ROVERSWOMEN’STEAM This will be the year for getting stronger for the seasons ahead Rovers senior women’s team manager Tommy Hewitt is looking forward to the challenge of making the team more competitive in the Women’s Premier Division

SLIGO Rovers senior women’s team manager Tommy Hewitt has said that 2024 will be a year for laying foundations as part of a long-term project.

The new Bit O’Red senior women’s team boss – who succeeds Steve Feeney after he stepped down at the end of last season – said his main aim is to make the team more competitive.

But the Athlone native sees this year as the start of a cycle that will hopefully see them competing at the business end of the table within the next couple of years.

Looking ahead to the start of the new SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division campaign, which starts this Saturday with an away game against Shelbourne (Tolka Park, 2pm), he said: “Preparations have been good. The players have worked extremely hard in training, we are seven weeks at it now. I’ve been pleased with how things have been going ahead of the start of the season and everyone is looking forward to getting started.”

The squad is made up of players retained from last year while his recruitment has heavily focused on increasing the squad’s experience levels.

“The plan was to give these young players more experienced heads

Cup finalist during his time at Athlone – who is bringing his own style to The Showgrounds. While he knows what he wants and expects from his players, he also knows time will be needed for players to adapt.

“We don’t have a magic wand that will make us better than last year, we have to work hard to achieve that and we do want to push up the table.

“It will take time, it could take a year or two before we see the real fruits of our labour.

“It is something the club is prepared to back me on and it is a project I look forward to working on in the coming seasons. Steve [Feeney] did brilliant work in the last two years, but I am a different manager with different ideas and I know players will need time to adapt to what I expect from them.

“We won’t expect to go from eighth to title contenders, but we do want to be more competitive and that’s the priority this season.”

Rovers got a taste of cup fever last year when they reached the FAI Women’s Cup semi-final, playing eventual champions Athlone Town in front of a crowd of 1,500 in The Showgrounds. Hewitt wants to create more of these occasions with opportunities in two cup competitions.

“You are only ever a couple of games away from a semi-final in these competitions, I got to one final with Athlone Town and it was a tremendous experience and it is something we want to strive for here, especially when this club already has a rich tradition in the cup in the men’s game.

“In the All-Island Cup, we’ve been drawn in what could be considered the ‘Group of Death’ with Athlone Town, Galway United and Glentoran