Pre-season is well and truly over as the 2023 National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s competition fires up for one of the biggest season’s yet.
There’s plenty to be excited about as the NPL NSW Women’s competition, known to many as the best NPL female league across the nation, is set to provide the thrills, spills and action in a huge year ahead for the sport.
Not only is the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup taking shape in July, but NSW will see its first ever Women’s knockout Cup competition, the ‘Sapphire Cup’ commence.
Fourteen teams have been building along nicely and with round 1 just around the corner, we’ve previewed each team and their expectations for the 2023 season.
APIA Leichhardt
They love to play it down in the Inner West of Sydney, but APIA Leichhardt have done some fine work in the off season recruiting a fair bit of quality talent ready to explode this year.
Coach Spencer Prior will be leading the pack from the top as he looks to secure some silverware at Lambert Park.
The new additions of Tash Prior, Ashlie Crofts, Tanya Borazio, Gisella Pipino and Siahn Bozanic have added strength and depth to the team.
Canadian-born Bella Habuda arrives in Sydney following her time playing in the NPL Queensland competition while former Brighton and Hove Albion Central Defender Charlotte Young is set to add some aggressiveness to the APIA defence.
Estelle Fragale and Sophie Hoban have re-signed with the club and much will be expected of them this season.
One of the competition contenders for silverware in 2023, APIA will be boosted by some quality recruits when the A-League Women’s season finishes up in April.
Bankstown City
Having shown a level of consistency and progress at Jensen Park for the last couple of seasons, Bankstown City are no longer looked at as the dark horses of the league but more so one of the favourites.
The pressure is on but coach Matthew Constantini generally thrives on this and will be confident that his team can make a statement this year.
Captain Liana Danaskos will lead the side again along with key players Steph Ambrose, Baxter Thew, Tiana Jaber, Alexia Karrys-Stahl, Georgia Plessas and Daisy Arrowsmith.
Jess Frampton has joined from Sydney Olympic and will add experience to the backline while Isabella Volkanovski is another quality signing having arrived from NWS Spirit FC.
Bankstown’s biggest signing of the season is none other than Hannah Bacon. The ace footballer spent time in Europe playing with Danish club Aarhus Gymnastikforening and will be one to watch out for this year.
With their A-League Women’s players set to join mid-way through the first half of the season, expect Bankstown to be one of the early pace setters.
Constantini’s troops only just missed out on finals football in 2022, and with a stronger outfit this year, Bankstown City will certainly be challenging for both the Premiership and Championship.
Blacktown Spartans
Blacktown Spartans’ newly appointed coach Lauren Phelps is eagerly anticipating a big season at Blacktown Football Park after replacing Brad Attard in the coaching dugouts.
Phelps is no stranger to women’s game and her experience will be key in guiding the Spartans girls to glory this season.
There has been quite the player movement in the off season at the club with a number of key players departing including Tanya Borazio and Ash Crofts who both made the switch to rivals APIA Leichhardt.
Several Young Matildas have also made the move which has seen Phelps busy in the recruiting department.
One major addition to the squad comes in the form of Philippine international Eva Madarang. Having been capped 46 times with the national squad, Madarang will most definitely bring some quality to the squad.
The Spartans record appearance holder Annie Daczko will once again don the captain’s armband for the 2023 season after spending 11 solid years at the football club.
Bulls FC Academy
The first of our two newly promoted teams from the League One Women’s competition, formerly known as Northbridge Bulls, this side will be no pushovers this season.
Their biggest signing of the off-season was in the dugout with highly respected coach Jaime Gomez coming on board.
Having won the NPL NSW Women’s Championship back in 2014 with the Football NSW Institute, Gomez will be quietly confident about throwing the Bulls hat into the mix for some silverware – cue the definite dark horse tag for the 2023 season.
A major coup for Gomez’s team was the re-signing of 2022 Football NSW League One Women’s top scorer and Brazilian star Tami De Souza.
The Bulls have also brought in the experienced Rachel Patterson along with young guns that Gomez knows well from his time at the Institute including Peta Trimis, Avaani Prakash, Amy Chessari and Gemma Ferris.
With several A-League Women’s players set to join the squad at the conclusion of the national competition, the Bulls will be a menacing outfit in 2023.
Emerging Jets
It’s been a tough few seasons for the Emerging Jets and this year looks set to be more of the same.
Newly appointed coach Sam Griffin will look towards unearthing some quality young footballers who will be able to follow a pathway with the club’s senior women’s side doing their thing in the A-League Women’s competition,
Being competitive will be one of Griffin’s first tasks as the Jets hope to shock some clubs this year.
Football NSW Institute
Coach Lisa Warrener has gone through the changes that occur every year at the Institute with a new batch of young future stars arriving at Valentine Sports Park.
The likes of Avaani Prakash, Gemma Ferris, Sienna Saveska, Amalia Plummer and Maya Lobo to name a few have all departed. Goalkeeper Tahlia Franco and Erin Gordon remain, and they will be entrusted with leading this new side following a year in the NPL Women’s competition last season.
Maddie Caspers has been earmarked as one of the players to watch out for in an otherwise talented squad
Alice Thompson is the sole player joining from outside the Institute system coming from Manly United.
The Institute girls will be tough to beat as always, and as the season progresses, so will their experience in playing against some of the best players in further assisting in their development as footballers.
Gladesville Ravens
What a year it will be for 2022 League One Premiers and Champions Gladesville Ravens.
After a dominant campaign, the Ravens are primed and ready to test out how their side fairs against the NPL NSW Women’s best.
Ravens coach Andrew Galbraith will remain in charge as they look to begin a multi-year plan with the support of ‘instrumental’ technical director, Stephen Bott.
The Ravens managed to re-sign Japanese star Keiko Tanaka and Football NSW League One goalkeeper of the year Romi Parraguire.
Galbraith added a few more notable names to his squad with former Blacktown Spartans star Keisha Allen and Manly United’s Chloe O’Brien donning the Ravens kit this year.
With further new additions to the squad expected, the Ravens will be confident that they can retain their status as an NPL club at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Illawarra Stingrays
You need to go back to season 2019 to find the last time the Illawarra Stingrays made a finals appearance.
Steve Gordon is the man that has been given the job to get the Stingrays back to where they’d like to be and that’s playing finals football.
Michelle Carney will pull the boots on again and lead the team alongside Caitlin Cooper as the two most experienced players in the squad.
They’ve brought in the likes of Mia Mcgovern from NWS Spirit FC and Bella Voisey-Youlden from Sydney Olympic to strengthen the team as well as Aimee Hall from the Institute in goals.
A possible mid-table finish looks the more likely although they do have the players to push for a finals series place.
Macarthur Rams
The Champions enter the 2023 campaign full of confidence and will be eager to go back-to-back with Grand Final victories.
Aside from the departure and retirement of club legend Kylie Ledbrook, there hasn’t been much movement except for the energetic Patty Charalambous who contributed to many Rams goals in 2022, leaving for the Victorian NPL.
Stephen Peters has made sure to add to his Championship winning side though signing no less than four players from the Football NSW Institute. Amalia Plummer returns to the Rams following her time at the Institute and is joined by youngsters Tegan Bertolissio, Maya Lobo and Indi Breier.
Experienced Rams campaigners Leena Khamis, Laura Murtagh and Alex Huynh will be there from round one as the trio hope to put a stamp on this year’s league with more silverware.
Expectations are high at Lynwood Park and the Rams could become just the second team in a decade to go back-to-back should they continue on with their winning form.
Manly United
A tough one to pick, you don’t really know what you will get with Manly United, a team who can beat the best team in the competition and then drop points against the teams below them.
Consistency will be key for Tom Hopley’s side this year and if they can sort that out, they could make a dash for the finals.
Losing one of last season’s best players will hurt as Yuka Honda returned to Japan.
The Northern Beaches based club have also lost experienced stars Corrine Winkler and Meisha Westland however Manly is a football factory that consistently produces talent and as such have promoted several their young guns from the lower age groups.
New faces Mia Bales (ex-Adamstown Rosebuds), Paige Kingston-Hogg (former Newcastle Olympic) and Ruby Egan-Brown (ex- Illawarra Stingrays) will hope that they can make a name for themselves as they look towards cementing a starting spot in Hopley’s squad.
Cromer Park is a difficult place to visit and if they can turn it into a fortress, anything is possible for Manly United.
Northern Tigers
It was another heart wrenching year for the Northern Tigers after falling at the last hurdle losing out to Macarthur Rams in the 2022 NPL NSW Women’s Grand Final – However where there is despair, there is hope and optimism as the Tigers hope to go one better this year.
One of the Tigers’ most influential stars in Maddie Bart has hung up the boots with the captain’s armband going to another player that bleeds for the club namely Hannah McNulty. A team that has always prided itself on strong camaraderie, there is no better than McNulty to lead the side in what will be a big year for all involved.
The Tigers still have a heap of talent that have re-signed this year including Izzy Gomez, Ash Brodigan and Shay Evans to name a few.
Claudia Cholakian is the biggest incoming signing for the moment having arrived from Sydney Olympic and the Armenian international will offer some extra bite in the front third.
Coach Jake Stephenson will hope he can lead his team that step further and finally win some well-deserved silverware.
NWS Spirit FC
2022 was a tough campaign for NWS Spirit FC but a mid-season coaching change saw their fortunes somewhat change with the appointment of Tiana Gauci.
Now with a full pre-season under her belt, Gauci is hoping that this will in turn see positive results when the year kick’s off next weekend.
The signing of reigning NPL NSW Women’s player of the year Rola Badawiya has been labelled as one of the major coups of the year – her attacking flair combined with her eye for goal will be a huge plus for the Spirit side.
Gauci managed to secure the signings of Mary Stanic-Floody and Ella Abdul Massih from the Football NSW Institute, adding further depth to the squad.
The loss of the influential Rachel Patterson will hurt the side though with her experience and set piece expertise.
Pulling the yellow jersey back on again will be fan favourite Nat Tobin along with Erin Pridmore and Morgan Roberts who will be important players to Gauci’s squad.
The ‘Arctic Circle’ as Christie Park has been donned, is a difficult place to visit and Spirit could use this to their advantage.
Sydney Olympic
It’ll be a year of redemption for Sydney Olympic who hope they can right their wrongs by playing finals football this year – something they missed out on cruelly in the last round of the NPL NSW Women’s competition in 2022.
Coach George Beltsos will have experienced campaigner Teresa Polias assisting him while the likes of Sarah Yatim, Georgia Koutzoumis and Kiara De Domizio have all returned to Belmore in a huge boost for the Blues.
Olympic have managed to snap some quality with former Sydney University stars Courtney Newbon, Brianna Oliverio and Ash Irwin now calling Belmore home.
Maya Fernandez is another youngster that has made the switch to the Blues as she looks to establish herself in the NPL competition.
When Beltsos’ A-League Women’s players arrive, it will be interesting to see how far this team can push it and where they can go.
Sydney University SFC
Sydney University SFC have been seen as a dominant force in women’s football over the last decade in NSW.
Coach Emily Husband recently celebrated a move to the A-League Women’s being appointed the Central Coast Mariners’ inaugural coach for next season, but will look towards finishing her time with Uni strongly.
Husband will look towards unearthing some future gems blooding new stars from the Uni’s lower grades with Tess Quilligan one to watch out for.
Uni have managed to hold on to some of their stars including Annabel Martin, Gabby and Max Peak, Bianca Galic and Steph Augoustis who may get her chance to shine after the departure of Rola Badawiya.
Margaux Chauvet is the biggest incoming signing, arriving from KR Reykjavik in Iceland and having played with the Stingrays previously.
If they can reach 70% of their form from last season, they will be a tough outfit to beat, with further signings expected in the coming weeks.
-By Nikola Pozder