Inside Crystal Palace’s season: how newcomers are stepping up to WSL

The Palace manager Laura Kaminski and midfielder Chloe Arthur discuss the step up from the Championship and what they need to do to show they belong

Laura Kaminski’s alarm rings at 5am every day, with the aim of her being as prepared as possible for training with forensic detail. She is clearly a “morning person” and exchanges a knowing look with Crystal Palace’s women’s team press officer when she hints that her “battery starts to run out at four o’clock”. Yet, as the clock ticks towards that time and she sits down for this interview, suddenly she has a new lease of energy, because she is discussing a topic that invigorates her: her parents.

“I owe everything I am to my parents. I was brought up with very good values and morals, with a mother who encouraged constant interpersonal skills, encouraging me to talk to different people, to play, to join in. Those traits in my personality that my parents encouraged [mean] my interactions with other people is probably one of my strongest points as a manager,” she says. “I spent a long time as an assistant coach, so I listened to a lot of moans and groans in groups because assistant coaches often get the conversations that head coaches don’t. I appreciate the players’ thoughts, their reflections, their honesty. Those connections, for me, are vital.”