LFC WomenAn open letter to supporters from Ashley Hodson

Academy graduate Hodson will always be fondly remembered as the club’s record appearance holder in the professional era, playing 135 games for the Reds since her debut in 2014.

She was part of the squad that won the Barclays Women’s Super League title in her first season, and added the FA Women’s Championship title in 2022 before spending the past campaign on loan at Birmingham City Women.

Read Ashley’s personal letter of appreciation to the supporters below...

Dear Reds,

It’s hard to know what to begin to write when this club has been a part of my life for so long and means so much to me.

Time goes so fast and it seems like only yesterday I was coming through the club’s development programme then playing for the reserves. We used to train at the same time as the first team back then and Beardy [Matt Beard] called me over one day and things just went from there.

I remember how proud I was making my debut in 2014 and I knew my family were too, none more so than Big Ste who still to this day travels all over the country to see me play (thanks Dad). To have represented this fantastic football club just once would have been an honour, but to go on to break the appearance record is something else entirely.

Winning the WSL at 18 was incredible, particularly as the title race went right to the wire. It was a long wait until the trophy made its way back to Widnes as they weren’t sure where it would go! It was still early in my career and there were so many leaders and characters within the group who I learnt a lot from, many of whom I’m still close friends with to this day.

Sometimes for every high in football, though, there’s a May 2018. Every player has ups and downs throughout their career and that ACL injury was tough.

After my rehabilitation, to come off the bench and score against MK Dons in my first game back was a really emotional moment for me. I’d promised Hina Chauhan, our physiotherapist, I’d celebrate with her and, for once, I didn’t forget. I was so grateful to everyone that had helped me through that.

Fast forward to the 2021-22 season and what a season it was. People talk about family environments a lot in football but I feel like everyone saw first-hand how close-knit we all were. We were all determined to finally bounce back from the disappointment of the relegation in 2020 and put this club back where it belongs in the WSL. The trophy parade through the city was one of the best days of my life.

To you the fans, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything since day one. It’s been amazing to see the growth of the women’s game generally but also the numbers of Reds who support the girls at Prenton Park and travel away now too.

There are too many players and staff to thank individually and no doubt I’d get countless messages sarcastically saying ‘thanks for the mention Ash’, so I’ll play it safe and simply say I’ve made lifelong friends here on my journey, grown as a person not just a player, and I will take all of that away wherever I am next.

So thank you to you all - this club has and will always be home.

Once a Red, always a Red.

Ash