Ipswich Town Women exhilarated after promotion

Ipswich Town expressed their exhilaration after being promoted to the second tier of women's football.

Town took an 8-0 victory against Cheltenham Town during their final game of the Women's National League Southern Premier season at their home ground in Felixstowe.

Next season, the Tractor Girls will compete in the Championship, which begins in September.

Town captain and defender, Maria Boswell, said the success had been a whole team effort.

"There is still a core group of us that have been here through all the highs, all the lows, quite a lot of lows sometimes that sometimes seemed quite hard to get out of," she said.

"We've had so many good people come in this year and join our team, and it's down to them, it's down to the ones who have been here so long."

Midfielder Lucy O'Brien added that she could not put the promotion into words.

"There are so many emotions going on right now," she explained.

"I'm so proud to be part of this team, so happy. It's been an incredible season and it's a special day."

Manager Joe Sheehan said the promotion had involved "a lot of hard work" over a long period of time.

"There's always been an expectation to do it, and that expectation has weighed really heavy at times," he said.

"[I'm] delighted that we've finally been able to achieve something that we worked so hard [on] for so long... I'm absolutely thrilled to finally get it done."

Sheehan said he felt a huge amount of gratitude and appreciation for the people behind the scenes at the club who had "persevered" with the team over the years.

"I'm looking forward to what the next few days will look like, really reflect, really celebrate and then prepare for what is going to be a really challenging but exciting journey next," he added.

Fans were similarly left ecstatic by the news.

Bianca Thomas, whose sister is forward Natasha Thomas, said it was "amazing" to see her sister's achievement.

"Seeing her do all of this is amazing, and all the girls have absolutely smashed it," she said.

"[Natasha] needs to keep pushing, she's not stopped, she's not going to stop."

Another fan, Karin Nurdy from Ipswich, added it meant a lot to see Town "get what they finally deserve".

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