England defender Casey Stoney looks ahead to the England v Austria World Cup Qualifier at Priestfield on Thursday, 20th April.
England play their fifth match of the World Cup Qualifying campaign against Austria, and Casey is delighted that England are going to be playing that match at Priestfield, she said: "I am delighted that it is here at Priestfield. The pitch looks nice and the ground is lovely. I was quite surprised when I arrived here at how big it is. The local support that they get is good as well. I am excited and as I am a Charlton player, hopefully some of our fans will come down as well and they can see some of us play international football as well as club football.
"I am hoping to fill the stadium to be honest. We had over 12,000 at Blackburn last Sunday. I've just heard that the capacity here is just over 11,000 so hopefully with it being a local game for me and for Gillingham and Charlton fans, as well as all the Kent clubs, we can get a crowd of over 11,000 and fill it. That would be fantastic for us as a home game.
England currently sit top of their group which contains Holland, France, Austria and Hungary, and Casey feels they can qualify for the World Cup Finals, she said: "We are half-way through the campaign and have won three and drawn the other game so we are in the driving-seat. We have still got to go over to France and Holland have got to come here. Those two games are going to be massive, but so is this one here at Priestfield. Austria will not come here and lay down to let us walk straight through to the World Cup Finals. We have got to come up and give the best performance that we can to get a result here.
"We won 4-1 over in Austria. We went 1-0 down and managed to turn it around. They are a good side. In international football, there are no bad sides so we are going to have to be at our best to get a result here."
As well as playing for England, Casey is captain of Charlton Athletic, and revealed she combines football with a day job too: "It is going well. We won the Nationwide Premier League Cup Final against Arsenal. Unfortunately we got knocked out in the Semi-Final of the FA Women's Cup 30 seconds from the end of extra-time against Arsenal. We are second in the league . We have a game in hand and if we win that, we go level on points, so it can go right down to the wire. It is between three teams in this league, Everton, Arsenal and ourselves. I think we have got our strongest team this year, so can go on to win it.
"We are semi-professionals and everybody at the club has a day job. I am a personal trainer and also work for Charlton by going into schools in the Kent area. I also work on developing the women's game. Everyone has to have a job. I was working this morning and I will be back at work this afternoon. We then have training in the evening. It is not an easy schedule and can be quite hard. You have to sacrifice a lot to play international football but it is worth it when you get to play for your country."
At 23, Casey has 36 caps for England and she is well aware that she needs to keep playing well to keep her place in the England defence, as she has several players fighting for her shirt, she said: "I've got quite a few caps. I was disappointed not to play during the European Championships but the girls did a great job. Now I have won my place back and hopefully I can go on to gain more caps and play well for my country as well as for my club.
"There are quite a few defenders contending for two or three positions. At the moment, my club form is good, so I am being picked for internationals. I have just got to keep working hard and hopefully I will keep my starting place at international level."
Women's football is enjoying more coverage than it ever has, and Casey explained that has helped the sport grow: "Women's football has improved a lot over the last few years and is the fastest growing sport in this country. That proves there are more girls getting involved and it is growing massively. I have coached at centre of excellences, with all age groups, and the talent that is coming through is amazing. If we can keep that going then it can only be good for women's football in the long run. The increase in crowds shows that people want to come and watch, as well as the games being shown on TV. The more people that come and watch and the bigger attendances we get, the more the media interest will increase. That can only be better for womens football."
