Last year’s campaign in the UEFA Women’s Champions League saw Fiona Barry gain her first taste of European football.
The attacker’s competitive debut for the Bluebirds came against FC Twente, before following up with another appearance against ŽFK Ljuboten.
Reflecting on last year’s experience, Fiona began: “It was a proud moment for me to walk out and play in the Champions League. It gave me a taste of how I want my career to go and the level I want to play at on a regular basis.
“It was a very good experience. It showed me a level of football that I hadn’t seen before and I can’t wait to be a part of that again.
“FC Twente were certainly the best team I’ve ever played against. They played at a tempo that I hadn’t experienced before, but that game helped us as a team to see where we want to be.”
Iain Darbyshire’s side went into last year’s campaign with a large turnover of players and a largely new group.
With a successful season under their belts, Fiona feels this group is well-equipped to compete this year.
She continued: “Last year, we had a lot of new players and we were learning about each other and how everyone operates, because we were a new squad and hadn’t played together much.
“Now, we’ve had a whole season to develop as a squad; I think we’re better equipped and in a prime position to be able to go to the Champions League and come away with a positive result.
“I learned so much last year. It’s a different style of football that you come up against, you learn how to face those sides and gain that experience, which helps me to improve.
“It was a good first season for me as a Bluebird. The Champions League definitely helped me to make that transition.
“Playing at that level in Europe was a great challenge in my first games two games for the Club and it was an important experience going into the league season.”
City will be returning to pre-season action this month, ahead of the first qualifying round draw on June 24th.
“I can’t wait to be back,” Fiona added. “I’ve been training on my own since the end of last season and making sure that I’ll be ready come the start of pre-season. I’m excited to be back around the girls and get back playing.
“The individual training programmes that we’ve been put on have been great for us, they’re very detailed and they’re making sure that we’ll be ready to hit the ground running.
“We’ve all got a similar mindset and similar goals, which is to be competitive in the Champions League, so we’ll all be working hard and striving to achieve that.”