Dowie on award, pre-season and CL

Dowie finished ahead of the likes of athlete Christine Ohuruogu and tennis star Laura Robson for the prestigious award and came in second place behind multiple national cycling champion Rachel Atherton while world champion triathlete Non Stanford came in third place.

Dowie, who netted 19 goals in 21 appearances to help Liverpool win the Women's Super League title, also spoke about her hopes for the new season and the exciting prospect of competing in the Champions League.

Liverpool's No.9 was speaking at the promotion of the LFC Foundation football college in Allerton, where she helps run a girls team.

Read on for a full transcript of her interview.

Natasha, tell us what you're doing down here at the Wyncote Sports Centre in Allerton...

I'm down here today promoting the LFC Foundation football college. Myself and Fara Williams run the girls side. It's for  16 to 18-year-olds, who have finished their GCSE's and want to attend the college, with a chance to study level 2 or level 3 B-Tech courses  and have the opportunity to train twice a week with us. We also play games on a Wednesday. There are also five boys teams as well down at the college - for anyone that wants to play football and study at the same time. We also have a twitter - @LFCFootyCollege - and a Facebook page to promote the college.

Why is it important for the likes of yourself and Fara to help promote girls football?

It's massive, especially the way that women's football is going; it's huge now. With the Olympics and the European Championships, this season it's pretty much professional. It's a great time for girls to get involved in football. It's a very exciting time right now; Fara and I can act as role models for kids and help promote it and get them involved. Hopefully we can pass our knowledge on to those at the college.

What do you think you offer as role models to those girls?

Having fun, working hard, but to also to bringing professionalism into it. A lot play for fun, which is fair enough, but myself and Fara have got to this level with Liverpool and England by dedicating a lot of our life to football. I think we can share that knowledge and hunger with the girls; it's up to the girls if they want to use that advice to push them further.

You've won the league title, Golden Boot, Player of the Year and now you've finished runner up in the BT Action Woman of the Year. What did you make of that?

I couldn't believe it when I was nominated alongside the other athletes. I was gobsmacked to be in the top 10. I was over the moon to finish in second place and I am really honoured to be recognised for my achievements this year at Liverpool. I have obviously got to thank the manager, coaching staff and my teammates as without them I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I achieved with Liverpool.

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Is that just more recognition for Liverpool Ladies and the great work that's being done?

Yes, 100 per cent. After all the hard work that the staff put in in the background, that people don't see, it's no coincidence that we have done as well as we have done.  There's been a lot of hard work that has been put in to the club and as a player it's brilliant to be involved in a team like this and it makes your job that much easier. I'm chuffed to have been nominated for the award and to finish second. I'm very pleased.

You mentioned there were a lot of fantastic nominees on the list for the BT Action Woman of the Year, so how proud does it make you to finish second?

When I got interviewed, I was a little bit embarrassed to ask people to vote for me, to be honest. I just see myself as a woman football player; whereas some of the people on the shortlist are Olympic athletes, who are well known. Some have more than 100,000 followers on twitter. For me it was a bit bizarre to be nominated alongside them.  I couldn't believe it, I've got to thank everyone that voted for me and it's really nice that people think I had a good year with Liverpool.

Many months after the great season has finished, how does it feel to still be receiving great recognition?

It's really pleasing and I am over the moon with that, I've had a dream year to be honest. To get the Golden Boot, Player of the Year with the WSL - I didn't think I'd get much more recognition, so to be voted for the BT Action award topped off a great year for me. I'm hoping 2014 can be just as good, if not better.

You're back in training now, how did you find the first session?

It was tough but it's great to be back with the girls with all the banter and to be able to train professionally during the day. It is unbelievable. I would never have thought I would be able to say that I'm a professional footballer; it's something I've always dreamed of. Even though it was hard, it was great to get touches back on the ball. The fitness is standard procedure for pre-season; they have to get you back fit but I can't wait to get the friendlies under our belt and to get the season started.

This is the first year that Liverpool will be training as a professional outfit, how important is that?

I think it will make a huge difference; obviously it's hard to tell straight away what difference it will make but last year we trained pretty much four nights a week. It was long days where we had to wait around and train in the night. I think training in the day will help with freshness and gives us a chance to put our feet up in the night and relax. I think it will make a huge difference and I'm very excited about it.

How much are you looking forward to that new season in a few months?

I can't wait for the new season. The pre-season is too long, to be honest, but all the hard work and foundations have to be laid. We have a lot of new faces, so the new signings will have to get used to the way we play and we have to get used to the way they play. I can't wait for that first game to come around and I'm really hoping we can retain the WSL title.

You also have the Champions League to look forward to. How excited are you by that challenge?

We've got a great squad, so I don't see why we can't do well in the Champions League. I've been involved with Everton in the Champions League where we made the quarter-finals, but hopefully we can go all the way. You want to be playing against the best players and best teams in Europe so I'm really excited about that.

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