So Many Great Memories, Says Morgan
- LCFC Women captain Holly Morgan announced her retirement on Thursday and is now embarking on a coaching career
- The defender was a stalwart throughout her playing career, making 294 appearances in the first team, scoring 12 goals
- Captain as the Foxes rose up the divisions, she feels honoured to have led the team through their most successful period
- Now a First Team Coach, she is looking forward to taking on a new challenge in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League
Morgan hangs up her boots after almost 300 games for the Club since her debut in 2009, and following promotion to the top-flight of English women’s football, will now remain a key figure in the team’s setup, becoming a First Team Coach.
Speaking to LCFC TV, the 28-year-old charted her 17-year journey through the age groups to go on and captain the Club as they enjoyed a meteoric rise through the divisions.
“I started when I was 11 in the Under-12s,” the centre-back began. “And then throughout I’ve just worked my way up and then ended up in the first team and captain of the first team. I think, as an individual, I’m quite proud of myself.
“There’s been challenges I’ve faced, there’s been hardships I’ve gone through, but also as a club, so to look back on my time and what I’ve done, how I’ve done it, I’m proud that I’ve lasted and I am where I am now.
“When I look back on it, there are many memories – some happy, some not so happy – but overall, I’m just happy to have been able to contribute to this Club.
“Every day I walk in and I look at the pitches and I just think of everything that we’ve got around us to facilitate us to be successful. I know where we’ve come from to where we are now and I think I’m just very fortunate to be in this position and it's one that I’m very thankful for.”
Reminiscing on the team’s major achievements during her career, two in particular stand out – last season’s historic FA Women’s Championship title and the finale to the promotion-winning campaign of 2015/16, when City boasted a 100 per cent record and returned to the third tier.
“Winning the Championship was very emotional for me,” Morgan explained. “It was everything coming together and that feeling of the 11-year-old girl starting off to being 28 and thinking: ‘wow, we did it’. So that will always be special for me.
“But in all honesty, I always think of the season we won 22 out of 22 games. It was the Wolves game that we played away as the final game of the season. I scored a goal, which doesn’t happen very often!
“We were 1-0 up, Wolves got one back, and in the last second of the game, we scored the winner. I just remember the complete elation and joy of everyone around us and I can remember in the stand I saw my dad and he did a 100m sprint up and down!
“So, for me, that’s a memory that I will never forget because that season was tough but somehow, we managed to win every game. The way that we did it and the manner that we did it, it will always be the most memorable for me.”
Expanding on her decision to retire from playing, the defender says she has been planning to make the transition into coaching for some time and believes the Club have given her the tools to be able to successfully progress into a new role.
She is also motivated by the challenge of heading into the Club’s maiden Barclays FA Women’s Super League campaign in 2021/22, which will be new territory for the recently promoted side.
“I’m very excited,” Morgan continued. “I made this decision about two years ago, so I’ve been making sure that, when the time is right, I’ve got the necessary qualifications and experience.
“Now that I’m making the step into the coaching world, I feel like it’s well timed because I’ve had experience coaching already within the first team setup. I was heavily involved last season from Christmas time and beyond.
“Now for me it’s just a natural progression, a natural route for me. And to be able to do it here, I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else. An 11-year-old girl started out here and I’m still here and hopefully I can contribute in a different capacity.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but for any individual, you always want to grow and develop and challenge yourself and what better way to do that than in the WSL, the best league in the country.
“It’s exciting because I get to challenge myself in a different way and it’s also exciting because the team that we’ve put together for this season are a very exciting bunch and we’re the newcomers.
“But the attitude that we’re going into this league with is not one where we want to be in a relegation battle. Of course, we’re going to be fighting every game to win or to get a point or a result, but we’re going to be fearless.
“And that in itself is exciting because, in my opinion, if you go into anything being fearless and feeling confident and just sure in the ability of yourself and those around you, you never know what can happen.”