Martin Hunter is envisaging a bright future for women's football at Southampton Football Club in the coming years, fuelled by the appointment of Marianne Spacey-Cale MBE as Head of Women's and Girl's earlier this summer.
The appointment represents the cornerstone of the club's ongoing commitment to expanding its Girls and Women's programme beyond its existing Regional Talent Club set-up and Technical Director Hunter has already seen that potential out on the field.
"We were fortunate to get the services of Marieanne, in terms of the experience she has as both a player and a coach. But also the contacts that she brings," he said.
"I watched the girls' first game, and the players clearly buy into her methods.
"It runs in parallel with what we do with the male side of the game, and it is a very exciting project which is just kickstarting. I'm sure we'll go from strength to strength."
"The girls have the full support and backing of everything we offer at the club.
"Marieanne herself is based on the senior corridor, where all of our first-team and professional phase coaches sit.
"We view our development plan for the women's game as a priority, and we're looking at some exciting times ahead."