It is safe to say it has been a busy couple of months for West Ham United Ladies – a situation Andria Georgiou has relished since being with the Club.
The 21-year-old only signed for the Hammers in November, moving to the Irons after a spell in Women’s Super League 2 with London Bees, and the midfielder could not be happier with her choice.
“I’m really enjoying being at West Ham”, Georgiou exclaimed. “Everyone around the Club – the other players, the staff, everyone – has been incredibly friendly and, since my first week, I’ve felt really welcome.
“I think you can tell I enjoy playing for the Hammers. When I’m out there, on the pitch, I’m really happy. I try to get that across in training as well.”
Georgiou admitted a couple more wins ‘would make me even happier’ and feels these results are just around the corner.
I think you can tell I enjoy playing for the Hammers. When I’m out there, on the pitch, I’m really happy.
Andria Georgiou
The departure of Greg de Carnys as manager saw Karen Ray, the Ladies’ general manager, take over as interim head coach. In her three games in charge the side have collected one win, one draw, and one defeat, and Georgiou can see a big improvement.
“I think, since Karen came in, the team has done really well, and so has she,” she continued. “She took charge and in our first game we went and won 13-0 away in a Cup game, which was a huge confidence boost.
Confidence is everything for Georgiou. The midfielder is confident in her own abilities on the field and wants to see the rest of the team having that same self-belief.
Only through that, according to her, will winning on a weekly basis become the norm.
She reasoned: “Confidence begins to develop in training. When you train well during the week you go into the games at the weekend with a lot more confidence. If you then collect a good result, or put on a positive performance, that confidence begins to snowball and you take that into the next game.
“With that built in self-belief and continuing to play well, you begin to get results, and that in itself also breeds confidence. It’s a cycle. We have to believe in ourselves.”
West Ham currently sit ninth in the Premier League Southern Division, but Georgiou is optimistic the team has the ability to climb the table between now and the end of the campaign.
“Every game is unwritten. You have to go in positive and focused. You can’t just hope for a win, though. You have to work for the wins and hopefully we can get more victories in 2018.
“We’re building a strong team and we want to we get a few more points and finish as high up the table as we can.”