Late last year the Nottingham Sport went in-depth with legendary, Nottingham Forest Women captain, Lyndsey Harkin; a lot has changed since that double feature, but a lot hasn’t as well.

Lyndsey is still at Forest, still donning that famous Garibaldi jersey at the heart of defence, and is still their legendary captain.

So, what has changed for the Forest leader, well, her best friend and the other, long-serving player at the club, Annabel McKechnie, has hung up her boots and retired from the beautiful game; promotion has also been hard to come by over the past few seasons; and there’s been an influx of new players at the club she loves.

However, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

But, what keeps the Forest captain going; a captain who, as 2020 came to pass, was registering her 200^th appearance in the famous Garibaldi, and, with the current campaign preparing to get underway, will be starting her 16^th in the game.

“My love for the game keeps me going,” explained Lyndsey.

“I’ve played football for as long as I can remember and I just couldn’t imagine my life without it.

“I love the competitiveness and the challenges it brings both physically and mentally.

“I am also very proud to represent Nottingham Forest and my city.”

Although the pre-season for Forest Women has been somewhat mixed, they are however blooding a number of new players, across the park.

A handful of players have departed the club, including the retirement of McKechnie and the loss of Bex Rayner to Sheffield United Women, but they have strengthened since finishing the last campaign, one which would see a very impressive run of post-season results.

Now though, ahead of the season opener in the Women’s National League North, at home to Huddersfield Town Ladies, it’s a case of making up for lost time.

“For obvious reasons, it’s been a tough year and a half for everyone, not just on the pitch, but away from football too,” continued Lyndsey.

“The season getting curtailed was a blow but we are using that as extra motivation to push on this season.

“We know the National League is very competitive and full of quality players, but ultimately, our aim is to gain promotion into the Championship.

“We know that it will be a long, tough season with many challenges along the way; it’s a case of taking each training session and game as it comes and putting in maximum effort each time.

“It has been great to be back on the training pitch with everyone though, and putting the hard work in these last few weeks.

“Each one of the new signings have brought an extra bit of quality and the standards have lifted across the whole squad.

“All the new girls that have come in have slotted straight into the group too.

“We’ve had some good tests in friendlies and worked on different things in those games to equip us for the season.

“Annabel though, she has been a great servant to the club, and also a great friend of mine over many years.

“She dedicated so much time and effort to Forest and will go down as a Forest Women legend for sure.”

In beginning the new campaign, at home to Huddersfield on Sunday 15 August, Forest’s first four games will also see them travel to Burnley Women (22 August), host Sheffield FC Ladies (25 August), before travelling to Hull City Ladies (29 August).

Games with cross-border rivals, Derby County Ladies, will see the City Ground host the first ‘Midlands Derby’ on 3 October, before the return fixture takes place later in the season, on 27 March 2022, in the third off last match of the campaign.

“I am really looking forward to getting back to competitive football in the league,” added Lyndsey.

“We have all been working hard and are raring to go now; our first game is at home and we know that Huddersfield are a very good side.

“They (Huddersfield) have quality across all of the pitch and always battle well, so we know we need to be at our best to get something from that game.

“We are also very excited to be able to welcome fans back too.

“For the first time the club have been able to offer season cards and a sister club programme which I think shows great progression from the club.

“It will be amazing to see some familiar and hopefully some news faces down at Eastwood.”

Nottingham Forest Women open their National League North campaign, at home, to Huddersfield Town Ladies, on Sunday 15 August.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFCWomen Lyndsey Harkin has made over 200 appearances for Nottingham Forest Women.