Tom Stiley eager for success with City Women’s U19s

City Women’s U19s begin their campaign this evening as they face CArmarthen town in the Adran South U19. 

This season, the side will be managed by Tom Stiley, with Noah Bushby moving to the coaching staff of the Senior Team. 

Commenting on the role, Tom said: “Having grown up a Bluebird, I've always felt immensely proud to be able to represent the Club. To now be leading the U19s, I am extremely grateful to have the backing and support from the staff & players.

“The squad this year is going to be fantastic to work with. I know going into every week that the players want to do the best for themselves and for the Club. Each player brings their own individual qualities that make the squad, as a collective, really exciting and hopefully, that is going to be replicated in our results and performances. 

“Pre-season has been an great opportunity for the group to explore who we are, what we represent and how we want to play on the pitch, but equally, how we want to act off the pitch as well. From what we've seen so far, the potential within this group is exactly where we need it to be in order to push to Senior Team standards.”

Last season, on the way to the Senior Team claiming a domestic treble, there were eight senior debuts for U19s players. 

During our UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign, four members of the travelling squad were products of our U19s squad.

Tom continued: “Getting players ready for senior football is what the U19s setup is there to do. There isn't anything better as a coach of a development team than seeing your players deservedly getting called up to the Senior Team, whether that be for training or for matches. 

“We've had great success stories of our youth development programme from previous seasons, and now that's part of the excitement to come, in seeing who the new names in the Senior Team over the coming season will be.

“To have eight debuts last season was amazing to see. We hope to have the same success this year, but the most important aspect for us is that we keep working hard with this group of players. When they are given those opportunities, we don’t want them to just to make up the numbers, but make an impact.”

Since the formation of our U19s team, as well as developing players, there has also been great success in terms of results. 

The side were crowned National Champions in both 2022 and 2023, and will be aiming to regain that title this year.

“A big part of representing Cardiff City is instilling in our players a mentality where every time we go on the pitch, we want to win. It starts with our approach to training. We train to the levels of how we play, so that is second nature when it comes to the matchday.

“In those moments of games where things aren't going our way, we know we have prepared to be in the best position as a squad to win. At U19s level, we've been pretty successful with trophies in previous years and winning the South Wales Women’s Cup last season was significant.

“For the 2024/25 season, we have already set our goal to win back the Genero Adran South 19s league title & Genero Adran National Championship.”