The players and coaches of Ashford United Ladies are urging supporters to turn out in big numbers to cheer them on in their upcoming cup final and title charge.

The ladies are one win away from bringing silverware back to Homelands when they compete in the League Trophy Final against Clapton CFC on April 23.

They could also be promoted from the sixth to the fifth tier of the women’s football pyramid in May, if they keep up the form that has seen them win 14 of their first 15 league games.

Just three seasons ago, the team was playing its games as Ashford Ladies in Charing in front of crowds often as small as four, with games regularly called off because the pitch was waterlogged and winter training taking place in a school hall.

The team became affiliated with Ashford United last summer, after previously being self-funded, and they are now enjoying the benefits of being part of a bigger club.

Manager Steve Howard said: “The main difference has been we’ve been able to train all through the season because before we’d stop training outdoors during the winter because we had nowhere to train, so fitness levels have been miles better and the facilities are better.”

Becoming affiliated with Ashford United has also brought new supporters along to watch them - with more than 200 turning out for some of their high profile games at Homelands.

Midfielder Jade Steadman said: “What’s wonderful is some of the regulars from the men’s game are of the older generation, and sometimes the older generation can have a stigma about women’s football, so the fact they’re coming to watch us is just wonderful.”

After finishing third last season, hopes were running high going into this season's London and South East Regional Women's Football League Division 1 South campaign.

With a potential title-decider coming up against Hastings on May 7, Howard said: “It wasn’t that we thought we were going to win just because we had good players, but we knew we would be challenging and now we’ve come this far, only losing one in 15, we’ve got a good chance.”

After season highs of 17-0 wins, reaching the second round of the FA Cup and playing in front of a crowd of more than 400 away at Clapton CFC, assistant manager Steve Walton feels promotion would be a fitting way to end the season.

He said: “A lot of it is down to Steve and the girls, what we’ve achieved over the past three or four seasons, the consistency and the great spirit we’ve got in the team, so it’ll just be what they deserve.

“We don’t pay the players, they play for themselves, for the club and each other.”

The team itself extends beyond the players and management to volunteers like Jo-Anne Eastwood, who operates the turnstiles on matchdays, Homelands bar and catering staff Mark Pratt and Lisa Lavender, photographer Ian Scammell, videographer Dave Jones, their hardcore fans who follow them home and away and shirt sponsor Caffeine and Fizz, which is co-owned by regular spectator Anna Lockyer.

Howard hopes hundreds of Nuts and Bolts supporters will make the short trip up the M20 to Maidstone United’s Gallagher Stadium in a fortnight for their first cup final since 2019.

He said: “If we can get a massive crowd from Ashford that would be great and would make the whole day for us.

“To watch your local team play in a final will be a fantastic occasion and we’re not going to lose, we’re going to make sure we win.”

Steadman added: “How lovely that the local girls from Ashford and the surrounding area can go to their local club and see women play in an atmosphere in a stadium where people are cheering them on, as it encourages them to think ‘that could be me one day’ and that’s just fantastic.”

Tickets for the game at 2:30pm on Sunday, April 23 cost £5 for adults and £2 for children and over-65s and can be purchased in advance here.