Spurs Ladies boss named Manager of the Month

Spurs Ladies manager Karen Hills has been crowned the inaugural FA Women's Championship Manager of the Month.

Three domestic wins out of three in September – at home to London Bees (2-1) and away to Leicester City (3-0) and Crystal Palace (2-1) – have seen the Ladies climb to second in the table with a game in hand.

As a result, Karen's efforts at the helm have been recognised with the first in a new set of monthly awards in the revamped women's second tier, voted for by a panel of four highly experienced individuals with specialist knowledge of the women’s game – Marieanne Spacey-Cale (League Managers Association member and Southampton FC Head of Girls and Women’s Football), Alex Scott (ex-England international and football broadcaster), Jen O’Neill (Editor of She Kicks magazine) and Alan Curbishley (LMA board member and LMA Manager of the Year 1999/2000).

Collecting a crystal trophy at Hotspur Way, Karen was quick to praise her staff and players for the role they've played in the games that have led to her receiving the prestigious prize: “I feel completely honoured and proud," she beamed. "I think it goes to show just how far we’ve come and credit to the staff and the players because it wouldn’t have been possible for me to stand here and collect this award without them, so I collect this on behalf of everyone at Spurs Ladies.

“The girls have been doing a really good job and working exceptionally hard and we’ll continue working in every single training session and every time we come in. The girls are going to work in the day and coming here in the evening and putting in a fantastic shift. We’re all enjoying this experience and we’re all enjoying this journey. There’s still a long, long way to go but this month has been fantastic.”

Panel chair Spacey-Cale added: “An entertaining and very competitive start to the Women’s season has seen a number of strong performances across both leagues (FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship). Karen Hills has shown how important her experience of the league is, knowing how to get results in tight matches with three wins in three highly competitive games.”

Spurs Ladies also won 4-0 away to Yeovil Town in the Continental Tyres Cup last month, their third match in the competition after a penalty shootout defeat to Palace and victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in August.

“We’ve started the season really strongly,” Karen continued. “We had a really good pre-season which has put us in a really good position and we’ve got the ball rolling very, very quickly.

“The first league game was always going to be tough and so to come away with that result against London Bees was always a good start to the season. Then we’ve gone and played Crystal Palace towards the end of the month which was a very, very tough and difficult game but again we’ve come out with the win, especially after coming from behind as well.

“Credit to the girls – we’ve brought in some new players and they’ve gelled really nicely with the existing players. They’ve all got desire, a little bit of character about them and overall we’re just pleased with the start to the season that we’ve made.”