Mother, footballer, full-time worker: Amber Lawrence’s juggling act

F or many people, captaining a football team to a third promotion in three seasons would rank as one of life’s most significant achievements. For the Stourbridge captain, Amber Lawrence, it is only one part of her story.

The attacking midfielder combines bringing up her one-year-old daughter, Isabelle, with a full-time job and somehow squeezes in three midweek training sessions plus a match every weekend. For anyone complaining about life being too busy, Lawrence’s packed schedule would be a reason to reconsider.

A 2-0 win against Northampton in mid-April officially confirmed Stourbridge as champions of the FA Women’s National League Division 1 Midlands, although as Lawrence tells the Guardian, second-placed Doncaster Rovers Belles “would’ve had to have win all their games 15-0 to catch us”.

After a remarkable hat-trick of consecutive promotions, semi-professional Stourbridge will compete in the third tier of the women’s football pyramid next season, alongside opponents such as West Brom, Derby and Stoke.

This season may yet get better for the Glassgirls with a county cup final booked against third-tier Wolves at Molineux on 9 May. For Lawrence – a “massive Villa supporter” – victory in Wolverhampton would bring particular satisfaction.

Lawrence’s accomplished playing career has included spells at Stoke, Wolves, Aston Villa, Burton and Doncaster. At Burton, back-to-back promotions were achieved, now trumped by back-to-back-to-back promotions with Stourbridge.

“I’ve been here for all of them,” she says. “I came into the club at tier six, so to see it grow to what it is today is incredible. For us to be competing in the third tier [next season] as a non-league, part-time outfit is great for the community, it’s great for