Shrewsbury Town Ladies aiming to be the Shropshire stars

They parted ways with former boss Sean Evans shortly after a County Cup final defeat to TNS Reserves, with Alex Owens taking his place at the helm as they plan for a bright future.

Evans, boss for four years, guided the side – who work under the umbrella of the club’s charity partners Shrewsbury Town: In The Community – to a fifth-placed finish in the West Midland’s Regional Football League Division One North.

It is a league that the Ladies want to get themselves out of. Following this summer’s appointment, Owens and technical director Peter Wilson – who works within the Community system – have revealed their desire to become the county’s finest women’s team.

TNS currently ply their trade in the Women’s Premier League. Two levels above Town’s Ladies, it is the fourth division of women’s football in England, just three below the ever-growing Super League that contains Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham City.

Wilson, who worked with new boss Owens previously at TNS, is open about the club’s lofty aims.

“I think we need those big targets,” he said. “At the moment TNS are the dominant force in women’s football in the county. They’ve got two adults teams and a youth set-up they’ve had for six or seven years.

“We’re the only professional men’s first-team in the county, so why have we not go the best women’s team in the county?

“For us it’s a big ask. But we’re attracting players. We’ve seen in the trials, the quality of player that’s come in is a lot, lot better. In terms of the players that are staying, they’ve had to up their game.

“Alex will back me up, the players didn’t expect it to be this hard, or expect so much work or the number of changes.

“It’s a big ask but we need it because we’re Shrewsbury Town. When we’re there we won’t sit back. We want to stay at that level then the next year we’ll think about what we can do for promotion, an FA Cup fourth or fifth round tie – that’s the next push.”

Changes have been implemented on the field as well as off for the side that play their home games at Shrewsbury College. Town signed up 20 new players after successful recent trials. They are excited about nabbing goalscorer Katie Dosser from rivals Shrewsbury Juniors as well as 17-year-old Millie Young from Wolves.

Both Owens, who previously worked at Wolves Women, and Wilson have hailed the groundwork of former boss Evans. A significant group of his players – including Tania Prior, Nic Durnall, Charl Sewell, Kim Winton, Jess Williams, Charlotte Saul, Penny Owen and Beth Cleveley – have stuck around.

And the Ladies are also keen to grow from within. Exciting additions, including Wales and Northern Ireland under-17s internationals, have been secured. But within the Community set-up, there is a pathway with the Regional Talent Club (RTC).

“We’ve got at least four stepping up from the RTC this year,” Wilson added. “It’s great we can bring players through the process, like the academy for the first-team. We want these coming through.

“We feel like we’ve selected the right players to achieve our goals and we have definitely been impressed.

“We’ve kept a spine and core of players that understand what the club is about.

“With the staff we’ve brought in and what we want to achieve, it’s fantastic.”

While the club, under new guidance and fresh impetus, seem determined to secure the ‘two promotions in three years’ earmarked to reach the Premier League – they are aware of the challenge ahead.

Division One North, last season won by Nuneaton outfit Stockingford, only has one promotion spot, likewise the West Midlands Premier Division above it. This term 12 clubs will battle it out for glory.

Wilson said: “The toughest task is getting out of these two divisions, definitely this one. The standard isn’t the best, but you can come up against a great team. Last year Stockingford won every one but one game, before that TNS did similar.

“We’ve almost got to go and be the team that wins every single one and only draws occasionally to get the promotion place.”

Owens, who will be assisted by Jake Mullinder, will see his side kick off the season with a home game against Leek Town on September 3.