Midfielder Betty Barron has added valuable experience to the squad since joining AFC Bournemouth ahead of the start of the 2020/21 season.
Gosport-raised Barron has played for a host of clubs in Hampshire and Sussex, including Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester and Worthing.
She netted four goals in 22 games as Chichester won promotion to the third tier of the women’s game after being crowned champions of Division One South West of the National League in 2016/17.
Barron also featured as Chichester twice lifted the Sussex Women’s Challenge Cup, most recently beating 17-time winners Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2019 final.
She started out as a six-year-old playing for Bridgemary Boys in Gosport before turning out for the girls’ teams at Gosport Borough and Fareham Town.
Barron made an immediate impression for the Cherries when she scored a stunning 30-yarder on her debut in a 10-1 win over Eastleigh in the extra preliminary round of the Women’s FA Cup in September 2020.
Although her first season at the club was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, Barron played her part as the Cherries were elevated to the National League for the first time in their history.
And she has been a key performer as Steve Cuss’s team have sustained a promotion challenge in Division One South West of the National League in 2021/22.
In October 2019 and during her time at Portsmouth, Barron represented Team GB at beach soccer at the inaugural World Beach Games in Doha.
And in June 2021, Barron, together with Cherries players Molly Clark, Katie Scadding and Gemma Hillier, formed the England team which won the Women’s Euro Beach Soccer League in Portugal.
