Why Accrington Stanley trip has added spice for new Wigan Athletic managing director - 'It's an inter-household rivalry'

Not only was the 27-year-old - the youngest administrator in the EFL - born and bred in the East Lancashire town, she used to work at the club towards the end of her school days and at the beginning of her career in football.

Throw in the fact her partner, Luke, is a member of the Accrington media team, and her parents have been season-ticket holders for almost two decades, it’s fair to say there will be added pressure on Ryan Lowe to get a result!

“I'm not going to say Ryan has to win that one, but it is an important one for me," she laughed.

Not that there will be any issue if divided loyalties.

"I'll always support Wigan against Accrington," Guilfoyle confirmed. "I'll never forget the 4-1 win when Charlie Wyke scored his first goal for us...you could probably hear me celebrating from my house!

"When Wigan aren't playing, I'd always support Accrington, but not this weekend.

"It's an inter-household rivalry, so whoever wins the pre-season friendly gets bragging rights in our house...hopefully it's me."

Being able to add League Two outfit Stanley to the summer schedule obviously meant more to Guilfoyle than most.

"I believe in the ecosystem of fixtures in football," she said. "With us going to Chorley for the first pre-season friendly, I think it's important that clubs go and support those below them in the pyramid.

"Even just putting some money behind the bar, it can make a real difference at whatever level.

"Obviously it's primarily a fitness exercise for both sides, but it's also an opportunity for fans to visit grounds they might not get a chance to get to very often.

"The problem is we always then get given an EFL Cup game that we've just done in pre-season, but you can't control that.

"I just really believe in doing whatever we can to feed back into the ecosystem, and helping out where we can."

It's six months since Guilfoyle stepped up from her previous role as head of football administrator to become the club's new MD.

So how’s she finding it?

"I'm really enjoying it. It's something I always wanted to do," she added. "Growing up, everyone else was 'I want to be a hairdresser, I want to be this, I want to be that'...I just wanted to be Karren Brady!

"Don't get me wrong, I really loved my football admin job, and I could have done that job forever. It's really interesting...it's all rules, regulations, legal stuff...and that's how my brain's wired, I love all that.

"I think if I wasn't in this industry, I'd have gone into the legal industry, and done something fairly similar. I just love the fact there's no two days the same in this job.

"I don't know sometimes what I'm walking into when I come in every morning...but in a good way. Some days you have to be really reactive, some days you have to be strategic, in terms of planning for the future.

"That's obviously a big part of the job, but so much stuff just pops up, and you have to deal with it...that keeps me on my toes."