Rianna’s hectic six months
Wexford woman adjusting to new life as professional
SIX MONTHS can go past in the blink of an eye. One minute it’s November and Christmas is coming up; suddenly it’s spring, the grass needs cutting again, the evenings get a little brighter, and football is, usually, back in Ferrycarrig Park.
For most of us those six months just go by, and one day meanders into another. We go about our daily lives, do our jobs, keep ourselves busy.
Rianna Jarrett’s last six months have been a little different than most.
In that time the Wexford woman has won the National Cup final with her team-mates, signed a professional contract with Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League, scored on her debut and turned herself into a regular starter for the Irish national team.
Most were confident that the FAI Women’s National Cup final was going to be Jarrett’s last game for Youths, for now anyway, but she wasn’t looking at it that way herself.
‘There’s no better experience than winning a cup final,’ she explained. ‘The beauty of the cup is that anyone can win it. To win it two years in a row, with your family, in your national stadium, live on TV, is something I can’t describe.
‘The FAI Cup final is the date that everyone has their eyes on at the start of the season. Of course the league is the main focus, but everyone wants to play in the Aviva at the end of the season.
‘We actually call it ‘The Aviva Cup’, but obviously at that time I had no idea that it would be my last game in a Wexford Youths jersey, for the time being anyway.’
A cracking performance for her country against Montenegro left the eyes of European football looking Jarrett’s way, however, a knee injury sustained in the Cup final saw her miss the Greece game.
She explained that Brighton’s interest didn’t wane all the same.
‘So I’d been thinking for a while that I wanted to see if I could get an opportunity to play at a higher level,’ Rianna admitted.
‘For the last few years my main focus was returning to play and making sure that I stayed on the pitch.
‘From there it was about getting fitter and stronger and showing what I can do here in Ireland, and I felt I gave a good account of myself the last two seasons.
‘I linked up with an agency in SISU Sports Management, who also represent Louise Quinn, and they set up a few opportunities for me.
‘I was due to go on trial with Brighton and a few other possibilities across Europe in November once the season had finished, but unfortunately I hyper-extended my knee in the cup final which put me out of the European qualifier against Greece so [I] had to cancel the trials.
‘Luckily enough I was able to go on trial with Brighton [in] early
January and signed on the dotted line the last day of the January transfer window.’
Having, no doubt, dreamed of the moment she signed a professional contract, it still turned into a whirlwind for Jarrett when it did finally happen, as she explained.
‘It was crazy, I was in work on the Tuesday, agreed to accept the offer, and then flew to Brighton on the Thursday to do my medical, sign the contract and do some media duties as well.
‘Literally walked into work that Tuesday not knowing it was going to be my last day in Equifax, it all happened so fast.
‘I signed on the Thursday and they let me fly back to Ireland on the Friday to pack up and get everything sorted before moving over properly that Monday, 27th January, then.
‘Because it all happened so fast, I also didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to the Youths girls which I do regret, but I’m still in contact with a lot of them which is great, and obviously they’re all delighted for me.’
While Jarrett hasn’t had much time to settle into her new surroundings, there was plenty to get used to. New city, new training schedule, but Rianna said that she has been able to enjoy it all so far.
‘[I’ve] only been over there a couple of weeks as we were on international duty the start of March but I’m enjoying Brighton so far, both the club and the area itself.
‘I’m living in a place called Saltdean which is right by the sea front and only 20 minutes on the bus to Brighton Pier which is nice.
‘Obviously being in a full-time environment is new to me and completely different. It’s a breath of fresh air not having to work eight hours a day Monday to Friday and train on top of that as well. I’m enjoying my down time.
‘But obviously from being out of season since November, and picking up the knock that put me out for a few weeks, I was off the mark fitness and sharpness wise when I first moved over, so we’ve been working on that and I was slowly finding my feet before the international break.’
Easing back into things meant Jarrett only got one game under her belt, an FA Cup fifth round tie against Crystal Palace at Hayes Lane. She duly delivered with a brace of goals in a 3-0 win to see Brighton into a quarter-final tie with Birmingham.
‘I couldn’t have asked for a better debut than the Palace game, was delighted to get the nod from our manager Hope [Powell] to start the cup game, but was obviously over the moon to crown it off with two goals and a win.
‘Especially my first goal was a strike from outside of the box which doesn’t happen too often (laughs)!
‘For me it was my first game of any sort since the cup final [at] the start of November so I was delighted to be back out there, just looking to build on from that now once we can return.’
After smashing two past Palace, Jarrett was back on international duty just before the suspension hit football at home and in the U.K., starting both games up top in the green jersey.
‘The six points that we picked up in March against Greece and Montenegro have put us in a great position in the group, but we know we’ve a lot more to do.
‘From the day we saw the draw for the group our main focus was qualifying for England, and nothing has changed there.
‘We’ve three massive games remaining, with the home and away fixtures against Germany as well as the away game against Ukraine which is going to be massive as Germany are the runaway leaders in the group so far, so we need a positive result away to Ukraine.’
Rianna’s contract hasn’t been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, but she admitted she’s still unsure about what the future holds, such is the life living on short-term professional contracts in women’s football.
‘Obviously everyone is unsure as to what is happening in all aspects of life at the minute with Covid-19, but in terms of Brighton I’m a Brighton player until the end of the season whenever that may be.
‘I signed a six-month contract and the plan was to have talks at the end of the season to see where we lie then, and nothing has changed on that front apart from we don’t know when the league will resume or end.’
Whenever football does return, given the journey Rianna Jarrett has been on, not just the last six months but really the last decade, there will be no real surprise if she goes from strength to strength, both with club and country.