Western Morning News (Saturday)
PASSING ON THE PASSION
THIS MONTH’S WINNER IS INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF TALENT WITH A NEW PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO HELP THEM REALISE THEIR FOOTBALL DREAMS
SUZANNE MULVEY has football coursing through her veins. The 36-year-old developed a love for the game growing up in Edinburgh, and has enjoyed a career playing for the leading clubs in Scotland and proudly representing her country.
A mum to three boys, Suzanne has embarked on an ambitious project to help equip the next generation of talented young footballers with the skills and fitness needed to earn sporting scholarships to top universities in the USA.
Her lifelong passion for the game hasn’t gone unnoticed – and certainly not by her mum, Karen, who nominated her for Coral’s Fan of the Year competition. Having been picked out as this month’s winner by striking legend Alan Shearer, Suzanne is being rewarded with £1,000 worth of football-related prizes that will deliver some fantastic resources for her new venture to help young footballers.
“Football has given me so much in my life. Being able to give something back and help the next generation enjoy the game is something I’m dedicated to,” she explains. “Winning the £1,000 means I can buy muchneeded equipment to help the players improve – particularly at this difficult time.”
As a monthly winner, Suzanne will have the chance to be crowned Coral’s Ultimate Football Fan of the Year at the end of the season – when she could net another £10,000 in football prizes.
Suzanne has dedicated her life to the sport. “I remember always having a ball at my feet from an early age,” she says. “I’ve got an older brother and he doesn’t play football, so I’ve no idea where it came from. It was just in me.
“But there weren’t as many opportunities as there are now, so it was not until I reached 16 before I was in a proper set-up and was able to progress and keep improving.”
STAR PLAYER
Suzanne has enjoyed every kick and tackle of her globetrotting adventure ever since. She has played for leading clubs including Celtic, Rangers and Glasgow City, and captained Motherwell to promotion in 2018 with a record points haul, for which she was voted the division’s player of the year.
Always seeking new challenges, Suzanne also played a season in Iceland and has earned 37 caps for her country – one highlight of which was playing against the US women’s national team in front of a 15,000-strong crowd in Jacksonville, Florida.
Now captain of Partick Thistle Women, Suzanne hasn’t let lockdown and a lack of fixtures stunt her ambition. Instead she has seen it as a chance to give back.
Her new venture, Sentinel Sports, helps young athletes to improve their health, fitness and skills as they prepare for a future in football, and assists them in gaining scholarships to study at universities in the USA where they can train like professionals.
“A few girls that I know asked me to help them out, and as soon as I started to do a bit of research I fell in love with the idea,” Suzanne says. “In the 15-21 age group, so many players, both male and female, fall away from the game. This gives them an opportunity to go away and grow as a player and also a person. A lot of them come from backgrounds where they’ve not had great experiences.
“When I scored a goal it was a great feeling – but watching somebody that I’ve helped score a goal is more rewarding now.”
The final word has to go to Mum: “To me she is a fan of all football,” Karen says, “whether it’s playing, training, representing, watching. Anything football – that’s Suzanne. That’s definitely my girl!”
If you’re inspired by Suzanne’s story and know of a football fanatic who deserves the same recognition, Coral wants to hear about them. It could be someone who has shown unstinting devotion to club or country, who has dedicated their life to the game, or who is bringing others into the sport and making them the best they can be.
The Football Fan of the Year will be someone who eats, sleeps and breathes the beautiful game – and can inspire others to go above and beyond for the sheer love of football.
Being able to give something back and help the next generation enjoy the game is something I’m dedicated to
RYAN Lowe is calling on his Plymouth Argyle players to be brave on the ball when they take on Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium today (KO 3pm).
Lowe thought there were too many safe and backwards passes in his side’s 2-0 defeat away to bottom-ofthe-table Northampton Town on Tuesday night.
He wants to see Argyle ‘split lines and pass through the thirds’ against sixth-placed Doncaster.
It has been an eventful week for Rovers, who saw their manager Darren Moore leave for Sheffield Wednesday on Monday.
However, they ended a run of five games without a win when they beat Portsmouth 2-1 at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Former Doncaster defender Andy Butler has been appointed as caretaker boss until the end of the season so that victory was a great start for the 37-year-old.
Argyle have had an up and down week of their own, beating high-flying Lincoln City 4-3 at Home Park last Saturday before slipping up at Northampton.
The Cobblers played with only one striker even though they were at home but once Ryan Watson scored the first of his two goals in the 40th minute the Pilgrims rarely threatened a comeback.
Lowe said: “You have got to have the bravery to go and break them down and we just didn’t on the night.
“There were too many backwards and safe passes, not breaking any lines. We have got to make sure that’s different on Saturday.
“We have got to penetrate, we have got to split lines and pass through the thirds, and run with the ball in certain areas.
“That’s what we have got to do, but Doncaster will do the same as well.
“We have just got to go there and be brave and try and execute the game plan.
“Yeah, they are at home but I think they will respect us. We beat them at our place earlier on in the season.
“I’m sure Andy Butler will have a look at that as well. Then it’s about who does their jobs best will probably win a game of football, and we are hoping it’s us.”
Doncaster lost 2-1 away to Ipswich Town last Saturday but, after the departure of Moore, they responded superbly by beating Portsmouth.
Lowe said: “They haven’t changed 18/19 players, they have just changed one manager and two coaching staff.
“The style of play has got them in the play-off places, I don’t think that will change.
“Andy Butler will come in and just follow suit, if you like, all the same methods. I don’t think he will try and reinvent the wheel because of where they are.
“He might put his own stamp and his authority on it, which I’m sure he will.
“Sometimes it can work in your favour when you lose your manager, sometimes it can go against you.
“It helped them on Tuesday night. They got a fantastic win against Portsmouth.
“There was no-one moaning or crying over the departure of Darren
Moore. They were obviously looking forward.
“What we have got to do is we have got to go there and respect them, but not fear them.
“We have got to go there and have a toe-to-toe game of football and hopefully try and take some points.”
Butler had previously been the manager of the Doncaster Belles women’s team since January 2020.
Lowe said: “I don’t know him personally but I have had some battles with him over the years. I played against him quite a bit.
“What I do know of him, he’s an honest guy. He’s on the journey. He was managing the Doncaster Belles.
“It’s a great opportunity for him. He’s a young up-and-coming coach or manager, whatever you want to call it nowadays, who is looking to stamp his authority.”
Lowe added: “He’s a bit of a legend there. Andy has been a fantastic leader for Doncaster, Scunthorpe, all the teams he played for.
“He’s a captain, he’s a leader so I’m sure he will take attributes in with him as the manager.
“I wish him good luck after Saturday because he’s another young manager who is getting on the ladder to try and do something special.”
Argyle are in the midst of a ninegame in 29-day schedule so one of the main tasks for Lowe and his coaching staff is to ensure his players are as fresh as possible rather than fatigued.
Lowe said: “They are all in good nick, we can’t really put much more into them at the moment.
“It’s just about technical and tactical stuff, and probably visual stuff more because they know the way we play.
“We have been doing it now for seven or eight months and nothing changes in that way.
“One or two things, technical and tactical, do change a bit. We have got to try and keep them fresh.
“When you are doing that, and you are giving players opportunities, they have got to be taken.
“Tuesday night has given me a different selection headache now because we didn’t live up to the expectations that we should of.
“So we will look at it and we will see what is best suited for Doncaster Rovers.”
Argyle dropped two positions to 12th in League One after losing to Northampton and Lowe is not setting them any targets for the rest of the season.
Lowe said: “We are just looking at the next game. You know the league, you have seen what happened the other night. You can be on a high and within 48 hours you can be on a low.
“We have got to earn the right to win some more games of football to see if we can get anywhere near the top half.
“We have just got to look to the next one and that is Doncaster.”