Bloom: We mean business with Fran Kirby signing

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Decorated England international joined in the summer.

2024-09-08T06:00+01:00

Chairman Tony Bloom has said the signing of Fran Kirby is a signal of intent from the club ahead of the new WSL season.

The England international joined us this summer after a trophy-laden nine-years with Chelsea, and is one of a number of new signings who will work under new head coach Dario Vidosic.

“We certainly do mean business,” Bloom said. “I accept the fact that Fran is a statement signing, and I think she's going to be great for the group in terms of her experiences. But there are lots of other really good players we've brought in.

“When we say long-term vision of top four, we say what we mean and it may still take quite a while to consistently get there, but that is our aim. That is our ambition.

“I'm really looking forward to this season's campaign with the women's team.”

Vidosic arrives having guided Melbourne City to the league title last season and Bloom believes that he can continue his upward trajectory with the Seagulls.

“He's not got a huge amount of experience as a head coach, but we're really impressed with what Dario did in Australia, so we’re very hopeful for the season ahead,” the chairman continued.

“Going back to our long-term vision, which we brought out in 2020, it was for the women's team to be top four. We haven't been that close but top four is really difficult in the WSL with all the strong teams.

“Since we did that [set out the vision], Manchester United and Liverpool have come into the division, but I do think this year we've got by far and away our strongest squad of players, and we will give it a real go to be challenging for the top four.”