Ferns hopeful makes instant

Goalkeeper Lily Alfeld is still searching for her first international cap, but she’s putting her hand up higher than ever in Oz.

WHEN Perth Glory coach Alex Epakis called and asked Lily Alfeld to drop everything and move to Western Australia to play in the W-League, she didn’t have to think for long before saying yes.

It had been nearly three years since she had returned home after four years in the college system in the United States, and she had been looking for an opportunity to further her football career without having much luck.

Most recently, she had been keeping track of the Wellington Phoenix’s push for a place in the Australian women’s competition, but when their hopes were crushed in November, she – like many others in New Zealand – had resigned herself to a summer break and a fresh start in the new year.

‘‘There had been the discussion around the Phoenix, so we’re all kind of hanging on, waiting to hear about that,’’ Alfeld said.

‘‘When it was finally announced that it wouldn’t go ahead, I think we all thought that was it, that there wasn’t going to be an opportunity to come over. So when I did get the call from Alex, it was a bit of a no-brainer

. . . I’d been waiting for an opportunity for this for the last few years, so as soon as it came through, I said I’d love to.’’

Since returning from

Louisiana State University in 2018, Alfeld had been part of NZ Football’s Future Ferns

Domestic Programme – a bridge between the domestic game and professional leagues overseas.

A couple of other players involved in that programme – Football Ferns defender Claudia Bunge and forward Paige Satchell – had secured W-League contracts despite the Phoenix’s hopes being extinguished by Football Australia – as had senior players Annalie Longo and Olivia Chance.

But it looked like that would be that, until Epakis got the Glory job in mid-November, had a chat with Ferns coach Tom Sermanni, who he knew from Sydney, and set his sights on a trio of promising Kiwis – midfielder Malia Steinmetz, defender Liz Anton, and goalkeeper Alfeld.

They’re now all living together in Perth, where they completed 14 days of quarantine at their new home just prior to Christmas, and have all started in the Glory’s first two matches, a pair of losses to Adelaide United.

Alfeld is the only one of the three – and the only one of the seven Kiwis in the W-League this season – not to have played for the Ferns, though she did go with the team to the Cyprus Cup in 2014, the same year she was the country’s first-choice keeper at the Fifa Under-20 Women’s

‘Having football as my only job at the moment has been great and hopefully it will set me up to push for that Ferns spot.’ LILY ALFELD, LEFT (GETTY IMAGES)

World Cup in Canada, as well as to China at the end of 2019.

‘‘I thought I’d just keep trying to make the Ferns from New Zealand, so it’s been a bit of an adjustment. The fact is, I can now probably use this as a way into the Ferns, if I put my hand up and say pick me.

‘‘It’s been a crazy month, going from working full time and training on the side to being able to focus mostly on training ... hopefully it will set me up to push for that Ferns spot.’’

Alfeld has made a strong start to life in Perth, even though the Glory are yet to earn a point and she is yet to keep a clean sheet, with her efforts in goal earning her save of the week honours two weeks in a row.

Playing in a professional environment will only help her chances of making the Ferns, though Sermanni has plenty of goalkeeping options, including Erin Nayler, who has been the team’s No 1 since 2013; Vic

Esson, who has been a regular starter in Norway’s Toppserien the past two seasons; and 19-year-old Anna Leat, who made her Ferns debut as a 15-year-old in 2017 and is tipped for big things.

Alfeld’s big break at Perth has been a reward for her perseverance, in particular during her time at LSU, where she was a regular starter in her first year, but only played 30 minutes over the next three.

‘‘I had to think, do I transfer? Do I come back to New Zealand? But in the end I didn’t want to back down from that challenge, so I stayed and gave it a go.

‘‘It didn’t end up working out in the end, but I still had good training and that kept me ticking over.’’

While a few of Alfeld’s teammates from the under-20 World Cup in 2014 have kicked on – most notably Football Ferns regulars CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, and Meikayla Moore – there are many who have settled for playing Kiwi club football or who have given the game away entirely. As she forges forward in Perth, she’s fuelled by the taste she got at the end of 2019 in China, when she made the Ferns’ squad alongside Nayler and Esson, while Leat was unavailable.

‘‘I think it’s only increased my hunger,’’ Alfeld said. ‘‘When I got that chance in China, it reminded me why I was doing this and how much I wanted it.

‘‘It’s so enjoyable when you go away and it’s such professional environment and you’re training with such high-quality players.

‘‘It was a great experience and definitely one I’m going to keep pushing for.’’

The Glory are in action today, when they play Canberra United, who have Satchell – a team-mate of Alfeld’s as recently as November – among their number.