Friday 5th September 2025
If Royal Wootton Bassett Town are to challenge for promotion in South West Regional Women's Football League Division One North this season, much will depend on their defence.
And manager James Lally has plenty of quality options to choose from at the back - among them Honor Fraser, Kelly Nightingale and Briony Hurd.
All three are entering their third seasons with Bassett, with Fraser and Nightingale representing the winners of the team's Coaches' Player of the Year prize in each of the last two years.
Alongside fellow defenders Laura Jefferies, Darcy Cox, Alice Bowden and Mia Sanghara, they mean that Bassett have a stable of strong defenders with experience of playing with one another.
Competition for places will be fierce - and that can only be a positive.
Profiles of the players are available below.
All Women's First Team players are available to sponsor for the 2025-26 season for just £50. If you are interested in sponsoring any of our Women's First Team players, please contact Commercial Manager Mike Price (mike.price@rwbtfc.co.uk; 07496 733652) or Head of Women's Section Bryan Wood (bryan.wood@rwbtfc.co.uk; 07847 639406).
Fraser is a strong, technically gifted full back who is entering her third season with Bassett after joining from Swindon Town. She established herself as a Women's First Team regular in 2023-24, making 18 appearances - 17 of which were starts. Fraser's strong development continued last season when she was Bassett's joint-leading appearance maker, scoring three goals in 27 games with her performances earning her the Coaches' Player of the Year award.
Prior to joining Bassett, Fraser featured for Swindon from 2020-21 through the 2022-23 campaign. In the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season, she played six times for the Robins' Development team, scoring once. She then spent most of the 2021-22 season with Swindon's First Team, playing 14 times in the tier four FA Women's National League Division One South West before splitting time between the First and Development teams in 2022-23.
Hurd is a centre half who joined Bassett ahead of the 2023-24 season from Swindon Town. She quickly earned a starting berth and featured 16 times in all in 2023-24, while making 13 starts. Last year her appearances were limited as she featured just three times having spent most of the campaign travelling.
A strong defender who enjoys the physical side of the game, Hurd is a talented player when on the ball too, possessing the confidence and ability to bring the ball out from defence. Although mostly featuring for the Robins' Development side, Hurd made her first team debut in 2017-18, playing twice in the tier three FA Women's National League Premier Division South. After Swindon's relegation she played four times in 2020-21 before going on to feature five times in 2022-23. She has also played for the University of East London Women's First Team during her studies.
Nightingale is a versatile player capable of playing in either defence or midfield who is entering her third season with Bassett. She brings significant experience playing at a higher level too having spent nearly a decade with sides in the FA Women's National League.
Nightingale has played a large part of her career with Swindon Town, enjoying spells with the Robins between 2014-15, 2017-19 and 2021-23. She has also featured for Forest Green Rovers (2015-16), Swindon Supermarine (2016-17) and Keynsham Town (2019-21). With Bassett, Nightingale appeared 20 times in 2023-24, scoring once and being named Coaches' Player of the Year. She then appeared 23 times last season, adding another single goal to her tally.
Last modified on Friday 5th September 2025 at 13:38.