Plumptre’s Pride At Sealing New Deal
- A delighted Ashleigh Plumptre speaks to LCFC.com about signing her new contract at LCFC Women
- The central defender will now remain with the Club until at least June 2023
- Plumptre helped the Foxes secure the FA Women’s Championship title in 2020/21
- She is now preparing to enter the top division of women’s football with her hometown Club
The Leicester-born defender helped guide the Foxes to the FA Women’s Championship title in 2020/21, during her first full campaign in the first team.
Previously part of the Centre of Excellence from the age of eight and rising through the ranks, Plumptre returned from studying in America in January 2020 to play a key role in a memorable season.
And the fact she has been able to accomplish the success with the Club she supports and commit her future moving forward, makes it even more special.
“This is my hometown Club and to have achieved what we have in my first full season of being here was amazing,” she told LCFC.com.
“Being around the city that I grew up in and being around my family for at least another two years, being at a Club that has provided so much for all of us on the women’s side already. I can’t complain, there’s nothing else I could ask for really.
“It’s nice because I look back on the pictures from when I was at the Centre of Excellence and I pretty much look the same, I’ve just got a foot taller!
“It’s crazy to think it’s been 14 years; it’s gone so fast. I remember my time there like it was yesterday.”
Following promotion to the top flight as champions, Plumptre will be competing in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League for the first time and it promises to be an exciting season for the squad.
The 2020/21 Vitality Women’s FA Cup Quarter-Final against Manchester City is also still to be played, after Leicester secured a memorable 3-2 triumph over Manchester United in round five.
The 23-year-old continued: “We’re all really excited because we finished the league and the FA Cup in a really good place. Obviously, Man United was a really good test right at the end of the season.
“Not only when we’ve had a long season but having to play a team that just missed out on a Champions League spot, and we’d already won the league, so we had to be prepared to play against a team like that.
“But it put us in good stead because we got a good result. Those are the types of teams we want to be competing with next year. It’s just been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest, but mostly success this season.
The Pick Of Plumptre's Successful Season
Enjoy the best bits from Ashleigh Plumptre's 2020/21 campaign, following the news that the defender has extended her LCFC Women contract.
“To begin with, it’s making sure we’re not having to fight at the bottom of the table. If we have been able to compete with Man United, it shows that we need to go into next season trying to compete with the best.
“It will be different for us in a sense because we won’t have the same pressure on us that we did this season. It was almost like everybody expected us as one of the only professional outfits in the league to win most games, which luckily, we came out on top with.
“But next season, it’s just seeing if we can relish having less pressure on us and play with a bit more freedom, I guess.”
Plumptre played 25 times in all competitions last season, keeping 10 clean sheets in the league and scoring once, before scooping Players' Player of the Season at the Club's End of Season awards.
And the defensive side of the game is her number one priority and focus for the upcoming campaign.
“Being a defender, obviously my main aim is to minimise goals going in the back of the net,” she added. “It’s going to be harder, but I love clean sheets and not conceding more than our team scoring.
“I’ve always had the mentality that I’d rather win 1-0 than 5-1. For me, it’s just trying to concede as few goals as possible and I just want to make sure that I’m improving in such a big league.
“There were some points in games this season where, as a backline, we weren’t challenged as much as we were against Man United. It was a completed different game to what we were used to.
“I need to be not just dealing with that but soaking up all the new things I’m going to have to learn. Obviously, there’s more tactical things I’ll have to be aware of being up against better players.
“Also, just to make sure I’m not out of my depth and actually really competing. Hopefully, as a backline, we can try to be one of the best in that league.”