Former Crystal Palace hotshot aiming to learn off prolific Charlton Athletic striker

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk 

Gemma Bryan is aiming to learn off Kit Graham – rather than worrying about outscoring the Charlton Athletic Women’s hotshot.

The duo were rivals last season in the FA WPL Southern Division.

Graham notched 47 goals in 35 matches to finish up as the league’s top scorer. But Bryan, then in the colours of Crystal Palace Ladies, struck 40 in 26 outings.

Now the pair will be in the same side after Charlton Women signed Bryan earlier in the summer.

At that stage it looked as if the Eagles had failed to gain a place in the new-look Championship.

But recently they were promoted after Doncaster Belles and Sheffield FC withdrew.

The capture of Bryan leaves Charlton, who gained a spot in the second tier following their play-off win against Blackburn Rovers in May, with three prolific finishers. Charlotte Gurr netted 36 in 35 games.

Bryan, 30, was with the Addicks from 2008 until 2012.

“I know Kit very well,” she said. “I’ve played with Kit before at Charlton. She was 16 at the time and has come on in leaps and bounds.

“I’m just hoping to learn from her. There’s a lot of strengths to her game – she’s very good in the air, a completely different player to me.

“Any competition should drive you and encourage you to do better, so hopefully I can motivate her too.

“We’re at different ends of our careers too – I would say I’m a lot more experienced, so hopefully she can learn from me there as well.

“You’ve also got Charlotte, who I think was playing in a couple of different positions last season.

“I’m just looking to add to the team. I understand it’s going to be competitive and that’s definitely something that we need.”

Palace’s initial unsuccessful application to be part of the WSL’s second tier saw Bryan hold talks with other interested clubs.

“The [Charlton] manager and coaches were really keen to get me on board,” she said. “I had talks with them regarding the ambition and direction that the clubs’s headed in.

“It was probably the most in-depth chat that I had with any club. They were really keen to get to know me as a person, both on and off the pitch.

“I want to play at the highest level and keep improving season by season. You never know who’s watching, so you always want to put on a performance for the supporters.”

Bryan landed a move Stateside to LA Strikers when she ended her first stint with the Addicks but had an undiagnosed knee injury which curtailed her stay.

She signed for Watford Ladies in late 2013.

“I’d given up a lot to go there – work commitments for example,” explained Bryan. “To get there and realise you’ve ruptured your ACL is quite devastating.

“I was actually injured at Charlton but I thought it was just a strain. Then when I got to America it came to light that it was actually much worse. They realised it was a full rupture and I had to come back to the UK to get the treatment. After that it was just a case of getting back on my feet really.

“Having to come back and start all over again was quite challenging and then, amongst that, you can’t do the thing that you love doing most because of a bad injury. It kept me out of playing for a couple of years – but I haven’t looked back since.”

So what is a realistic target for Charlton in their first campaign in the rebranded Championship? They have been used to being a big fish in the Southern Division – comfortably winning the title in 2017-18 – but are now competing against clubs resourced by Premier League outfits.

Bryan, who scored 104 goals in 71 appearances for Palace, said: “We’ve got to look at Tottenham, who got promoted and held their own in the division.

“But we also need to enjoy every game, because the team have worked hard to get here. They need to carry on doing that with a smile on their faces at the same time.

“We’ve got nothing to fear – there will be a lot of clubs that don’t know much about us and vice-versa, given it’s a newly-formed Championship.

One of the clubs who should be a powerhouse are Manchester United. Absent from the women’s game for a period, they have appointed former England captain Casey Stoney as their head coach.

The Red Devils have also signed former Millwall Lionesses striker Charlie Devlin. But the decision to instantly put them at the top end of the women’s game has not gone down well with everyone.

“Manchester United are one of the biggest football clubs in the world,” said Bryan.

“Now their ladies have a team too it’ll be intriguing to see what they’re going to be like.

“It’s good to see big clubs promoting the womens’ game but you’ve got to look at the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City who’ve been around for a while.

“It’d be nice for a club to get recognition for earning their way to the top rather than sort of buying their way into it.”