Jamaica defender Chantelle Swaby says it is like “a whole new club” at Leicester City this season.
Swaby, 26, joined the Foxes in July as they began to embark on a new era under French manager Amandine Miquel.
With the Women’s Super League season kicking off this weekend, Swaby hopes Leicester can prove to be “dark horses” and return to winning ways.
This has been a turbulent year for the club after former manager Willie Kirk was sacked after an investigation into an allegation he had a relationship with a player.
Leicester said the code of conduct which they found Kirk to have breached was “established and implemented” before the 2023-24 season.
The team ended last season with interim bosses Jennifer Foster and Stephen Kirby in charge.
An eight-game winless run made for a disappointing finish, despite Leicester reaching the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals.
But Swaby is “excited” to see what the team can do this season with a new manager and new players.
“It definitely shows we’re not the same club that we might have been last year,” said Swaby.
“A lot of times when you see there’s a management change, everything goes down the drain, but I think we’ve started off on the front foot in pre-season.
“I think things are looking really good and I’m excited. The atmosphere is really good. There’s a bunch of different characters within the team.”
Return of the WSL
Swaby, who made 33 appearances across two seasons for French club Fleury before joining Leicester, says she has “no expectations” for the WSL campaign.
“I’m just here to see how it goes. There’s a new manager and I feel like there’s a whole new, different type of club this year,” she said.
First-team coach Kirby is set to leave to become manager of Bristol City, who were relegated to the Championship last season.
Leicester are eager to begin well and show their rivals and doubters what they can achieve.
They play away to Liverpool on Sunday in their opening WSL match of the season.
“We didn’t end in a good position last year so [it’s] just making sure we get off to a good start in our first few games. That will be a really important thing,” Swaby added.
“It could be an eye-opener for a lot of the teams that think we are going to be in the same position we were last year.”