‘We’ve got enough quality to aim for promotion, but we’re not putting that pressure on ourselves,’ Leeds United Women’s new recruit Lauren Joyce tells LUTV.

‘Let’s not talk about promotion,’ Olivia Smart agrees, in an interview for the club website.

After consecutive collapsed seasons, 2021/22 is the first chance in three years for a Division One side (that’s right, just one) to progress into the third tier of the women’s football pyramid and, while they might be hoping for it privately, no one at Leeds United Women will publicly acknowledge the strength of the position they’re in.

For now, promotion is the ambition that dare not speak its name, an especially troublesome taboo for the crowd of impressive signings who have recently arrived at the club hungry for success.

For Kathryn Smith, who has switched horses after captaining league rivals Barnsley last season, for Nish Underdown, who has moved up to Yorkshire from her native Wales looking to ‘step it up’, and for Lauren Joyce, who has dropped down a division in hopes of progressing back up the pyramid with her girlhood club.

The arrivals all cite the size of the club as a motive for their move, their eyes all light up at the prospect of unrivalled facilities and a tip-top set-up — everything you could dream of for a team in this league, at this standard.

What they won’t have wished for is the pressure of representing what is now a truly global club and the weight of expectation that comes with it.

The United badge is a mixed blessing. The steep investment and commitment to the women’s side has attracted many talented footballers this summer, but by joining the squad they’ll each step under a spotlight that can feel both supportive and scrutinous.

There’s no escaping the fact that the Whites are currently punching well below the weight of their male counterparts. In recognition of this, the team applied for upward movement in the reorganisation following curtailment of the 2020/21 season. The move was not approved, and it smarts to see Brighouse Town taking the coveted spot in the Northern Premier Division as kick-off looms.

Another side who got lucky were Division One North newcomers Alnwick Town Ladies. While it risks patronising them to suggest they are just happy to be here — the club tweeted that they wanted to do ‘more than just survive’ — you cannot overstate the difference in atmosphere between a newly-promoted team whose men’s side play in the Bay Plastics Northern Alliance Premier, and the Whites, who are one of just five Premier League-affiliated sides competing below tier three of the pyramid.

Both Wolves’ and Leicester’s women’s outfits succeeded in climbing the pyramid last season, showing it’s possible to enjoy the fruits of a big badge without being scuppered by the inevitable pressure that accompanies it.

Meanwhile, the Whites have a clutch of skilful players and everything in place behind the scenes so that, from an outsiders’ perspective, it seems to be there for the taking. So why are Leeds Women wondering ‘how will it go wrong’ instead of imagining their journey to glory?

Part of the worry, gaffer Dan O’Hearne told BBC Radio Leeds, is that ‘a lot of people want us to fail.’ Unsurprisingly, he is not alone at the club in his lifelong love for Leeds United and, with a handful of fans across the squad, perhaps the fatalism of sixteen years of suspended fortunes is proving hard to shake.

If stinging memories of Leeds falling apart (again) stand between the team and daring to hope, the last two seasons of trying, thriving and nothing coming of it can only add to the sense of banging heads against a wall, horribly familiar to fans with bitter memories of the men’s side languishing in the second and third tiers.

But Leeds United Women don’t have to own the last decade’s shortcomings of the men’s side. If anything, they’ve a right to distance themselves from recent horrors, as per Ken Bates’ design.

Following a strong pre-season, twice holding tier-three teams to draws and netting more than thirty goals across seven fixtures, there’s nothing standing between Leeds United Women and a prosperous season. But still, they’ll take things game by game, and if the team can transform the watching Leeds United fan base into a force behind them, then the P-word is well within their grasp. ◉

(Leeds United Women start the season by playing Stockport at Tadcaster Albion’s Ings Lane on Sunday 14th August at 2pm, available live on YouTube)