Girls on the Ball

The meteoric rise of Tottenham Hotspur Women in the women’s game has been nothing short of amazing. Since their historic promotion to the WSL in 2019, the club has gone from strength to strength. In their latest season, the club finished in 5th place of the Barclays Women’s Super League, sealing the clubs highest ever league placing in the women’s football pyramid.

With the club looking to build on a strong campaign last term, Spurs have moved stadium for the upcoming season, announcing that they will play their home matches at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road, bringing to an end their 3-year residency at Barnet’s ‘The Hive’ stadium.

The playing squad is also something that has been moved around ahead of this season with plenty of incomings and outgoings, most notably Rachel Williams, Angela Addison and Josie Green are the players leaving for pastures new with the latter bringing an end to a six-year spell with the club.

However, as alluded to in the title, plenty of new faces have come through the door at Hotspur Way this summer for Rehanne Skinner and her team, giving all areas of the squad some much needed depth.

Photo: Girls on the Ball

Jamaican international Drew Spence was the first through the training ground doors as the midfielder brought an end her glittering 14-year stay with Chelsea. Since starting out with the West London outfit in 2009, Spence made 238 appearances, scored 50 goals and left Emma Hayes’ side as the clubs longest serving player.

Spence’s honours list is impressive with the 29-year-old helping Chelsea win 11 major honours during her time at Kingsmeadow, as well as five Women’s Super League titles, three Women’s FA Cups, two Continental Cups and one Community Shield, Spence brings a huge wealth of winning experience to Rehanne Skinners side. Internationally, Spence switched allegiances from England to Jamaica in 2021, playing a vital part with her quality and experience in her country’s qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Photo: Girls on the Ball

Next in was attacking player Ellie Brazil. Brazil adds forward strength to the squad arriving at N17 after four years with Brighton and Hove Albion in which she clocked up 60 league appearances for the club while finishing as the top scorer for the Seagulls in 2018/19.

Before her stint on the South coast, Brazil spent time in Italy and with Fiorentina during the 2017-18 season making 17 appearances with 3 of those being in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Internationally, Brazil has been capped in five different age groups for England from Under-17 to Under-23, with her most recent action being as part of the Lionesses U-23 squad of April this year.

Experienced midfielder, Romana Petzelberger was signing number 3 for Spurs, joining from fellow WSL side Aston Villa. She made the move to England in 2020, appearing 30 times and notching up 2 goals for the Villains.

Prior to making the move to the British shores, Petzelberger played in her native Germany, with the 29-year-old enjoying spells at Wattenschied 09, SC 07 Bad Neuenahr and Bayer Leverkusen. After departing Leverkusen in 2017, she joined her hometown club SGS Essen where she spent three seasons. There she helped the club reach the DFB Cup final before moving to the WSL.

Petzelberger has represented Germany in 3 different age groups, from U-17s level to U-20, along being named as part of the Germany squad for the Arnold Clark Cup in February 2022.

Spurs added further depth to their attacking options with the addition of 22-year-old Polish international Nikola Karczewska. Top scorer last season with 10 goals for her previous employers FC Fleury Karczewska helped the French outfit to their highest ever finish in the Division 1 Feminine.

Before to her move to France, Karczewska spent two seasons with Gornik Leczna in her home nation, helping the club clinch the Ekstraliga title in 2019/20 and qualify for the Champions League, in which she registered three assists in seven appearances the following season in the European competition.

Defensive reinforcements were next on the agenda and Amy Turner was seen to fit the criteria and became signing number five in N17. Turner joined from Orlando Pride where she made 19 appearances during her year in the United States.

Turner she spent three seasons at fellow WSL side, Manchester United before moving to the NWSL, in which she racked up 67 appearances for the Red Devils and scored twice. Turner was an integral part of the squad that earned promotion to the WSL in 2018/19.

Turner made her professional debut at the age of 16 when she took to the field for Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2011. She adds Leeds United, Sheffield United, Notts County and Liverpool to her impressive CV. On the international stage, Turner has been capped four times by the Lionesses, with her first cap coming in March 2015 when she was subbed off the bench against Austria.

The sixth signing of the summer for Spurs was 28-year-old Welsh international midfielder Angharad James who, like Turner, joins from Orlando Pride after making 11 appearances for the NWSL outfit.

The midfielder started out for North-London rivals Arsenal, where she made her professional debut in the Champions League in October 2011. Bristol City came calling for her services in 2012 and where James made a stellar impact for the Robins during the 2012 WSL season, helping the team reach the final of the FA Women’s Cup.

James then enjoyed spells at Notts County, Yeovil Town, Everton and Reading before bringing to end a decade of WSL service in 2021 with a move to North Carolina Courage, where she registered 17 appearances before moving to Orlando Pride. James is vastly experienced on the international stage with 97 caps for Wales with individual honours to her name. James was named the Wales Women’s Player of the Year back in 2017 and scooped the Young Player of the Year awards in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Spurs weren’t done there and soon had a seventh summer signing, Celin Bizet Ildhusøy became the latest new recruit, joining from Paris Saint-Germain. Having signed a deal until 2025, Ildhusøy arrives in N17 after a year with PSG, as they finished runners up in Division 1 Feminine last season. The 20 year old made her professional debut at just 14 years of age in her homeland, Norway, for Skedsmo in the Norwegian third tier. In 2017, she made the move to the top flight and Valerenga where she spent four seasons, making 69 appearances, scoring 8 goals and registering 2 assists. In 2020, she helped the Toppserien club clinch a memorable League and Norwegian Women’s Cup double. On the international front, she has collected eight caps for Norway, with her most recent being at the UEFA Women’s Euro’s this summer!

All of these signings bring a blend of both experience and youth, along with huge potential to Rehanne Skinners side as the club looks to build on a historic 2021/22 WSL campaign Spurs will kick-off the season in style against Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 10th September.