‘To be competing with top teams for the FA Cup at this stage is massive’, says Cardiff City’s Cori Williams.
CORI WILLIAMS is eyeing an FA Cup upset of Lewes for Cardiff City Ladies, who are the only tier four side left in the contest.
And head coach Jamie Philip, 29, would love to see his players take on Chelsea if they pull off a shock result today.
Cardiff are currently the lowest-ranked side in the contest this term having knocked out third tier outfit Burnley.
And forward Williams, who was on the score sheet during that 4-1 trouncing, says victory today would be a massive boost for her side.
Williams, 33, said: “It’s unbelievable to be fair. You enter the FA Cup just wanting to compete and get as far as you possibly can.
“To get to this stage is something we never expected.
“To be where we are as a tier four team now competing with teams from tiers one and two is absolutely massive for us definitely.
“We got relegated last year, that was very disappointing.
“But the journey we’ve been on from the start of the season up until now has been good.”
Like her team-mates Williams does not earn a wage from playing for Cardiff City.
All their players and backroom staff are volunteers.
And for Williams, who has seven Wales international caps, her love for the club is the motivation for her competing for the side.
She adds: “Our coaches are volunteers, everyone behind the scenes are volunteers.
“We’ve all got to have full time jobs to sustain our lifestyles.
“It’s obviously tough when you’ve got a lot going on nine-to-five, five days a week and then you’ve got to turn up to training and be switched on.
“It definitely shows the love we have for the game. doing our jobs full-time and then obviously spending our spare time playing football.”
Cardiff’s opponents Lewes are currently seventh in the Women’s Championship and have won two of their last six games across all competitions.
And like Lewes’ tier two rivals Durham, Cardiff are a financially independent side not reliant on income from a men’s football club.
Should the team progress to the quarter-finals they will earn £20,000 in prize or £5,000 if knocked out of the contest.
Head coach Phliip said: “A lot of the (lower league) clubs who went through the qualifying rounds could survive for a good couple of years on just the winnings or the loss from FA Cup money.
“For us, it means a huge amount because we’re in the middle where we think, do we go down the route of being semi-pro and trying to test ourselves against the top?
“Or do we stick where we are and try to survive for the next few years?
“We want to use this money to invest into pushing ourselves up.