The manager will celebrate his fifth anniversary in charge on Monday, but not before the small matter of a Vitality Women’s FA Cup tie with West Ham United. The old gold welcome the Hammers to the New Bucks Head in a fourth round fixture on Sunday afternoon, marking the first time Wolves Women have come up against a WSL outfit in their history.
There are two divisions separating the two clubs at present and McNamara says that the recent progress of West Ham is something he wants to emulate with his side. Despite the gulf between the WSL and FA Women’s National League, the manager is also well aware of the challenge Paul Konchesky’s Hammers possess, but hopes that a healthy crowd at Telford will be there to witness a memorable occasion.
On the challenge awaiting his side
“It’s amazing for the football club and everyone involved. Five years ago I set myself a challenge of putting Wolves Women in front of a Super League team.
“I didn’t know whether that would be in a cup competition or what, but it’s finally here. It’s a dream draw for us to go out and experience a top level club, someone we all look up to and hope to emulate over the next few years.”
On where it ranks in his managerial career
“It will be up there as one of the highlights. We’ve had a lot of those over the last 12 months but, as I said, it was a dream right at the start to put Wolves Women up against the best in the country.
“West Ham are up there with that. They’re in the top five of the WSL at the minute and they’ve done things over the last few years that we want to emulate.
“We’ve seen them progress and slowly turn professional. All of a sudden they’re reaping the rewards of doing things the right way.
“We’re a club looking to follow in their footsteps, so to come up against some of the household names and for me to come up against Paul Konchesky, who I watched at Anfield many years ago, is going to be a fantastic occasion.”
It's @VitalityWFACup week! 🏆
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) January 23, 2023
On supporters getting behind the team
“The fanbase at Telford has been slowly growing over the last six months. We were a bit concerned about what taking it out of the city might have done for our support, but I think we’ve seen it grow week-on-week.
“We’ve had some outstanding attendances and I think we fell just short of that 1,000 person marker which we want to try and beat this season.
“It would be great if we could do it this week against West Ham. It’s going to be a great occasion for everybody – a real celebratory environment.
“It’s a game we also want to go into wanting to show that we can compete. We’re not there to just take what’s coming and lie down. It’s a case of us focusing on what should be a really memorable occasion, but trying to prove that we are stepping in the right direction and hopefully there will be a lot of fans down there to watch us do that.”
On the difference in level between the sides
“It’s going to be vast. The fitness levels and the experiences that the West Ham girls have got compared to what we do here at Wolves.
“The Wolves players will be hard at work until Saturday, whereas West Ham will be preparing for it all week.
“That’s the beauty of the cup. It’s an amazing cup to be involved in and it brings these special occasions.
“Anything can happen on the day. We’ll be huge underdogs, we all know that, but we won’t be there to just make the numbers up.
“We want to go out there, compete and cause West Ham a few problems and see where it takes us.”
On this game inspiring the whole club
“I want to manage in the WSL and a lot of players want to play in the WSL. If you don’t have dreams that are big, then there’s no point being involved in elite sport.
“We all have big dreams. The last few years have seen us hit some of those dreams and aspirations that we’ve aspired to.
“Ultimately we all want to be working in the top of the game and hopefully one day we can bring this to Wolves week in week out.”
On the opportunity for players to showcase themselves
“The girls who’ve played in the Championship have probably come up against teams of this nature. For the younger girls who haven’t had that exposure yet, it’s going to be a real test for them and shows them where they’re at within their football journeys.
“You’re talking about your Katie Johnson’s, Jade Cross, Emma Cross, Anna Morphet, Tammi George – all the younger players and many more amongst that group who still have the potential to play in the Championship and beyond.
“It’s going to give them an opportunity to have some really good exposure of what it takes to get to the top of the game.”
