COUNT ON ME
Ex-accountant Vaila’s ready to do a number on Portugal
The Scotland central defender has gone from Times Square in Manhattan to the time of her life with Anna Signeul’s squad at the Euro Championships.
Barsley, 29, turned her back on accountancy firm Ernst & Young, whose offices are at the heart of Broadway and Seventh, to make a go at the professional game.
The English- born defender, whose mum was born in Shetland, only made her senior breakthrough in April but will be a key part of Signeul’s side tonight in the make-or-break clash with Portugal in Rotterdam.
After a 6- 0 thumping against England in the Group D opener in Utrecht, Barsley might need her old calculator to plot a course to the last eight if they fail to defeat Cristiano Ronaldo’s compatriots in the Sparta Stadion.
She graduated in accountancy from St John’s University in New York and played semi-pro for the Long Island Rough Riders but a phone call out the blue from an old friend five years ago set her on a path in the professional game she has never regretted.
Barsley said: “I was working with Ernst & Young for about a year and a friend called and asked if I’d turn out for her Irish team, Peamount United, in a 10- day Champions League qualifying group in Bosnia.
“I realised I missed football too much so I went to my employers and asked for a leave of absence.
“They agreed and gave me a year but after that 12 months it was terminated. However, they said I’m more than welcome to go back any time.
“I l ived with a couple of room-mates in Queens, in at work for eight in the morning, done at five or six on a nice day then out to meet friends for dinner. It was a very different lifestyle to now.
“However, I felt I’d had my time in America after six-and-a-half years. I love football, it’s all I’ve wanted to do.
“I’m now being paid a lot less than before but loving life. You can’t play football forever so I will be able to have the lifestyle that comes with a career in accountancy afterwards.” England’s loss is Scotland’s gain. Barsley, from Norfolk, represented her country of birth at Under-17 level but turned her back on them because she felt a square peg in a round hole.
Scotland had been aware of her eligibility but they began to take greater notice when national team-mate Fiona Brown joined her at top Swedish side Eskilstuna.
Barsley, who is club captain, added: “I didn’t enjoy my England experience. I was from a small village and there were a lot of girls from Manchester, Liverpool and London who were very different from me, a country person.
“I didn’ t f it in with the personalities. The most amazing thing about joining the Scotland team is the girls are so relaxed and humble.
“When Fiona joined my team in Sweden she told me: ‘Hang on, I’ve just heard you can play for Scotland,’ and I told her they knew I existed.
“Until I got a call-up I didn’t want to get too excited because I’m 29. It is late in my career to be called up for a national team.
“We were disappointed with aspects of our performance against England but we’ve looked at our mistakes and we’re good to go for Portugal.”
Scotland boss Signeul has warned her team to be wary of the threat of skipper Claudia Neto, Portuguese women’s answer to a certain Real Madrid superstar.
Signeul said: “She is their Ronaldo. She also wears No.7 and plays at the top of the diamond or as a lone striker.
“We hugely respect her. She was the best player last year in the Swedish league with Linkopings, who won the title. She’s so versatile.
“I expect the girls to react positively after the England loss.”