The Capital Football NPLW 2021 exercise was unfortunately interrupted with four games left to play in the regular season. What we witnessed for 17 weeks though was an exciting display of football that had all the components of a grand thriller: the (almost) unbeatable reigning champion, the reckless challenger, the fierce battle for Finals’ spot and more importantly, every team showing incredible promises for the future.

Canberra Croatia was deservedly ruled Champions for the second year in a row. The team captained by Grace Gill was sitting three points clear of Belconnen United after Matchday 17 and had dominated the Blue Devils 3-1 twice during the regular season. Nik Brozinic’s side records a double in 2021, after also taking the Federation Cup, with a 4-1 success over Emma Stanbury’s West Canberra Wanderers on June 5^th. The Golden Boot also landed in Deakin, with Brittany Palombi topping the ladder for the second year running. With 23 goals in 15 games, the most prolific striker of the competition was a constant threat for defences in the Capital. Palombi, able to score screamers from a distance with her powerful left foot also proved to be a real fox in the box, always well positioned, and confirmed her amazing form of the past few years with a few goals even coming off her right foot!

2021 had not started ideally for Canberra Croatia. They barely earned a draw in injury time at home against Canberra United Academy for their first NPLW outing, two weeks after losing the Community Shield 3-1 to Michael Zakoski’s Belconnen in pre-season. The Blue Devils, led by a Michaela Thornton in stellar form this season, started their campaign with four wins and 22 goals scored for only two conceded, and expectedly established themselves as serious title contenders. The addition of Cristina Esposito between the sticks and Bella Tammaro, Sarah Johnston, Olivia Bomford, Talia Backhouse on the field helped last year’s runners-up achieving great results despite Nicole Jalocha’s injury early on. Belconnen United would fail to beat Canberra Croatia twice, their only dropped points of the season alongside a draw against West Canberra at the tail end of round 1. Recruiting the Wanderers’ A-League Women’s (ALW) player Tiana Jaber just before the end of the transfer window proved a savvy piece of business for Michael Zakoski, the Newcastle Jets player adding some much-needed high level experience.

The four teams that would end up fighting for the semi-finals spots, Gungahlin United, Canberra Olympic, Canberra United Academy and West Canberra United made this season all the more exciting. Each team had their momentum, a streak of undefeated games that brought them to third place, and each team had their bad series. Gungahlin United, in the end, grabbed the last podium spot, thanks to a re-found cohesion in the second part of the season. The squad led by the experience of Kailey Tonini, Maddie Perceval and Erika Pennyfield was expected to potentially be in the fight for top two this season, especially after the announcement that ALW all-time leading goalscorer Michelle Heyman was joining. Unfortunately, a couple of bad spells kept the Gunners out of the title race. Their performance in the last weeks of the competition, against the top teams of the Capital showed they would have been a complicated team to face in a semi-final. Canberra Olympic experimented new things this season, and rather successfully. Their new head coach this season, Nicole Begg, recorded a few signings at the 11^th hour. Heather Garriock, Raechel Hardwicke, Tianah Miro, none were of the pre-season, yet all played a big role at O’Connor. Lining up here team in 352, Begg also challenged her and her opponents’ squad to different tactics and game plans, with a positive outcome eventually. Ash Sykes of course played maybe the biggest roles of them all, bagging 21 goals (all from within the box?) in 17 games.

The Academy really jumped back into their primary role this season, a team focusing on the development of their players. With Vicki Linton at the head of Canberra United, there was no question the Academy would see immediate improvements. The intensity offered by the young players and their ability to show maturity and experience in situations they were not expected to were brilliant to witness. They achieved the feat of inflicting Canberra Croatia their first defeat in almost two years, thanks to one of the most accomplished goalkeeping performance I have ever witnessed, from Chloe Lincoln. The youth showed great promises in West Canberra too! With Emma Stanbury at the start and Rey Castro at the end of the season on the bench, players like Alex McKenzie, Sofia Chaverra and Briana Maguire were offered ample opportunities to shine, and they delivered. West Canberra surprised everyone with excellent results in 2021, including a great run to the Federation Cup final. The revelation of the year maybe was their goalkeeper Janet King, almost new to the role, who gave a great account of herself, both thanks to her saves and her ever so powerful clearances.

The level displayed at times by the two bottom teams is a testimony of the quality in Capital Football NPLW this season. Wagga City Wanderers and Tuggeranong United were always going to have a complicated season after the pre-season events. Sam Gray down in the Riverina found his squad decimated by injuries, and in South Canberra, president Stan Mitchell had to wear two hats after Michael Aldred unfortunately had to step away from his role. Both squads however showed resilience and extraordinary team spirit throughout the year. The Wanderers allowed us Canberrans to witness the pool of talent available in the Riverina, with Gray having to find players from the local comps to fill his squad. Kirrilee Cameron, to name just her, was outstanding. The best story of 2021 in Wagga City was of course the three players selected to train with the Young Matildas: Ava Tuksar, Piper Lockley and goalkeeper Samantha Emms were well worthy of the call. There was much talent in Tuggeranong this season too. Between the sticks to start with, the return of Sophie Rolfe in our competition was great news, and whenever she was unavailable, Jessica Abbott and Sophia Bui were excellent replacements. Ashley Condon, Zoe Terry, Lara Mustaine, the Daisley sisters, Maddie Magee... Once Paulo Romero had settled and started implementing his football style, results were always coming for the Tuggies. That win against Wagga City was a deserved reward for a team we are looking forward to following next season.

The 2021 Capital Football NPLW season was captivating and a true testimony to the extraordinary talent in the woman’s game in and around Canberra. None of it would have been possible without the hard work of all the volunteers around the game, the coaches, the players of course, the referees, Capital Football and generally everyone involved. Thank you for playing your part, enjoy the break, stay safe, and looking forward to seeing you all around the fields again in 2022.