Matt Abreu, manager of Bath City Women, has expressed optimism about the future of the team following a potential new investment ahead of the 2026/27 season. The investment, led by Andrew Stalbow and fellow backers, highlights the importance they place on the women’s side, which currently competes in the sixth tier of the English football pyramid.
Since the team’s formation in 2022, Abreu has been at the helm and believes this backing has given him renewed ambition. “It’s a joy that they’re interested in the women’s game and want us to push forward,” he remarked. “Having spoken to Andrew and the other investors, I’m really eager to see where we can take this.”
Abreu praised the club for establishing a solid foundation: “We started from nothing to becoming a well-known team in the local area. When you see teams around us drift away, for us to be sustainable with a strong pathway down to our under-18s is amazing.”
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He added that the investment “has allowed me to dream that we can really push on and move up the divisions. It’s not my decision to make, but from everything I’ve heard, it can only be good for the club.”
Bath City Women have had a strong pre-season, playing three friendlies including a 2-1 win at Cirencester and a 3-2 defeat at home to Bristol Brunel. “It’s been one of our strongest pre-seasons yet,” said Abreu. “We can’t be any more ready than we are. We’ve blended players from the first team, development team, and under-18s throughout these fixtures.”
The squad has been maintained mostly intact, with two new signings who played in the division last season: Tia Mahadevan from Bitton and Brooke Steventon-Smith from Whitchurch. Several trialists also show promise for integration into the first team. “We’re looking fairly strong,” Abreu confirmed.
Following a league reorganisation, Bath City have been moved to the South West Regional Women’s Football League Division 1 Central. This division has been reduced from 12 to nine teams, retaining four clubs from last season. Abreu does not expect an easy campaign after the team finished sixth last year, 18 points behind the leaders and 18 clear of the relegation zone. “We lost too many close games against top sides,” he explained. “While last season made it easier to predict challengers, this year there are many unknown teams, making it a different challenge. We expect to be competitive and aim to challenge.”
The team’s first match of the season is an FA Cup Preliminary Round tie against local rivals Paulton Rovers on Sunday 23 August at 2pm, to be played at Cannon Clarke Stadium, Twerton Park. Historically, the Romans have struggled in the competition, not having won a game in three attempts and last year losing in the first round at Hereford. Bath City have faced Paulton four times before, winning three and drawing once. “Matches between us are always tightly contested,” Abreu said. “We want to come out on top and hopefully a good crowd at Twerton will give us the edge. We want to put past FA Cup disappointments behind us and show what we’re capable of.”
Regarding player development, the club’s development side, competing one division below the first team, is currently without a permanent manager after Callum Heal resigned at the end of the 2025/26 season. The team starts its league campaign on 6 September against newly promoted Odd Down. “Jo Bellotti has agreed to act as interim manager,” Abreu confirmed. “Despite the change in management, the development team looks strong and has the potential to improve. We have many players capable of stepping up, including several under-18s who could progress this season. The entire pathway from youth to senior squads is genuinely exciting.”