THE WEEKLY MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO WOMEN’S AND GIRLS FOOTBALL WEATHER THE WINNER ONCE AGAIN * PORTSMOUTH AND COPSEWOOD PROGRESS IN CUP * Manchester City relaunch club at Etihad Stadium * Chelsea capture South Korean star’s signature * Solar Ladies win East Midlands League Division One North title * Cardiff Met through to Welsh Premier League Cup Final Featuring ALL the Women’s Leagues across the country… ACTION Shots . (above) Lucy Quinn gets in a shot for Portsmouth, watched by Olivera Markovic of Keynsham Town. (below) Emily Harrington scores Larkhall Athletic’s second goal in their victory against Keynsham Development. [email protected] Notts County Ladies FC are excited to announce the triple signing of Dunia Susi, Katie Holtham and Rachel Unitt as well as striker Caitlin Friend. Full back Dunia Susi had previously represented England at Under 19 and Under 23 level, before making her full debut in 2009 against Iceland. After impressing with England, Dunia was called into the Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics as the team reached the quarter finals. After starting her career at Arsenal, Susi moved to fellow London club Chelsea, where she spent four years before moving to Birmingham Ladies for the inaugural FA Women’s Super League season. The defender spent one year at the Blues before joining back up with Chelsea Ladies for the 2012 and 2013 FA WSL season before now securing her move to Notts County Ladies. Manager Rick Passmoor said on the move, “Dunia’s versatility as a footballer is a very valuable asset for this football club and being able to bring her to train full time means she is only going to improve as a footballer.”It’s an exciting time for this football club, adding another international player, further shows our intent for this season coming and the seasons after that.” Katie Holtham, who originates from Nottingham, has signed for Rick Passmoor’s team, linking up with the manager for a second time. Holtham had previously played for Passmoor at Leeds Carnegie, scoring in the Premier League Cup Final, as Carnegie went on to life the trophy. She spent a brief spell in the American League with Buffalo Rush, helping them to lift the title, before moving back to England to join up with Doncaster Rovers Belles for the first FA Women’s Super League season. Holtham stayed with the Belles for the first two seasons, playing for Perth Glory in Australia in between the FA WSL off season, before making a move south to join Chelsea for the 2013 season. Katie’s talent has also been recognised on an international level, playing at U17, U19 and U23 levels, before receiving multiple call ups to the senior squad. Katie explains what attracted her to Notts County “Firstly after speaking to Rick and finding out about the future plans of the club and calibre of players he was signing I wanted to be a part of that. “Secondly the location, being Nottingham born and bred, having a team that will compete in the WSL 1 on my doorstep is a real bonus for me as last time I played in Nottingham was for West Bridgford Colts and Notts County COE when I was 15 so it's nice to be back and have that local support again.” Rachel Unitt has also joined the Lady Pies. The England defender made 102 appearances for her national side scoring eight times. Unitt is a well known name in the women’s game, having played at the top level of women’s football in England for a number of years. Rachel joined Everton from Wolves at the age of 17, spending for years with the Toffees before moving to Fulham Ladies. Unitt had a successful three years at Fulham, including winning the domestic treble in the 2002-03 season. A year later she moved back to Everton where she spent a further seven years playing in the inaugural FA WSL season for the Merseyside team. After the first season in the newly formed Super League, Rachel moved to Birmingham, where she has spent the past two years before putting pen to paper for the Nottinghamshire side. Manager Rick Passmoor underlined the importance of the experience Rachel brings: “Rachel has played at the top level of women’s football for many years and has constantly shown what she can achieve on the pitch. It’s great to have Rachel here at Notts County Ladies FC.” On the moves, Chief Executive Luke Negus-Hill said: “It’s another fantastic three signings for the football club. All three have great experience in this league and all have been involved internationally with England at some level, which shows the skill and talent of the players we are bringing to this club. It further show our ambition and desire to achieve.” Caitlin Friend, who currently plays for Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League, will join up with her Notts team mates after the conclusion of the Australian season, where Melbourne have already secured a semi final spot. Twenty year old Friend has had a successful season so far for The Victory, finding the net seven times in Melbourne's ten games, elevating them to second in the league. The striker has found herself second in the top scorers list with two games remaining, and Melbourne already having secured a semi final slot. Caitlin is excited at the prospect of playing at Notts County: "I've heard quite a lot about Notts County and the set up they've got. It sounds like one of the most organised and professional structures out there." "A few of my team mates here in Melbourne have played in England and they've spoken about the high standard of football. I just want to play football at a high standard all year round and I've only heard great things about the Super League." [email protected] Scotland coach Anna Signeul has named a 25-player squad for a training camp to be held between 31st January and 1st February. Scotland will use the camp to prepare for their first match of the year, which is a friendly against Finland on Thursday 13th February. The squad will then participate in the 2014 Cyprus Cup between 5-12 March where they will compete in the same group as Australia, Holland and France. The camp has seen a number of new faces called up including Glasgow City and Spartans goalkeepers Lee Alexander and Rachel Harrison, plus Emma Brownlie, Chloe Craig and Kirsty Smith. There is also a welcome return for Ifeoma Dieke who has not played in an international since sustaining a serious knee injury whilst representing Team GB in the 2012 Olympic Games, playing against Cameroon at the Millennium Stadium. Scotland’s next matches in their FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying group will be a double header in early April when they host Poland at Fir Park, followed by a trip to Bosnia-Herzeovina. Scotland training camp squad: Lee Alexander (Glasgow City), Gemma Fay (Celtic), Rachel Harrison (Spartans), Shannon Lynn (Hibernian), Emma Black (Glasgow City), Frankie Brown (Hibernian), Emma Brownlie (Celtic), Lana Clelland (Spartans), Rachel Corsie (Notts County), Chloe Craig (Celtic), Ifeoma Dieke (Vittsjo GIK), Rebecca Dempster (Aberdeen), Nicola Docherty (Glasgow City), Siobhan Hunter (Hibernian), Hayley Lauder (Vittsjo GIK), Kim Little (Seattle Reign), Joanne Love (Glasgow City), Eilish McSorley (Glasgow City), Christie Murray (Arsenal), Joelle Murray (Hibernian), Lisa Robertson (Hibernian), Jane Ross (Vittsjo GIK), Leanne Ross (Glasgow City), Kirsty Smith (Hibernian), Megan Sneddon (Rangers). Parc y Scarlets, the home of Scarlets RFC and Llanelli RFC, will host Wales' FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying group match with the Ukraine on Wednesday 9th April 2014. This will be the fifth game for Wales in the FIFA qualifying Group Six and will come five days after the away qualifier in Turkey. So far, Wales have two wins from their opening three games - Belarus at home and away in Montenegro, plus a narrow away defeat to England, leaving Wales in second place in the group at present. The group winners qualify for the finals, with the second placed team going in to a play-off. The finals are in Canada. Parc y Scarlets was last used by the senior women's team for a European Championship match with Scotland in September 2012, when they were narrowly beaten 2-1. This will be the third time that the Wales women’s team will have played a senior international at the venue, having previously taken on France in another Euro 2013 qualifier in October 2011. The stadium also hosted the Final (and other matches) of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championships in the summer of 2013 and a few months earlier, the FAW Women’s Cup Final between Cardiff City Ladies and Cardiff Met Ladies was staged there. Kick off will be at 7.05pm and admission will be £5 for Adults and £3 for Juniors (Under 16). Details of how to purchase tickets will be announced shortly. [email protected] The weather had the final say once again on Sunday and all six scheduled matches in the Premier League had to be postponed because of waterlogged pitches. Better luck is hoped for this Sunday but the fixtures are already seriously affected due to outstanding F.A.Women’s Cup ties still having to be played. In the Northern Division, Stoke City have a chance to move within a single point of leaders Sheffield FC if they can win at home to Leeds Utd. Nottingham Forest meanwhile will also be seeking to step up their challenge when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, who need three points to help their bid to get away from the bottom of the table.