SWINDON Spitfires manager Steve Turner reckons that his side are ready to soar to new heights as they make the step up to the fourth tier of women’s football.

After finishing as runners-up in the South West Women’s Football League last term, the Spits have been promoted into the FA Women’s Premier League South West Division One and being their campaign with a trip to Cheltenham Town on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).

The Highworth-based outfit now find themselves alongside teams affiliated with professional men’s clubs and there is one clash that immediately catches the eye ahead of their first foray into the WPL.

On August 30, the Spits host local rivals Swindon Town Ladies in the first round of the FA WPL Cup and their manager likens the fixture to arguably the most famous rivalry in the English game.

“It’s like a Liverpool-Man Utd game. We played Swindon Town Ladies in the Wiltshire FA Cup last season and there were something like 120 people there watching,” said Turner.

“We also played Southampton last season and we might have been 2-0 down at half-time but I’ve never seen the crossbar rattled so much.

“Everyone’s excited and I think we can do well at this level.

“They invited a number of teams to come up that didn’t finish top of the table. They look at how many players you’ve got and how many cards you picked up over the season and we were the ones picked.

“It’s a whole new level and this league is run by the FA themselves, rather than a local association.

“We’ve lost a few players to uni and things like work commitments but we’ve had a lot of interest over the summer and we’ve brought a couple of players in too.”