KATY SO DEADLY AS SUPER BLUES SPEED TO TOP FLIGHT
Managed by professional footballer Marcus Bignot and spearheaded by goal machine Katy Ward, a youthful Birmingham City team came of age as they powered their way to the Northern Division title while also, against all odds, reaching the final of the Premier League Cup.
They hit the ground running with victories in each of their first five matches, though sadly for Blues two of those wins meant nothing after their opponents North Notts dropped out of the League midway through the season and their results were expunged.
England Under-19 striker Ward would have been particularly disappointed with that outcome, having hit four goals in a 9-1 home win against North Notts and then a hat-trick when beating them 3-1 in the away fixture – those seven sweet strikes were likewise expunged.
It was of course a far sadder situation for North Notts, who in what was their only season in the League lost eight and won just one of the 11 games they completed.
By the time of their departure at the end of December, Birmingham were flying high at the top of the table with eight wins and a draw from nine games. Ward had scored 15 of her team’s 23 goals up to that stage, six of her tally coming in a single game as Garswood Saints were thrashed 6-0.
But arguably the greatest of Ward’s goalscoring feats in this 2001-02 season came in mid-January, when – eight days after her 18th birthday – she grabbed a hat-trick as Blues stunned women’s football followers with a shock 4-3 victory over high-riding top flight club Doncaster Belles in the semi-final of the Premier League Cup.
“My personal highlight of that 2001-02 season was my hat-trick against Donny,” said Ward as she looked back after ending her career. “I’ll never forget the moment I got our winning goal.
“I’d had a dream the night before that we’d win, but hardly anybody gave us a chance. Donny were one of the very best teams in the country and we were just a small team from the Midlands.
“But we matched them right through the game, and after I scored our fourth goal from a free-kick we just had to hold our nerve and keep going. Beating them was a massive achievement.”
Just three seasons after their promotion from the Midland Combination to the Northern Division, Blues were not only well on their way to reaching the National Division but also in a major trophy final for the first time in the club’s history.
In the final they were to suffer a 7-1 trouncing by Fulham, Europe’s only professional women’s team at the time and comfortably beating all-comers.
It was a record loss for Birmingham in the club’s then 34-year history. But a fortnight later, and with a happily co-incidental 7-1 scoreline, Bignot’s team hammered Wolverhampton Wanderers under the Molineux floodlights to clinch promotion.
Predictably on the big night, Ward notched a hat-trick – against the club from which she had joined Blues ahead of their triumphant 2001-02 campaign.
“That night at Molineux was fantastic,” recalled Ward as she looked back on the occasion. “To play at a men’s stadium in those days was very, very special, and to help us make sure of promotion with a hat-trick was just great for me on a personal level.
“But to be part of that team and what we achieved made that season one of the very best of my career,” added Birmingham born Ward, who started at Aston Villa and after her time with Blues turned out for Bristol Academy, Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City and Leicester City.
As vital as Ward’s contribution was to promotion, manager Bignot – at the time a midfielder with Queens Park Rangers – spread the praise around when he spoke after the Molineux match.
“I’m delighted for the girls and everyone who’s worked so hard for this moment,” he said with pride. “Promotion isn’t just about Katy Ward’s goals or the 16-player squad we’ve had out tonight, it’s about the efforts of everybody involved from the Under-10’s upwards.
“It was great that so many of them were here tonight and what a way to clinch promotion, and on such a tremendous stage as Molineux too.”
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham City | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 68 | 21 | 51 | +47 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 27 | 37 | +12 |
| 3 | Oldham Curzon | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 22 | 36 | +17 |
| 4 | Ilkeston Town | 20 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 43 | 27 | 33 | +16 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 27 | 30 | +14 |
| 6 | Bangor City | 20 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 40 | 36 | 29 | +4 |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 38 | 25 | -5 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 42 | 39 | 24 | +3 |
| 9 | Garswood Saints | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 47 | 18 | -26 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 45 | 16 | -26 |
| 11 | Coventry City | 20 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 64 | 2 | -56 |
North Notts withdrew mid-season – record expunged
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE NORTHERN DIVISION RESULTS 2001-02
19/8/2001
Aston Villa 5-5 Bangor City
Coventry 0-3 Liverpool
Ilkeston Town 5-0 Garswood Saints
Manchester City 0-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Oldham Curzon 1-2 Birmingham City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 North Notts
26/8/2001
Bangor City 1-1 Oldham Curzon
Birmingham City 9-1 North Notts
Coventry City 0-3 Manchester City
Garswood Saints 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Liverpool 2-0 Ilkeston Town
Sheffield Wednesday 0-7 Aston Villa
2/9/2001
Aston Villa 2-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Ilkeston Town 1-1 Liverpool
Manchester City 3-1 Coventry City
North Notts 1-3 Birmingham City
Oldham Curzon 0-0 Bangor City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 Garswood Saints
9/9/2001
Bangor City 5-1 North Notts
Birmingham City 2-0 Manchester City
Garswood Saints 0-0 Oldham Curzon
Liverpool 1-2 Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday 2-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
16/9/2001
Aston Villa 2-0 Coventry City
Bangor City 2-3 Birmingham City
Ilkeston Town 4-1 Manchester City
North Notts 1-2 Garswood Saints
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Liverpool
30/9/2001
Birmingham City 0-0 Ilkeston Town
Coventry City 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Garswood Saints 2-2 Bangor City
Liverpool 4-0 Oldham Curzon
Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 North Notts
7/10/2001
Bangor City 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Garswood Saints 0-6 Birmingham City
Ilkeston Town 3-1 Aston Villa
North Notts 4-1 Liverpool
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 Manchester City
14/10/2001
Birmingham City 3-1 Aston Villa
Coventry City 2-2 North Notts
Ilkeston Town 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 Manchester City
21/10/2001
Garswood Saints 1-2 Liverpool
Oldham Curzon 3-2 Ilkeston Town
Sheffield Wednesday 1-4 Bangor City
28/10/2001
Garswood Saints 2-1 Coventry City
Manchester City 1-4 Aston Villa
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Oldham Curzon
4/11/2001
Aston Villa 0-0 Oldham Curzon
Birmingham City 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Coventry City 1-2 Garswood Saints
Ilkeston Town 4-2 North Notts
Manchester City 1-2 Bangor City
Liverpool 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
11/11/2001
Bangor City 1-0 Liverpool
North Notts 1-5 Sheffield Wednesday
Oldham Curzon 4-0 Coventry City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Aston Villa
18/11/2001
Bangor City 2-2 Ilkeston Town
Oldham Curzon 5-2 Garswood Saints
25/11/2001
Coventry City 1-4 Sheffield Wednesday
Garswood Saints 1-1 Manchester City
Oldham Curzon 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
2/12/2001
Bangor City 1-1 Aston Villa
Birmingham City 4-3 Oldham Curzon
16/12/2001
Coventry City 0-0 Birmingham City
Ilkeston Town 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Oldham Curzon 9-0 North Notts
Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-1 Bangor City
13/1/2002
Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City
20/1/2002
Ilkeston Town 8-0 Coventry City
27/1/2002
Manchester City 0-5 Ilkeston Town
10/2/2002
Birmingham City 3-0 Coventry City
Ilkeston Town 3-3 Aston Villa
17/2/2002
Liverpool 5-0 Bangor City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 Ilkeston Town
24/2/2002
Birmingham City 6-2 Sheffield Wednesday
3/3/2002
Coventry City 0-2 Ilkeston Town
Oldham Curzon 3-0 Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Liverpool
10/3/2002
Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester City
Bangor City 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Oldham Curzon 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
17/3/2002
Aston Villa 0-2 Garswood Saints
Birmingham City 4-1 Liverpool
Ilkeston Town 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Manchester City 2-4 Oldham Curzon
24/3/2002
Garswood Saints 1-3 Aston Villa
Liverpool 5-0 Coventry City
Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Birmingham City
29/3/2002
Aston Villa 1-3 Birmingham City
31/3/2002
Birmingham City 2-2 Bangor City
Coventry City 1-4 Oldham Curzon
Garswood Saints 2-3 Ilkeston Towwn
Manchester City 0-0 Liverpool
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
7/4/2002
Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool
Bangor City 1-2 Garswood Saints
Ilkeston Town 0-4 Oldham Curzon
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Coventry City
14/4/2002
Aston Villa 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Coventry City 2-3 Bangor City
Manchester City 1-5 Birmingham City
Oldham Curzon 2-1 Liverpool
Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Garswood Saints
21/4/2002
Bangor City 2-0 Manchester City
Liverpool 5-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
24/4/2002
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-7 Birmingham City
25/4/2002
Liverpool 1-1 Garswood Saints
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Oldham Curzon
28/4/2002
Bangor City 6-0 Coventry City
Garswood Saints 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Ilkeston Town 3-1 Birmingham City
Oldham Curzon 0-0 Manchester City
30/4/2002
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Coventry City
2/5/2002
Garswood Saints 2-2 Manchester City
5/5/2002
Coventry City 0-5 Aston Villa
Liverpool 2- 5 Birmingham City
Manchester City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
6/5/2002
Birmingham City 5-0 Garswood Saints
19/5/2002
Ilkeston Town 0-2 Bangor City
