The Hub For Women’s Football In South Yorkshire

The ‘no BS’ club with a dream of going professional taking South Yorkshire by storm
Lewis Railton

Newly-established in 2024, YP Women are already the talk of the town with their lofty ambitions, and unique approach to players, all headed by an England international. With a cup final confirmed, and a five-year plan on track, they will not go about things quietly.

YP Women, a club formed ahead of the 2024/25 season, sought to change the way that women’s teams operate at grassroots level. Without even notching a minute of game time, there was a clear plan for the club, and it was one led by Founder & Head Coach of YP Academy, Joe Dixon, a former coach Bradford City & Sheffield United, as well as an England Deaf Men’s Team player, as well as Women’s XI Head Coach Tom Berry.

Dixon, the spearhead of the YP (Your Potential) movement has lofty ambitions for the team that currently plays in the SHWGL Division Two.

“We don’t want to stay in tier seven, we want to go into tier 6, 5, 4. We want to be ambitious with it,” said Dixon. “Not many think or try to do what we want to do, so we thought, why not reach for the stars and see what we can do, and just help our players.

“You always have to have a silly dream, and obviously that is to be a professionally-run club, but the five-year plan is to be step five and just continue to build in Sheffield and South Yorkshire to give girls the opportunity to play football and be treated on the same level as the male game really.

“We want to be providing world class resources at the highest end, and really setting the benchmark of how things can be done properly.”

How YP Women approach recruitment

The foundations for the club came from several players joining from higher-up the football pyramid, with Heidi O’Reilly and Emily Fowler from Sheffield Wednesday Ladies and Doncaster Belles respectively.

“We didn’t have to persuade players to drop down. The club is set up on a player-centric basis. The player always comes first. The objective is to make every player better than when they first stepped through the door. 

“They have to buy into what we want to do, use our resources, and they will progress and come back as a better player. We’ve always said that we’ll never stop players from going to the top. We’ve always said to them, ‘This team is interested in you.’ We don’t hide, we’ll speak honestly to the players because they come first. 

“I think we talk the talk, we walk the walk, we don’t just bullsh*t really. We offer two training sessions per week, we offer analysis, we offer a gym programme, which is semi-professional level at the very minimum, you’d have to be looking at tier 4 and upwards for that. 

“If a player shows their interest, we tell them what we’re about. First, the player has to want to play for us and want to help us achieve things; if they do, then that’s perfect. If they want to just make minutes up, then they are not the right fit for us.”

Building on from the cup final

Dixon’s side relished the opportunity to get their hands on silverware in their maiden season, but unfortunately fell short in the final against Rossington Main, but nonetheless, he is still proud of the squad he has put together and how they were able to achieve the run to the final. 

“Reaching the League Cup final in our first season is incredible. We’ve relished every challenge that we’ve faced. I think in every round we’ve played a division one team all the way to the final. I think it speaks volumes and it’s been a massive success because we know how tough these teams are. I’m very proud of all the girls, and hopefully it’s the first of many finals.”

YP Women have made it clear that they are a local club on the upwards trajectory, and they are the first to let the world know about the progress they are making on-and-off the pitch with their sizable social media presence. With an average squad age of 18.4, filled with former 4th, 5th, and 6th tier players, as well as the facilities for these youngsters to maximise their potential, you can guarantee that YP have all the hallmarks to sail through the leagues, and not do so quietly.