Beth Merrick of Wolves on why this season is so special

Beth Merrick loves Wolverhampton Wanderers. She went to her first game at Molineux when she was a very small child – and she was hooked.

She’s been a season-ticket holder for the men from a young age, and became part of the women’s set-up as a youngster.

Since returning to the club as a senior player in 2021 – and helping them to the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier title that season – the versatile Merrick has gathered more than 150 appearances to her credit so far.

What’s more, she does it all alongside her day job as a PE teacher in a school in Lichfield – so it’s not surprising that it’s been a busy season so far, what with a Women’s FA Cup run to the fourth round that included two televised matches.

“To have anything like that is obviously massive,” she tells SheKicks.net. “Particularly for the club, it was huge. We definitely felt how big it was on the day – we’ve never had anything like that at all.

“People deserve it as well – the work that, for example, [head coach Dan McNamara] Macca’s put into the group, it was just an amazing thing to have for people, to show a little bit of recognition of what people have done for the club.”

Beth Merrick: We’re determined to not let anything stop us

Merrick – now 30 years of age – can easily gauge the progress that’s being made. As well as her years at Wolves, she has also represented Sheffield United, Coventry United and Aston Villa, and gained England youth recognition.

Wolves currently sit on top of the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier, with 11 wins and one draw from their 12 matches thus far. It’s a blistering first half of a campaign that could easily have been overshadowed by an unedifying end to last season, when it transpired that the club had not applied for a licence to play in WSL 2, even though the women went into their final game with the possibility of winning the third-tier title.

Merrick admits that it was a “disappointing” episode – but wonders if ultimately it might have had a positive impact on the team.

“Because Macca is who he is and managed to keep his core group together, and the amazing staff that we’ve got, actually, it says maybe more about the culture in the group that we’ve got,” she says.

She adds that some players had been very disheartened at the end of last season, with some questioning why they were playing football at all, but going into this season the group has been incredibly motivated.

“It’s made us more determined off the pitch to not let anything stop us,” she says. “When we used to win last year and the couple of years before that, it didn’t seem to be much of a big deal and we’d just move on to the next game – quite cliche. This year we’ve made a real point of actually celebrating each win and actually enjoying that moment, which I don’t think sometimes in football people tend to do too much.”

Merrick: This has been one of the most enjoyable periods of my career

Wolves begin 2026 with the toughest of challenges as they face second-placed Burnley on Sunday, 4th January. Of course, it necessitates a quiet New Year’s Eve.

“We all understand where we’re at,” says Merrick. “As a group, we’re all more than happy to buy into that for the sake of what we’ve got this weekend.”

And as a Wolves fan, this season is proving doubly fun for her.

“Even though I’ve won the league with Wolves and done other stuff throughout my career before, this has probably been one of the most enjoyable periods of my football, actually,” she says. “It’s been probably the best part of my career where I actually feel most confident as well, and that’s credit to the players and the staff that are around me.

“And being a Wolves fan – that just makes it even better.”