Ashford United co-owner Lloyd Hume puts extra focus on women’s football

Ashford United co-owner Lloyd Hume has stepped up his commitment to women’s football.

It’s an area of the club Hume was keen to improve and, as a result, there’s a new structure in place at Homelands.

Josh Oatham, the former manager of Gillingham Ladies and ex-assistant boss at Charlton Athletic Ladies, has taken charge.

The women’s section also have a new chairman in local businessman Mark Mason.

Ashford finished ninth in the 12-team London & South East Regional Premier Division last season and hope to progress in the 2026/27 campaign.

“We’re pretty settled as a men’s first team so, as chairman, it’s been about focusing on some of the other things in the club that we wanted to get right,” said Hume.

“Women’s football is one of the biggest, so we’re really pleased with how we’ve structured that.

“We’ve brought in Josh, who used to be Gillingham’s manager and Charlton’s assistant manager, so he brings a lot of experience in terms of what he’s done and the contacts he’s got.

“Even more importantly, we’ve also brought in Mark Mason as the chairman.

“Mark’s a local businessman, he’s really enthusiastic about women’s football and talking him into being part of the women’s team was really important.

“We’ve now gone from having a women’s team that were having to pay subs to a women’s team that are now sub-free, they’ve got sponsorship in there, so there’s an opportunity that we’re hoping they do really well.

“We want to get up a level or two, at least one level.

“Josh has put a really strong programme together, which is great, in terms of players and a coaching team.

“For the level they’re at, we’re expecting them to do really well in the league next year.

“He’s an experienced manager, he’s brought an experienced coaching team