4 Barry Town
Brighton & Hove Albion 5-0 Whitehawk
Langford 4-0 Cardiff City
6/2/2000
Barnet 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Barry Town 5-1 Three Bridges
Berkhamsted Town 4-2 Ipswich Town
Wimbledon 7-1 Whitehawk
13/2/2000
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Barry Town
Cardiff City 0-3 Langford
Wembley Mill Hill 0-0 Barnet
20/2/2000
Barking 2-4 Barry Town
Three Bridges 2-1 Wimbledon
27/2/2000
Barking 1-2 Langford
Barnet 1-1 Three Bridges
Cardiff City 0-5 Wimbledon
Ipswich Town 2-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
5/3/2000
Barking 0-4 Berkhamsted Town
Cardiff City 1-2 Three Bridges
Langford 1-0 Barry Town
Wembley Mill Hill 0-1 Ipswich Town
12/3/2000
Barnet 6-2 Whitehawk
Berkhamsted Town 3-1 Langford
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Cardiff City
Ipswich Town 4-3 Barking
Three Bridges 1-3 Barry Town
Wimbledon 2-2 Wembley Mill Hill
19/3/2000
Barking 3-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Three Bridges 0-1 Ipswich Town
Whitehawk 0-2 Wembley Mill Hill
26/3/2000
Barnet 3-1 Cardiff City
Berkhamsted Town 1-1 Wimbledon
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 Wembley Mill Hill
Three Bridges 2-2 Langford
Whitehawk 0-5 Ipswich Town
2/4/2000
Barking 3-4 Barnet
9/4/2000
Barnet 1-1 Three Bridges
Barry Town 5-0 Langford
16/4/2000
Barry Town 2-0 Ipswich Town
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Barnet
25/4/2000
Wembley Mill Hill 2-1 Berkhamsted Town
30/4/2000
Barry Town 4-0 Barking
4/5/2000
Berkhamsted Town 0-2 Wembley Mill Hill
6/5/2000
Barry Town 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
