No money? No problem, says Birmingham’s White

Forward ready to shock big-spending City in today’s Women’s Cup final, writes John Percy

Erasing the underdog reputation has been the mantra in the Birmingham City Ladies dressing room this season, and it is a theme that will be tested to the full today as they face bigspending Manchester City in the FA Women’s Cup final.

Arsenal and Chelsea have already been swatted aside in the competition yet this game promises to be the staunchest challenge yet for manager Marc Skinner and his players.

With the backing of chairman Khaldoon Al Muburak, City have established a reputation as giants of the game, signing high-profile players such as Carli Lloyd, Steph Houghton and Toni Duggan.

But there remains a steely determination at Birmingham and a sense that this could be a pivotal moment in the club’s history.

Ellen White, the forward who scored the crucial spot kick in the semi-final win over Chelsea which was settled by a penalty shoot-out, insists there will be no nerves at the national stadium.

“We are playing the best team in England and we want to show what Birmingham is all about,” she says. “We want to scrap the underdog tag we’ve had for so many years, we want to be known as a real force in the women’s game. It’s a one-off game and we’re going to go all guns blazing. We want to be competing against the best and beating them.”

Birmingham are certainly not lacking in experience. They have retained many of the squad who lifted the trophy at Ashton Gate five years ago, while White has also won the competition at one of her former clubs, Arsenal.

And after finishing fourth in the Women’s Whirlwind: Ellen White only signed in January Super League last season there is a definite sense of momentum for one of the game’s founder members. “We’ve only been together three or four months so we’re excited about what the future holds,” says White.

“The men’s team avoided relegation on the final day so we’re hoping to keep that feelgood factor going.

“After the semi-final I was just so emotional and you could probably tell from the celebrations of the whole team how close we are and how much it meant to us. To beat the likes of Chelsea, who are a fantastic team and invested a lot of money into their squad, was a great achievement for us.”

It has been a whirlwind experience for White in 2017, after signing from Notts County Ladies in January, and so hectic that she has even escaped the standard initiation ceremony. “All the new signings are asked to sing for 30 seconds and every time we train I’ve been thinking of a song to sing but I’ve still not had the call yet,” she says. “It’s probably a relief actually, because I’m shocking at singing.

“I fitted in straight away. It’s nerve-racking to walk into an environment where there’s 22 girls but they’ve all been so friendly and inviting. It made me settle in really quickly.

“It’s been pretty mental but a really cool time. There’s been a lot of travelling but a lot of career highs.”

Today promises to be the most memorable yet, if Birmingham can add another shock to their season.