Amber Stobbs is hopeful she can add to her fond memories of playing at Bromley’s Hayes Lane when West Ham United Ladies take on Crystal Palace in the Capital Women's Cup this weekend.
The Hammers will travel to Hayes Lane for the cup game with Palace on Sunday, and the Bromley home stadium holds a special place in Stobbs’s heart.
As a young footballer, the midfielder played her final season of mixed football at Hayes Lane, a period which Stobbs fondly recalls.
“I grew up playing at Bromley,” Stobbs told whufc.com: “My last season playing with boys in a mixed group was at Hayes Lane when I was 11. I’ve got a signed Bromley shirt from when my teammates signed it for me that year. I’m really excited to play there again.”
While Stobbs admits she will be filled with nostalgia on Sunday that will not stop her from focusing on the task at hand – besting Crystal Palace and progressing in the cup.
“It will be fun to revisit my old stomping ground and relive some childhood memories. Once I’ve indulged that I’m hoping to create some new, amazing memories with West Ham at Hayes Lane against Palace.”
The West Ham Ladies head into this weekend’s match with two wins in their previous three contests, and although the last match was a 2-1 home defeat to Coventry, Stobbs says that wins against Swindon and league leaders Charlton have installed confidence and belief in the side.
“Belief is strong in the team. In the last three games we’ve shown togetherness and we’re clicking as a team. Against Charlton everything came together perfectly. Everyone did their jobs properly. That shows we can play well against the top sides and that we should believe in ourselves because we’ve done it before.
“We go into every game believing we can win.”
In Palace, the Hammers will be facing a side that sit third in the Women’s Premier League Southern Division, and Stobbs recognises that this Sunday’s opponents will be difficult to break down.
But the No10 insists that she and her teammates will approach the game with confidence and are keen to put in a performance worthy of the West Ham United crest.
She added: “We’re prepared for a tough challenge in Crystal Palace. They are fighting at the top of the league and we’ve got to perform at our best to get a result.
“We will take it like any other game. We are playing for the badge and we are playing for West Ham United. We want to get a good result for ourselves and for the Club.”