Good luck as the Blues take on the mighty West Ham
Just to prove it’s not all about us guys here at UKFF we interviewed Kerry Oldham of Billericay Town Ladies FC about womans football, the lifestyle, social scene and what it means to be a female footballer in todays society, she’s also a little cutie!
I always played sport as a child for as far back as I can remember. We were lucky to live in a cul-de-sac with a large green area in the middle for all the kids to congregate. Most of the other kids were boys and therefore the sport of choice was mostly football…with a little bit of tennis around Wimbledon time. As a child of the eighties however there were no football teams for girls to play in. I was allowed to play at primary school but only in friendly matches, and once I went up to secondary school football was out of the question. So I joined the local tennis club, Brentwood Hard Courts, and played as often as I could at school, playing on the school team every year. I don’t think at that time I considered playing sport my fitness or health, I was just a competitive child who enjoyed winning!
I gave up tennis around age 16, when I became a Senior, sadly this seemed to bump up the cost for the training sessions and with my going off to art college it was unsustainable. There was a period of around 5 years when I was studying at college and university, during which time my health suffered greatly. A bad student diet and too much beer gained me a couple of stone which I could do without.At 21 when I came home from Uni leaving all my friends, and joining the ratrace I was at a bit of a loss socially and health wise. I knew I had put on weight and I wanted to make new friends but I hated the gym and found it a bit of a lonely task, which is why I decided to join a team. Football was the obvious choice and I quickly signed for Romford Ladies who at the time were the longest standing ladies football team in London. We competed in the Greater London League at the time. It was a wonderful way to make new friends, a couple of whom are still really close to me now. We would train on Tuesday nights and play our matches on Sunday afternoons. I had always found Sundays pretty boring but finally I had something to look forward to, it was great.I played at Romford for 4 seasons until I had to have a knee operation, this coincided with Romford Ladies folding and therefore my football ‘career’. My knee was quite painful so I decided to stop playing. This was quite hard to take, so I consoled myself with partying for the next 4 years! Back on the booze and bad diet I realised I had slipped back into my student ways. I tried going to the gym but just found it dull and too easy to drop out of. Without the team around me there was nothing to push and motivate me.So in 2006 at age 30, with my knee greatly improved thanks to the long rest, I decided it was time to try again. Myself and a few friends who had been playing at another club in the interim decided we would join Billericay Town Ladies run by Kim Coster (also the Essex Ladies coach), who at the time were competing in the Essex County Women’s League. This was the best move I’d ever made. I now find myself get ready to play against the team I have supported since I was 2 years old, it’s a dream come true to line up against West Ham!! 
It took a little while to get my fitness back and I was very worried if, at 30 I would be able to compete at the level of the rest of the team. But with good training and hard work I felt comfortable and happy to be back on the pitch. The girls at the new team were very welcoming and we all became friends very quickly. It was so nice to be part of a team again.We won the league in 2007 and progressed to the Eastern Region Womens League which sits about 5 leagues below the Women’s National Premier League. In the 2007-08 season we finished fourth and hope this season to break through into the Premier Division. The team is beginning to flourish and with new players joining all the time the squad is gaining strength and momentum.I love playing for Billericay for so many reasons, it keeps me fit and it means I can meet up with my friends twice a week for lots of laughs as well as hard work. We all look out for each other on and off the field which is great, like a little social support group when you need it!Now both my young nieces play football thanks to a big drive by the Essex FA to get girls into football. Both are doing so well, I have already tried to sign them for Billericay! I only wish these clubs had been around when I was their age and I may have been able to develop my football to a higher level. Luckily girls’ football is taken much more seriously now and any girls should have no problem finding a local team. If they are unsure they can always use the UK’s best footy website to find local teams recruiting players. This site is brilliant and helps players of all ages and sex to find teams to join.For now I intend to play for as long as my little legs allow…fitness and health is much more important to me now and I can think of no better way to keep in shape and have fun.
I’m the chairman of the norwegian supporters club for Billericay Town FC, and have alreday seen the ladies play three times. I’m over again in september, and it looks like I can get to se a cup game with the ladies team. Not sure if I should though, they have lost all the three games I’ve seen with them…
