Goodness me I’m exhausted – how are you all feeling? After a breathless finish to the season and two games in five days I need a break, time to take stock and appreciate the journey we’ve all been on. I can’t say that we ended on a high Saturday at Villa, but hey if last goal wins, then morally if not actually, we were the victors.

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For a full recap of the match action head over to the Albion website HERE courtesy of Bruce Talbot. Match highlights are available on the official WSL YouTube channel HERE.

Just a small note before we begin – for brevity and the fact this analysis will arrive with you slightly later than usual – I’m not going to discuss the actual goals and match action. As we reach the denouement of the season it seems slightly redundant as we will have a new set of goals and multiple new signings by September.

The SheGulls Summary

• If I’m honest it felt like there was a hangover from Monday. Such an incredible result, a true landmark win over an elite level team, how could there not be. It also meant that we were, barring a calamitous chain of events, guaranteed 5th place – another epic achievement – but one which we no longer needed to beat Villa to accomplish. Dario Vidosic also alluded to the fact that the Brighton & Hove Albion Awards evening perhaps wasn’t ideally situated in the calendar, taking place Wednesday night, add in the fact that five beloved players were leaving after this game, and you just had a recipe which didn’t quite come together into a cohesive dish.
• What I never questioned was the effort. In fact when Maisie Symonds was interviewed after the game, almost her first thought was how disappointing the result was, particularly for the travelling fans. It’s natural to feel down after a defeat, but that isn’t why we’re Brighton fans. If you want to support a team because they win a lot, Chelsea’s probably your best bet – goodbye and good luck to you. We know the players give it their all every single time they step out onto the pitch, that is why as fans we should give it our all back, whatever the score, whatever the weather, wherever the game may be.
• In terms of performances, there really weren’t too many that stood out, which you can probably glean from the result. Nobody really had a ‘bad’ game and I would say nobody had a particularly good one either. To coin the old cliche – it was what it was.
• After the final whistle many of the players came round to sign autographs, hand out bits of kit and take photos. I cannot explain, particularly as an away traveller, how much this means to us all. It is our pleasure to watch you play, it is our honour to spend time with you, and it is our reward when we get something back, even if it’s just a wave and a smile.
• It was also appreciated that, because of the club allowing the news of player departures to be released prior to these final two games, we were able to say a proper goodbye to Guro Bergsvand, Maria Thorisdottir, Dejana Stefanovic, Pauline Bremer and Poppy Pattinson. To many people they are heroes so to be able to wish them well and show our love toward them was very welcome.

Aston Villa

• I don’t have too much to say about our hosts. Everyone in and around the ground was very welcoming and as away support I have nothing but complimentary things to say. Food was pretty good too, not the absolute best, but a heck of a long way above the worst.
• As a team I would say they’ve out-physicaled us twice in a row now in both the cup and league. I wouldn’t put them in the dark arts camp, but I would say they try to bump and push and shove every chance they get and if the ref doesn’t get a grip on it early – looking at you Rachel Daly and your atrocious tackle on Maisie Symonds – then the advantage is there for them to take hold of. Equally, that is an area we need to work on, even if it is simply – how do we counteract these tactics.

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Other Business

• Massive thank you to coach driver Peter who got us there and back safely – one of our kind fans bought him a ticket to the match, which just shows what a lovely community spirit there is on these away days.
• Seagulls Travel have run all the club-led travel for away games this season so a massive thank you to them too, your drivers and vehicles do you credit and we appreciate it.
• Experience Kissimmee have subsidised club-led travel this season to multiple games, so an enormous thank you to them for the support, and if you could see your way clear to doing more then we will be there for it!
• The club itself, our beloved Brighton & Hove Albion supplied t-shirts for us all to wear with ‘Stand or Fall’ on the front and the WSL fixtures from this season on the back. What a lovely gesture, and a much appreciated one. Many fans put them straight on, some got them signed, some saved them to give to sons, daughters, grandchildren etc – but to a person I heard nothing but praise and thanks.
• The fans who travelled were as ever, a fantastic bunch. Good humoured, friendly, patient – just blummin’ great people. Honestly if you’ve not done an away day, please consider it. If you have any questions, queries or concerns please do get in touch and we can give you some information and guidance to make you feel more comfortable.
• I won’t thank everyone now, because there’ll be room in the season recap to do a deeper dive, but if I have forgotten someone or something from this Villa trip then do give me a nudge!

Once again the SheGulls Podcast for this week has already been recorded and should be out soon, so for more analysis of this game and more – do give it a listen. We’ll have a season recap and our end of season awards shows before taking perhaps a small sabbatical before we ramp up with some one-off specials and coverage of the European Championships.

Keep well and thank you all for an amazing season,
Duncan