Norwich City: Flo Allen interview on Women's team progress

Last season, City's women completed a great escape to keep them in the fourth tier against all the odds. That momentum has continued into this season with Shaun Howes' side currently sitting in fourth. 

With attendances at home matches increasing, performances improving and a pathway of young talent coming through the system, with 16-year-old midfielder Eloise Morran the latest talent to emerge, there is plenty to feel optimistic about when it comes to the Women's side.

Anyone who has attended a game at the Nest will recognise the positive spirit, enjoyable matchday experience, affordability and quality of the football on offer. The hope is now to transfer that onto the main stage in April. 

Next month's fixture against Ashford Town will be their first-ever appearance at Carrow Road. For many in yellow and green, it will be the stuff of dreams and the result of years of dedication when they emerge from the tunnel ahead of kick-off. 

Calls for a Carrow Road debut have been building in recent months but have been previously dismissed by figureheads of the club for a multitude of reasons. 

But Allen has judged the timing to be right. With nearly 3,000 tickets told within the first week of sales, the evidence supports that claim. 

"It's a number of different things," Allen said. "It's been in the conversation for a long time that we wanted to do this but at the right time to make sure it was a game that we capitalised on and got the most out of it.

"We didn't want it to be a token gesture and something we didn't put all our efforts into. Instead, let's do it at the right time with the right amount of marketing behind it and with the right purpose.

"(It's) the last home game of the season, hopefully in warmer weather but we hope it attracts a new audience but also people who come to Carrow Road every week. We can showpiece and showcase what our women's team is all about. We're so lucky to be in a fortunate position where we are the only football club in Norfolk.

"That's amazing because we have such a big reach. We're so proud of our community and this is the right time to bring everyone together."

Allen was appointed as the club's first-ever general manager of the Women's side in a move seen to reaffirm their continued commitment to growing that side. 

Norwich City general manager Flo Allen has been discussing the ambitions of the side. (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)

Prior to their integration last year, City's Women existed separately from the club, but a flurry of resignations from the committee saw an opportunity arise to move it in-house. 

The 23-year-old opted to cut short her professional career at Bristol City, which included appearances in the Super League and youth caps with England, to oversee the day-to-day running of the side. 

"I get to work with a great team - players and coaching staff," Allen said. "Everyone at the football club here is so supportive of the women's team and everything that we're trying to do. I love the fact that everyone has a smile on their face.

"My philosophy around it is that you have to enjoy what you're doing so to know that players and staff are having fun whilst winning games is a big thing for me.

"It's certainly been different since transitioning over to the other side. I think I took turning up and everything being there for granted as a player. The behind the scenes that goes into it across the club - the media team, the commercial team, everything that goes into making the team is massive.

"We're so lucky we have brilliant teams within the team."

Like everything, any growth will require resource - that is a delicate balance Norwich will be trying to strike when achieving success and grow the side in the future. 

Allen is determined to proof that their objectives can be achieved through organic growth, a productive and flourishing youth programme plus some sponsorship opportunities - such as the ones that have been struck with businesses like Nuffield Health and Mantra Nightclub recently.

Women's football has seen an increase in funding at the highest level, with record TV deals in the Super League and interest growing following the Lionesses' European Championship conquest last summer. 

For now, Norwich have decided to rely on natural growth rather than injecting finance into the project. 

"We're really lucky that we are supported by a brilliant football club. We have resources available to us - we train at the Lotus Training Centre one night a week which has been massive this season.

"We've been able to tap into resources around analysis and we've got a dome to practice set pieces.

"Resources like that are massive and we have the support behind us. It is about organically growing it," she insisted.

"It's been great to see what the Lionesses have done this summer, and it's great to see all the TV deals coming in for the Super League. Hopefully, as time goes on, the structure of women's football around the country becomes greater."

In spite of the lack of funds, the ambitions remain the same - to get Norwich City competing at the highest level of women's football. 

That will take time, patience and a long-term plan - but Allen is adamant that it can, and will, be achieved in the future. 

"The sky is the limit. There are no boundaries on it. Everyone at the football club wants our women's team to progress and play in the best league possible in the country. There's no question of that," she said.

Attendances at the Nest have been growing throughout this season. (Image: Jay Farrar)

"There is a lot of work to be done in order to get there and we have made some small steps this year.

"Have we got a lot more to do? Yes, a lot more. But everyone is fully behind the team across the club.

"Hopefully in the next few years we can start to move up the leagues but sometimes it doesn't take years, sometimes it takes a lot longer than that."

Carrow Road is just the start - but the journey ahead looks exciting for Howes and his team. 

- Watch the full, exclusive interview with general manager Flo Allen via our YouTube channel above