It will be an emotional day for Manly United’s well admired National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s coach Chris Williams who will manage his final game after announcing he will take a year off football as his underdogs face Premiers Sydney University SFC at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday.

After spending a solid sixteen years at the Northern Beaches club involved with the Boys as well as the Women’s programs, Williams was over the moon with how his fearless Manly United side knocked out the highly fancied Sydney Olympic side in thrilling fashion.

“I think the victory in the semi-final showed another side of our game, resilience, character and adaptability.

“To be honest it wasn’t our best footballing performance all year and we know we can play better.

“But we adapted really well to the challenges that Olympic set us and I’m really proud of the players for working so hard for each other, for remaining calm and for believing right until the end that we could win that match by staying true to the way we want to play the game.”

Taking over Manly United Women’s head coach role in 2013, Williams understands that his squad will need to produce something extra special to defeat a silverware hungry Sydney University SFC outfit full of current W-League and Matildas stars.

“We’re really excited by the challenge of playing Sydney Uni in the Grand Final this weekend.

“They have been the leaders in the competition for the last few years and Alex and his squad have really pushed everyone in the league to raise their standards, so we can’t wait to test ourselves and play them on Sunday.

“Sydney Uni play some great football and I know everyone looks at us as underdogs, but I’ve got so much trust and belief in my players and we’re really confident that if can play at our best we can push them all the way and maybe spring what many people might consider a surprise.”

Asked which of the many female superstars Sydney University SFC will be ones to watch out for, Williams stated that they have match winners across the park.

“It’s really hard to pinpoint one or two players form their squad as the reality is they have internationals, and current and ex W-League players across the park and on the bench.

“The fact that they could call on the likes of Michelle Heyman and Rach Soutar off the bench against the Northern Tigers last weekend says it all.

“However we really believe that no matter who we play, we can beat anyone if we stick to our plans, work hard for each other and play our football.”

With Manly United carrying the underdog tag come Sunday, the one-time Tongan Men’s National Team coach stated that both teams have played a pivotal role in the further development of the female game in the state.

“I think both clubs have done a lot to push and raise the standards of women’s football in the NPL over the last few years. Both clubs have great youth development set ups, we both have a core group of players who have been at the club for a number of years.

“For example, depending on injuries/availabilities up to 9 or 10 of our matchday squad on Sunday could be Manly United juniors and both teams like to get the ball on the ground and play what I believe, to be some of the best football in the competition.

“Alex has done an amazing job there over the last few years and I’m really looking forward to what I’m sure will be a great game of football on Sunday.”

Following the match on Sunday, Williams’ legacy will be carried on by his long term assistant Tom Hopley, but first things first, the Manly United girls will be hoping they will be sending off their ‘supercoach’ a Championship winner come Sunday afternoon.

Manly United’s ‘Assist Queen’ Libby Copus-Brown had the Northern Beaches club bouncing on ceilings after her five-star performance in the club’s epic 3-2 victory over Sydney Olympic, but her focus has now been pointed directly to this Sunday’s Grand Final against Sydney University SFC.

“I think it showed character for us to be able to come back after being down majority of the game, but it wasn’t our best game of football I know we can be better.

“But I’m so proud of the girls for never giving up and fighting hard and sometimes that’s finals football.

“I don’t think it was the best Manly can be football wise and that’s including myself, it was a great feeling to be able to help the team but at the end of the day it was a team effort and I’m just glad that I was able to play my part.

Manly United fans are hoping of more of the same from Copus-Brown who hopes her troops can push the Premiers to the limit come Sunday afternoon and send head coach Chris Williams off a Championship winner.

“The girls are in good spirits; we are fine tuning and working on what we need to do to be better.

“I know that everyone is pumped for the big dance this Sunday and doing everything they can to make sure we prove what Manly United is really about and send our coach Chris Williams off in a way that he deserves.”

The 22-year-old English born star who is also a Childcare Educator has earmarked former Matildas star Michelle Heyman as one to watch out for at Sunday’s huge clash.

“Sydney Uni are a solid team, they have depth right through and majority of the girls have played together for a long time now.

“They have the likes of ex-Matilda Michelle Heyman and plenty of current and ex W-League girls who are all class.

“It won’t be an easy challenge but we will be definitely up for it.”

Manly United’s talented Queensland star Sunny Franco has her eyes firmly set on Sydney Olympic this Sunday as the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s top tier competition clicks into Finals Series overdrive with a ticket to the 2020 Grand Final up for grabs.

Franco and co were over the moon with their round 11 fixture after storming home to a 4-0 victory over the highly fancied APIA Leichhardt outfit, putting the Northern Beaches side in good stead for their do or die finals series clash against Olympic.

“It’s really good to head into this decisive game after a strong 4-0 win over APIA on Sunday.

“Everyone’s really excited as Olympic are always a tough team to play against.

“I think we always find a way to play our best under pressure so it should be an exciting game but one I really do hope we come away with the victory.”

The former Australian youth international got herself on the scoresheet for the second time in 2020 against APIA and will be hoping do the same at Peter Moore Field on Sunday.

With the likes of stars such as Remy Siemsen, Tara Andrews, Claudia Cholakian, Ally Green and skipper Chloe O’Brien to name a few, Manly United will be going all out to defeat what is a highly talented Olympic outfit.

The 23-year-old former Redlands United junior has really enjoyed the rebooted season and is hoping that she and the team can fulfill their objective of clinching some silverware this year.

“Despite the unpredictable circumstances this season, it’s still been a great year and we’ve all had a lot of fun.

“I think we have a lot of depth in our squad and with that comes a really good team environment.

“Every player that comes in brings something different and keeps the games exciting.

“Winning has been our main objective since round 1 of this year’s competition.

“I think if we keep performing the way we are, I truly believe we can win the grand finals.”

It didn’t take long for gun striker Remy Siemsen to find her feet once more in the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s competition with the 20-year-old notching up four goals in the club’s first two matches for the newly rebooted season.

A brace in Manly’s opening 4-2 win against the Football NSW Institute and another two-goal haul against the Emerging Jets last weekend has really set the engines roaring for Siemsen.

“I’m really happy with the start of the NPL NSW Women’s season and to bag four goals in two games has been a great feeling.

“I am hoping to score plenty more goals this year and more importantly win as many matches as possible.

“My teammates have provided great service and we seem to be gelling really well which we hope will continue throughout the rebooted season.”

Siemsen has once again felt right at home at Cromer Park after returning back to her old stomping ground following another decent W-League campaign with Sydney FC.

“COVID unfortunately put the brakes on a few opportunities in Europe, so it was a no brainer to play back at my junior/senior club Manly United – the club has been so welcoming and it’s great to be back with a great group of teammates and staff.

“After a fun and rewarding W-League season, I’ve been working extremely hard and Manly has been so understanding regarding my drive and aspirations to go overseas in the near future and developing my game even further.

“I’m absolutely thrilled and happy to be back playing football and games again. I’ve been training full-time and I’m excited to be able to play games again with my teammates. You can see the excitement from coaches to players, creating a fun and happy environment.

“My goals and ambitions for this season is to contribute wholeheartedly to my team and hopefully win the league. I believe we have the squad to definitely achieve that goal.

“Personally, I just want to develop my game further and further each week and look forward to future opportunities here and abroad.”

North Turramurra Recreation Area will play host to a eagerly anticipated local derby as Manly United tackle the Northern Tigers this Sunday afternoon with kick-off set for 3:30pm.

The game, which will be shown live and exclusive only on NPL.TV, is set to be one tough encounter between two fierce opponents as both teams look towards taking out another three points for the season.

“Northern Tigers have always been a tough competitor and have some great players like Ellie Brush and Servet Uzunlar.

“We are really looking forward to a big match this Sunday and playing our natural game at North Turramurra where hopefully we’ll come away with the 3 points.”

Away from the game, the former NPL NSW Women’s Player of the Year winner has kept herself busy working casually at the local bowling club and has also assisted in various football clinics run by Sydney FC.

“I currently work casually at the local bowling club and help coach at a few Sydney FC clinics locally.

“I also study but I’m hoping to resume online University this coming semester.

“Training has become a full-time affair with plenty of travel to train with boys as well as with Manly United and technical sessions which has kept me very busy.”

Manly United attacker Claudia Cholakian couldn’t hide her excitement after hitting up the pitches at Cromer Park on Tuesday evening as the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s side put out its first training session hit-out post COVID-19 restrictions.

“Training was amazing, it was so good to be back.

“I felt so fresh and fit surprisingly but I think it was just adrenaline from the excitement of being back playing with all the girls.

“It was a little different than usual as you’d expect with the club and players following the strict social distancing guidelines but we were all so happy to be at a place we missed very much.

“When I drove to training that night it felt like I never left such was my feeling for the game I love.”

Asked what she missed most during that layoff Cholakian replied.

“I’ve missed match days for sure!

“Sometimes when I’m sitting at home on a Sunday, I’d be thinking I’d be kicking off my game right about now and that would make me sad.

“It was even tougher for us to take at Manly when the league stopped because we had such an amazing start to the season and so did I on a personal level, but this is what’s made me more excited to get back into it knowing the girls are confident in continuing on with our good form.”

The 23-year-old was fortunate enough that during the full football lockdown, she kept herself occupied with work as well as training thanks to a well-coordinated Manly United fitness program that was put together for Claudia and her teammates on top of picking up some interesting hobbies.

“Not much changed for me during the proper COVID-19 break because I was still working full time.

“I have two jobs; one is in fashion retail which remained open during lockdown and the other is in sustainability in property development which I’ve been doing at home.

“The only big changes in my life were not being able to play football and not being able to hang out with my friends during that period.

“I guess because I was still so busy it really didn’t feel like there was a global pandemic going on.

“On the training front, Manly United provided us with a fitness program which involved 3-4 days of fitness work to do at the park so I was really grateful for that.

“Manly also gave us a GPS to wear so knowing they were tracking our work meant it stopped us from slacking off.

“On the new hobbies front, I didn’t have that much time to relax but when I did, I coloured in and painted a lot, I was doing all kinds of artistic stuff (laughs).

Claudia is of course the sister of Manly United’s NPL NSW Men’s talented star attacker Brendan – someone she looks up to in her footballing career and confidence in getting better and hitting her achievements and goals.

“I don’t want to sound biased but he’s actually so good and I really do believe he should’ve been playing in the A-League years ago.

“I always try to incorporate what Brendan does on the pitch in my games so that I can improve and hopefully make the W-League one day.”