Goalkeeper Katie Spruce has fought back from adversity and made great strides with Denbigh Town this season

Katie Spruce has earned some excellent reviews this season for her performances as Denbigh Town’s new goalkeeper.

The 36-year-old had an impressive footballing past before serious health issues caused her retirement, but she has recovered amazingly well to take up the game again.

Full Name

Katie Louise Spruce

Date of Birth

09-09-1986

Position

Goalkeeper

Previous clubs

Kinmel Bay, Manchester City, Abergele (Pentre), Holywell Town

Strengths to your play

Ability to read the game, positioning, sweeping, communicating to my team-mates and penalty-saving. All of these give your team mates confidence in you as a keeper.

Weaknesses in your play

I’m that passionate about the game, I do sometimes let my frustration get the better of me, but this is something I’m constantly working on. No keeper likes picking the ball out of their net 🤦‍♀️ but it’s about staying positive, going again and motivating the team to stay focused.

How do you feel Denbigh Town’s season in the North Wales League is going so far?

We are doing great so far. We only came together with new players strengthening the squad in pre-season, so we are very much still gelling together as a team. But you can see the progress and hard work from everyone in training, they work hard and they show that on the pitch. Some players are very young, but they take on board everything from the coaches. The training and dedication from the coaches and physio is amazing and motivates us all to continue to work hard, enjoy the games and have fun on the pitch.

What has been the team’s best performance?

This would be Pwllheli at home back in October. The togetherness really showed, the way the team were mentally, decision-making and the way they played the ball utilising every space on the pitch and the passion to win was excellent to see. You could really see the team coming together and the hard work paid of with a 2-1 win.

And the worst performance?

NFA away. Everyone has good days and bad days, but this game I think we just let get the better of us. NFA are a great team and they set up very well, the style of football they play we could just not defend accordingly, all credit to NFA. A very useful learning game for us to improve from.

Best team faced this season

Hands down CPDM Bangor 1876. WoW the development here is amazing! All credit to the coaches and the team, they set up and play amazing football, making it difficult for any opposition. Communication on the pitch is great and how they switch the ball at pace. Fully deserve to be top spot. Also, very powerful shots and kept me on my toes all game. I look forward to the return game this Sunday.

Personal highlight of this season so far

Saving the decisive penalty to send us into the semi finals of the NEWFA Cup. Trearddur Bay have developed greatly since last season and gave us a great game which ended 2-2. This was my first penalty shoot out in many years and to save the decisive penalty and have your team-mates and coaches run at you like players possessed, was an amazing feeling.

Which Denbigh team-mate has impressed you most this season?

Emily Morris. Amazing CB, to see her develop in the back line has been great. She is not afraid to defend however the game goes, listens to team-mates’ calls, her confidence on the ball, not just playing back to me but to take round players and clear her lines is great to watch.

What do you think of the overall standard of your league?

This is my first full season in the league so I didn’t know what to expect. But every single team have excellent standards, I never know what any game will be like and I like that. Plus, you can see teams’ improvements as the season goes on, Caernarfon being one. It’s great to see.

What are your hopes for the remainder of the season?

To continue to improve, develop, work hard, and enjoy my football. I would love for us to progress to the final of the NEWFA Cup, but a tough challenge with Airbus awaits.

How would you like to see Denbigh progress in the future?

We are still developing so I would just like to see us all continue to work hard and improve. It would be great for the club to challenge for the league and maybe one day return to Tier 2.