City Women's U19s side will compete in the Adran U19 Play-Off Final on Sunday afternoon, taking on Wrexham at Latham Park in Newtown, kicking off at 4:30pm.
Having won the U19 Adran South title, the young Bluebirds will now compete for the title of being National Champions.
Ahead of the contest, U19 head coach Tom Stiley said: “I think it’s been a season that’s had a lot of success. We had a new group come in during the summer, and with that there’s a lot of unknowns with how the season is going to play out.
"However, with how we operate as Club, we want to play a certain way, we want players to set themselves to a high standard, and what we’ve seen over the course of the season is that we’ve had our ups and downs, but through that, we’ve managed to go through a little reset and work back up to our level. But we understand that this is an age group that’s about development rather than just winning on the pitch, so it’s been a year that has been successful, but not without its challenges.”
“It’s nice to see that all of our hard work pays off. We started pre-season around nine months ago, and so to recognise nine months of work that comes down to that one game where everything is on the line and to see the happiness from everyone is great.
"The hard work we’ve put in, winning the Adran South has been well-deserved, and lifting a trophy is one of the best feeling you can have. But for me as a coach, it’s about seeing the group earn what they’ve worked so hard for.”
A huge positive for our U19s this season has been the amount of senior experience gained, with many players stepping up and impressing.
Tom continued: “It’s one of the proudest moments you have as a coach when players get that senior experience. As you saw in the cup games in particular, the girls relish the opportunity and have shown their willingness to take on those chances.
"For us as a U19 group, we are there to support the senior team, which is what we've done, whether that's to help out in training, but also being there to step up in games and perform on the pitch.”
“For the girls, being able to train up with the senior team shows them the standard that’s needed to compete at the really top level. That’s not just the top level in football, but also how players go through a pre-season ahead of Champions League football for example.
"It’s about our U19s understanding it’s not just about competing in the Adran Premier, but also competing to be on the European stage. It’s great exposure, but then the challenge is our players bringing back those standards to our U19 sessions, which pushes us on to what we want to achieve this season.”
The Adran U19 Play-Off Final holds special memories for City, with the likes of Eliza Collie and Mikayla Cook previously being victorious in the fixture and going on to establish themselves as key senior players.
“There’s no shying away from the fact that we have a good pathway," Tom added. "What we want to make clear to our players is that everybody has that opportunity in the pathway, but it’s down to the players to step up and take it.
"Eliza and Mikayla haven’t been given their senior positions on a whim, it is because they have earned their opportunity and stepped up at the right time. They’ve performed, have shown their quality, and that is the blueprint for any of our U19s, whether that’s new players or those who have been here a number of years.
"At Cardiff City, the senior team will always be looking at you and what qualities they can see in you.”