Blackburn Rovers are set to face London City Lionesses for their first fixture of the 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League season on Sunday. The Halfway Line spoke to Chloe Williams in the lead up to the new campaign to hear the midfielder’s thoughts on the season ahead.

The 23-year-old made Blackburn her permanent home last summer, after spending a season on loan from Barclays Women’s Super League side Manchester United. “The dual signing was difficult in my first season here on loan, just to get game time because I spent a lot of my time at United. But I think when I first came through the door it was really welcoming, everyone was really nice. The girls are lovely and I was always going to sign,” told the Blackburn mainstay.

‘We’re going for it’

Highlighting how her time with the Manchester outfit compliments Rovers, Williams expanded “I think obviously the way of playing from Championship to WSL is slightly different. But, I think bringing in that WSL experience, obviously training with United’s first team, has really boosted that standard of training around me and just bringing what I can to the team from that.”

Asked about how she feels as Blackburn Rovers gear up for a new campaign, Williams explained “I’m really excited. I’m excited to just get going. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of time off, so I’m excited to just hit the ground and get started.”

Pleased with last season’s top five finish, the player asserted her hope that the club will continue to progress on a positive trajectory, saying “I think, going on from last season, obviously we achieved big things. We finished top five, record crowds. I think just building on that going into the new season.”

“The Championship’s always competitive, every week is different. I’m backing Blackburn, we’re going for it.”

‘We are not at all distracted’

On an individual level, this season the senior footballer is eager to be “As confident as possible and showing and proving what I can do. I think on the pitch just showing that, playing with freedom and hopefully getting a few goals and assists.”

Despite recent noise, criticism, and uncertainty around backroom and financial issues at Blackburn Rovers, Williams insisted “We are not at all distracted. As players, we’re just doing our job on the pitch and focusing on that and what we can control.”

Keen to continue to get the most out of her experience, the player affirmed “I just come into training thinking, ‘Can I get everything out of it?’ and I just look long-term. When you come in on a Monday, you just think long-term and it will all pay off.”

‘I’m just focusing week by week’

Having earned her debut appearance for the Welsh national team in February of 2022, Williams says she is currently “Focused on club and trying to get everything I can from that and just prove what I can do.” She continued, “Hopefully, a Wales international call up comes with that. I’m just focusing week by week.”

Furthermore, the midfielder expressed her admiration for fellow Blackburn player, Tyler Toland. The Irish international “Has been a captain and vice captain, she’s always a leader on the team.” Full of high praise for her teammate, Williams went on “I’m obviously playing alongside her in the midfield. We always chat on and off the pitch about what we can do, we always have conversations to try and better each other.”

On Sunday afternoon, Rovers will host London City Lionesses at Ewood Park. Jocelyn Prêcheur’s side’s season opener ended in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United, but Blackburn take to the stage a week later than their Barclays Women’s Championship companions due to the absence of Reading FC from the competition. This year, 11 teams battle it out for a place in the topflight as opposed to the usual 12.

On that note, Williams declared her highlight of the 2023/24 season as “The record crowd at Ewood, that was a good one.” She continued, “We played quite a lot there last season, and that’s always a positive, just playing at a bigger stadium.”

Blackburn Rovers finished two places above London City Lionesses in the table at the end of last season. They will hope to commence the new chapter on a high by taking all three points from the challenge presented to them in the form of this weekend’s upcoming clash.