2023 was a year that all associated with Middlesbrough Women will never forget.

The official merger with the football club last summer was the start of an exciting journey, with the appointment of hugely respected Michael Mulhern as manager evidence of Boro's ambition and a first game at the Riverside Stadium a milestone occasion for all involved.

It would be understandable to assume that with the might of the football club's backing comes pressure to achieve immediate success but that's not the case. There are big ambitions, of course, but as general manager Ben Fisher explains: "We're going about things sensibly, we're not making any big statements or promises. We know where we want to be but we know the importance of patience and steady progress."

And that's been the story of Boro's campaign on the pitch so far. A draw and a defeat to start the season might, at a glance, have been deemed slightly disappointing but with context it was understandable. With the merger announced late in the summer, there was hardly a pre-season for Boro, so there was an awareness inside the club it might take them a few weeks to get going.

The 4-1 defeat to Hull City on the second league weekend of the season remains their only loss. Mulhern's side are well positioned in third in Division One North and kick off 2024 with the hotly-anticipated return fixture against the Tigers, who are second, at Stockton Town on Sunday.

"At the start of the season if someone had said you're only going into Christmas losing one game, we'd have snapped their hands off," says Fisher.

"There's no pressure, we've emphasised that from the start. Yeah, promotion would be great but it's about building momentum, being a team that's hard to beat and putting the foundations in place. We don't want to try and put the roof on before we have downstairs sorted out.

"We've gone for it in a sensible way. We haven't thrown silly money about and looked to sign WSL or Championship players. We want to continue building, the players we've brought in aren't at the peak of their careers, their best years are ahead of them.

"We only have a handful of players who are in their late 20s, the rest are really young, our back four is all under 23. The future is bright and exciting but we're going about things sensibly, we're not making any big statements or promises."

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With Mulhern in charge, Boro are in good hands. During his 15 years in charge at Sunderland, he led the Black Cats to the WSL - which is the ultimate aim on Teesside. He went on to work for the FA and in scouting but he's most at home in the dugout.

"He's loving it here," says Fisher.

"He had the success at Sunderland and had unfinished business and I think he sees this as redemption really and he's keen to prove what he can do at the highest level. He's worked at the highest level in the men and women's game. He won't settle for second best and neither will we.

"He put together that core group of players at Sunderland and they developed and I'd like to think we're doing the same now.

"I'd love to be here in five years competing at the highest level and the core of our team are players we've brought through. I'd love to think we've brought through a backbone of Teesside footballers. They're good enough, we've seen that over the years and in the past we've lost those players to Sunderland or Durham but that will hopefully change now."

Fisher is relishing the year ahead. There are plans in place for more games at the Riverside and after the hectic spell that followed the merger, things have now settled down and the focus is on future progress on and off the pitch.

"Last year we were literally setting up a new football club," says Fisher.

"The goalposts have completely changed. The overall structure of the club has changed. It's been a whirlwind and it's only now six or seven months down the line we can really take stock and plan for where the club is going to go in the next few years.

"The players have found their feet now, we're starting to score goals and win games and we're kicking on as a team.

"We brought in 14 or 15 new players in the summer, it's a completely new squad, then a lot of younger players have come through, so it's a new team and we're gelling and getting better all the time.

"For me I've been a Boro fan all my life. I said in the summer I was like a kid in a sweet shop and I always will be. For a Boro fan to be working at Middlesbrough Football Club, it's massive. It's a dream.

"I'm still pinching myself every day. It's an honour to be here, that's how I feel, it's a privilege to work for the football club."

Boro's game against Hull City takes place at Stockton Town's MAP Group UK Stadium on Sunday, 2pm kick-off. Tickets can be bought on the gate.