Her Red Dragons colleague Hughes is similarly inspired. She wrote in the Palace v Chelsea matchday programme: "Now Wales Women have made history like the men have recently, I think we’re starting to become a prouder footballing nation. The men had success in 2016 and have now qualified for back-to-back tournaments.
"The women are trying to replicate that success, and in our last World Cup qualifier we had a record-breaking crowd filled with young boys and girls who were inspired by the country’s football.
"I was in France for Euro 2016 but before that there weren’t many opportunities to watch Wales at a major tournament. So seeing what the men did has helped, and you think: ‘Imagine us doing that. Imaging us in a major tournament, going away for five or six weeks as a little Welsh family competing with the top teams.’
"We’re looking ahead now but need to remember how far we’ve come. We’re very proud of all the smaller things we’ve achieved, and the next step is making a major tournament."
Away from international duty, Filbey is part of a Palace squad pushing for promotion to the Women’s Super League this season. She says the increase in expectations is something the side are embracing.
“We know the expectations, but we are ready to live up to it,” she said. “We knew we didn’t play our best against Southampton and we knew it wasn’t up to our standards, so we couldn’t wait to put it right against Blackburn and we did, which was good.”
You can support Filbey and co with tickets now on sale for Palace Women’s next three home matches, including a derby with Charlton Athletic at Selhurst Park.
The Selhurst clash sees Palace Women try to build on their record attendance achieved in September against Southampton. The Eagles attracted over 1,800 fans to the terraces in SE25 and were backed vocally against the Saints.
You can back the women’s team by clicking HERE.
