At first, football was simply a passion. Years later, and now playing for the newly-formed London City Lionesses, the 20-year-old looks back on her footballing career so far, overcoming adversity, regaining confidence, and looking ahead to her future ambitions as a professional footballer.
It is not often that moving into a new home and Liverpool lifting the Premier League trophy happen within the same week, but for Poppy Wilson the last seven days has been one of putting down roots and enjoying long-awaited celebrations – it only took Liverpool thirty years! It is evident from our conversation – via Zoom – just how much her new home and move to the London City Lionesses last year have been synonymous with a fresh start – both personally and professionally.
Her decision to move away from Bristol City ahead of the 2019/20 season to the London City Lionesses in search of game time has certainly paid off, with the midfielder making thirteen appearances for the newly-formed club in their debut FA Women’s Championship season.
“It’s a great club to be at and considering it’s just over a year old they have such great aspirations and want to achieve,” she remarks. “Before I moved to London, I was very close to giving up and stopping football. I was very fortunate to get as many games as I did, and I feel I’ve definitely got the love of the game back.”
For Poppy, her love of the game stems back seventeen years to when she was just three, with her introduction to the game following a similar pattern to many female footballers – the influence of an older sibling.
“My brother played for his local team. I just used to join in and from there my parents let me play,” Poppy remembers.
After joining a local girls’ team, she was soon scouted and asked to trial for Somerset Centre of Excellence, a series of events that she recognises as instrumental in initiating her footballing journey. When asked at what moment she realised football could be a viable profession for her, she was quick to confess that she was not aware of its potential until later in her career.
“At the time I didn’t really know that there was a pathway to become a professional footballer, I was just doing it because I loved it.”
This love of the game in its purest form has undoubtedly been beneficial to Wilson when overcoming moments of adversity.
Despite being just 20-years-old, the young midfielder talks with remarkable openness about the challenges she has faced early on in her career. Moving to Bristol in 2014, Wilson combined her passion for football with her academic pursuits, eventually graduating from the Bristol City Development Squad to make her senior debut in 2016. This success was soon followed by a two-year professional contract with Bristol City Ladies in 2018. However, as she recalls, her breakthrough into the senior side was not a simple one. Rather, she worked through a period of highs and lows to achieve professional status, the memories of which have noticeably ingrained in the youngster a steely determination to succeed.
“It was the end of 2018 and I was flying high from everything I had done at college and I decided to take a year out to focus on football. That year was football, football, football, and I was trying to achieve as much as I could. I was probably playing my best level of football – playing with so much confidence and I was involved in all the U18 and U19 England camps. We were preparing for the Euro 2019 qualifiers in Kazakhstan. A week before I tore my Medial Collateral Ligament against Tottenham, and could not play in the tournament. I was out for around six months and that knocked my confidence quite a lot. I didn’t really get my confidence back, probably until I came to London.”
Despite the impingement of injuries on her development, coupled with the departure of first-team manager Willie Kirk, Poppy is keen to move on from the challenges she faced and focus on the positives experiences she had at Bristol City before her departure.
“Probably captaining the college and the development team was the best moment for me. That was massive,” she reflects. “And lifting the ECFA Cup and the development FA Cup. That game we won 4-0 against Arsenal and beat the odds – that was a massive highlight. I think as well just moving up to Bristol and having that challenge and opportunity and just taking it really was huge in my career.”
It is clear from their respective stories that Poppy and London City Lionesses seem to be a fitting pair, with both seeking to forge new identities since separating from their previous ties. In May 2019, the former Millwall Lionesses board announced their decision to sever links with their male counterparts, forming a new ladies side that would become an entirely new entity; known as the London City Lionesses. Although the establishment of independent sides is more commonplace in countries such as the USA, the lack of association with a men’s club is particularly unique in England. Despite acknowledging that other teams in the top-two tiers of women’s football may have the advantage of an existing fanbase, Wilson was keen to emphasise that being an independent women’s side could be, “the way forward”, citing that the, “professional set-up” at London City Lionesses was one of the main aspects that attracted her to the club.
If playing for a team who are determined to showcase themselves as a pioneering force both on and off the pitch brings pressure, Wilson certainly does not show it.
“At the end of the day, I don’t feel that we have that pressure and we can go into every game almost as the underdogs. It’s exciting to be the only women’s team, alongside Durham Wildcats, in our league without men’s backing,” she says with a grin.
The melding of excitement and anticipation that has emerged since the formation of London City Lionesses certainly seems justified. They are, for instance, the only team in the FA Women’s Championship to be fully professional with access to private healthcare, nutritionists, and psychologists. But perhaps what is more telling is the way in which Wilson describes the foundations of the set-up, with the overriding consensus that, “The people at the top want the best for the players as people”.
With the Covid-19 pandemic cutting short the FA Women’s Championship, and anxious rumblings that the existence of sport as we know it– namely women’s sport, could be under threat, it was interesting to hear from Poppy how the club have personally reassured the players, with the team returning to training last week.
“They’re constantly keeping things hygienic and they have protocols to make everyone feel safe,” Poppy revealed. “It’s been a tough few months for everyone, and we all want to achieve and get on the pitch again.”
Although regular Covid-19 testing has become part of training , the team have wasted no time in returning to ‘normality’ by preparing for the upcoming 2020/21 season, with the newly announced London City Lionesses manager, Lisa Fallon looking to improve on last season’s campaign.
So, what next for Poppy? When questioned about her own ambitions she is reluctant to place too much pressure on herself. Instead, she talks with refreshing honesty as she looks to recapture the same freedom she played with at the beginning of her footballing journey.
“To be honest when people ask me, they expect: play for England and in the Women’s Super League, but for me I don’t want to put that pressure on myself. I just want to be the best I can be and play at the highest level I can, and that way I can enjoy it along the way. I have put too much pressure on myself over the years. Obviously, I want to play for England and in the Super League, but at the moment my goal is to be the best I can be. I’m in a really good place and Lisa the new manager has just come in. It just looks really exciting.”
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