For Beth Merrick, the magic of the FA Cup is still shining bright.
The iconic Wolves Women midfielder has been in incredible form for Dan McNamara’s side this season, already finding the net eight times in the opening three months of the campaign, but in previous years, it’s been the FA Cup which has seemed to get the goalscoring best out of number 28.
Some of Merrick’s favourite memories of watching football have been from her season ticket seat in the North Bank as she witnesses the men’s first-team claim almighty scalps in the FA Cup, especially under the Molineux lights.
And with Stoke City the visitors to SEAH Stadium for a second round tie on Friday night, in front of the TNT cameras, she now has the opportunity to recreate those moments with her teammates.
“I love the FA Cup,” Merrick said. “Regardless of whether you play men’s or women’s football, it’s something that everybody can relate to and everyone loves to watch on TV. I really got into following Tamworth’s run last year, and it’s just something that every family loves being a part of. It’s the kind of thing that gets you into football when you were younger.
“I remember going to Wolves and watching so many FA Cup games when I was younger because I didn’t initially have a season ticket, and those games are just special. It’s always about having that underdog feeling. The FA Cup brings that David and Goliath scenario and that’s why I love it.
“You’ve seen it in recent years when so many people have caused that upset, and Macca has been using a quote with us during the last few weeks about us not being that shock on the weekend – he doesn’t want us to be the ones that people are shocked at, and that’s really relevant to the FA Cup.”
Since returning to Wolves back in 2021, Merrick has had an unbelievable knack of scoring in the competition. In her 17 FA Cup appearances for the Old Gold in that time, she’s scored 12 goals, including some of the most memorable strikes in recent history as her goals have helped the team reach the fifth round for the last two seasons.
“I don’t know why I always seen to score in the FA Cup,” she admits. “I’ve started really well this year with goals, whereas in other years, I’ve tended to save them for the cup, but I don’t know why that is.
“The league obviously means so much as well, but it’s just a feeling you get that with the FA Cup I don’t think you can replicate. The coverage that it gets and the money that it brings in, particularly in women’s football, is amazing and it means a lot to us as a club. The coverage of our cup runs in recent seasons has really helped grow the team.
“But I don’t know why I score in it as much as I do. It’s not only been a thing for the last couple of years, I think it’s been all the way through my career, but I have no explanation to it. I just have to keep it up now!”
Merrick’s first FA Cup goal in gold and black came during the 2022/23 season when she was one of five scorers in a dominant first round win over Shrewsbury Town, before adding her second in the next round against Northampton Town.
But it was a visit to Newcastle United in round three, in which the midfielder bagged a brace to set up a fourth round tie with Super League side West Ham United, which provides a lasting memory.
“I remember the Newcastle game was freezing and it was due to potentially be called off because of snow.
“Some of our staff, including Macca and Jenna [Burke-Martin] at the time, travelled all that way the night before, and being called off was potentially an option, but they were offering to sweep the pitch to keep it on!
“I scored two in that game and they were both really good finishes. It was a big moment, and particularly with the way that Newcastle have gone on and done so well since then – they were predicted to do that at the time – and it just felt really special to get a bit of one upmanship on them as well.”
Although there were rare cup blanks for Merrick in the opening rounds of the 2023/24 campaign, her three goals in the next three games have become some of her most remarkable moments in Old Gold.
First came a last minute goal away at Hull City in the third round, setting up a tantalising home clash with then-Championship club Reading in Telford.
“If I remember rightly, I don’t think I started the Hull game. I was on the bench. If anybody knows me and Macca, they know that we tend to have our ups and downs in terms of our squabbles, and I think we’d had one of those weeks, so I’d gone into it wanting to prove a bit of a point – regardless of it being an FA Cup game.
“I’m sure it was a free kick, and we were in the red away kit, but it was an amazing moment because it was a really tough pitch, a really tough game, and it got of us out of playing quite poorly in that game, so I think we really got away with one.
“Then it was Reading game and most of our overriding memories of Reading was that we all ended up having food poisoning from that game! A lot of us were really ill and our next game was cancelled because of it.
“However, it was me and Dest [Toussaint] that scored in that game, and it was probably one of my proudest moments in football, not just the goal, but the whole game. It was probably the first time that we’d done something amazing as a group, and something that when we look back on it, really unified and brought the group together.”
Merrick’s goal against Reading not only secured Wolves a place in the fifth round for the first time in modern FA Cup history, but her celebration – arms stretched out wide like she was about to take off, with a face full of jubilant celebration and tears in her eyes – will go down as one of Wolves Women’s the most iconic images.
“Every year, when we come to do the photo shoot at the start of the season, I get asked what my celebration is, but how would you describe what that is? I don’t know why I did it, I think it was just pure emotion!
“It followed me for quite a few weeks after and then the more you go through the rounds, it always comes back to haunt me when they use that photo. I think it’s already been used to promote our games this year!
“I wouldn’t say it’s the best photo of me, but it obviously shows exactly what the FA Cup means to me. We were in the changing room at half time and we were 1-0 down, and it was a bit of a comeback, so to do it in that way, and then Dest’s was also really iconic in terms of the way she did it, with the shirt off and everyone going mental, it was a really good day.
“At that time, we’d been flying around the top of the league for a while, we’d had that play-off where we didn’t quite do it, but we’ve always known that we’re capable of doing it, we just haven’t been able to get it over the line.
“Even though Reading were having problems, they had team of internationals and amazing players, so we put ourselves on the map with that win, and showed quite a lot of people that we actually are serious contenders. From that point, there was a lot more belief put in the squad. It was a really amazing moment and something I’ll remember for a long time.”
Then it was Brighton. Another WSL side heading to New Bucks Head, and it was obviously going to be Merrick to take the headlines.
Despite falling behind in the first half, Wolves produced an incredible performance to not only keep themselves in the game against a team littered with internationals but get themselves level from the penalty spot.
But with normal penalty taker Anna Morphet absent, there were no surprises on who was the one to face the pressure and score the spot kick.
“This year, we were played a montage of our FA Cup games, and another strange memory was that I wasn’t due to be playing the Brighton game,” Merrick revealed. “I’d got called in at the last minute for our captain, Morph, so it was a bit of a late change and literally made just before we went out.
“Morph is also our normal penalty taker, so to step up and take it, I have never been as nervous as I was in that moment. Everyone looked at me to take it and there was a bit of discussion around who it should be.
“But I felt we could have won that game and could have done something, but we lost it in the last couple of minutes, which is a real shame. But to push a Super League team all the way like we did was incredible.
“We really frustrated them for a long period of time and kept ourselves in the game, unlike the Man United game last season – which I know we’ll come onto – where we didn’t quite do ourselves justice, but against Brighton, everything that we set out to do in the week, we nailed and more.
“It was a colossal performance, and I’ll never forget KJ [Johnson] who was playing up against Terland, who plays for Man United now, and the girl didn’t get a sniff because KJ was absolutely monstrous.
“There were just some really good moments from that game where you saw just how good our team can be against some world class players. It is an amazing game to look back on, but equally, the scoreline doesn’t reflect it at all.”
Last season was another momentous occasion for Merrick and Wolves Women. Getting to the fifth round of the FA Cup for a third tier outfit is incredibly rare, so to do it twice in two seasons is what sets this Wolves side apart from others.
However, it could have all been over in the first round when a trip to Asfordby Amateurs provided a banana skin with the potential to take out McNamara’s side, but Merrick’s goal just four minutes after the Leicestershire minnows had pulled one back saw the tie end comfortably in the visitors’ favour.
“I loved the Asfordby game. It was a proper old school ground, and the girls we played against were amazing. There were just proper old school FA Cup vibes about it.
“It was like they had the whole village supporting the team because they did it where everybody got in free and the ground was packed.
“They scored to equalise and although I’m not normally pleased about the opposition scoring, but the moment they scored and the celebrations they had was amazing to watch. Obviously at the time it was dreadful but looking back now it was amazing.”
Another goal followed for the midfielder against Sporting Khalsa, before Merrick added a brace in the third round against Shrewsbury. A trickier test arrived in round four, and a visit to a Cheltenham Town side who had already ended one of Wolves’ cup runs last season having claimed victory in the FAWNL Plate.
However, Merrick was once again up for the cup as she added a second after Amber Hughes’ opener. A goal in every round so far helped to secure a mouth-watering home tie against WSL giants Manchester United.
“Me and Amber scored in the second half of the Cheltenham game, both finishes were really good again, and although I think we made it quite hard work for ourselves to get through, that was an amazing memory.
“I think we knew from that round, based off the last couple of years, we knew we were going to get somebody in the Super League. I know Macca wanted Liverpool, and some of the girls wanted Arsenal and teams like that, so pulling Man United out was amazing.
“The Man United game was special, but it equally didn’t go the way that we wanted. We didn’t let ourselves down, but we didn’t carry out the game plan like we did against Brighton.
“I might have scored in every round to that point, but I probably didn’t even get anywhere near their half in that game, so we didn’t necessarily cover ourselves in the glory that we wanted to, but it was still a very special night and a historic night for the club with a record attendance.
“There was a debate within the club and also with our fans on social media around keeping it at Telford or going to Molineux, but as a group, we decided that it was best to stay at Telford because we wanted it packed, we wanted it hostile, we wanted it to be everything that an FA Cup game should be.
“The atmosphere felt amazing and the reception we got from the people that were there and the fans who came out just shows what this club can do and how special this club can be.
“Even with all these games that we’ve spoken about, that has to be the marker and that’s the mark which has been set for this year.”
That brings us on to Friday’s second round tie.
Having already faced Stoke twice this season, once in the league and once in the League Cup, and with both games ending in 2-1 wins to Wolves, Merrick knows just how difficult a task it’s going to be if her side are to make it a hat-trick over the Potters.
“We know how tough Stoke are. They were probably quite unfortunate in the last game not to get anything out of it because we let our standards drop and you can’t do that against Stoke as they’re tough, they’re hard working and they’re hard to beat.
“They’ve got some great quality players that we know a lot about, that we’ve played against before, but previous results go out of the window when it’s an FA Cup game, and there’ll be no holding back from either team as only one team can go through.
“Being selected for TV on a Friday night is another massive milestone for this club. A lot the girls here won’t have experienced what it’s like to be on TV in any setting, so to have that opportunity to do things on a Friday night will be very different.
“But it also gives us a chance to put ourselves on the map to a massively wider audience, so that will be amazing, and I know each and every person that’s connected to the club will be so proud of that evening. As long as we get the right result.”
Merrick might not have scored in the first round win against league rivals Rugby Borough, but having witnessed so many incredible FA Cup nights under the lights at Molineux watching the men’s first-team, she’s hoping the magic of the cup will shine at SEAH Stadium – but this time with her on the pitch and scoring for her beloved Old Gold.
“Wolves fans are ridiculously passionate and I have to try and take a step back a little bit myself, because being a fan and a player can be really difficult at times, but I know what it’s like to be a Wolves fan and watching the club we love in the FA Cup, under the lights.
“I went to the Foundation’s gala dinner event last week, and Steve Bull got up and spoke about how he doesn’t really care what goes on the pitch, as long as he sees hard working players giving 100% and going into everything. That’s all he wants to see from Wolves players and the fans will adore you.
“That obviously worked for him, and he was trying to pass that advice onto others. But that really hammered home exactly what we want to do.
“Macca hammers that home in terms of us being a team representing a working class city where people come to watch us to put on a show, but he won’t accept anything other than 100% graft.
“But that’s what we’ve been so good at this year, and we’ll be making sure that we do that again on Friday night.”
Wolves Women host Stoke City in the second round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup on Friday night, with tickets still available. Click here to buy your tickets and be part of history.
