From big game glory to a day at the office – Wales goalkeeper Laura takes it all in her stride
After her stellar performance in goal against England on Friday, Welsh football’s new hero Laura O’Sullivan was declared Player of the Match and received a touching message from a football legend. She told Katie Sands about life in the spotlight
I think it’s taken a few days to sink in. We are a small nation and we are building. It’s all about building towards the future and I think getting a result like that shows that we can do this
THIS time last week, Laura O’Sullivan was preparing for one of the biggest games of her career.
The Wales Women’s goalkeeper, along with her team-mates, was hopeful for a smooth display against England Women last Friday night as part of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Wales were top of the group going into the game, but with England ranked second in the world just behind the USA – it was not lost on the Wales camp just how big a task was in front of them.
Superbly, team manager Jayne Ludlow’s side managed to come away from the showdown match against the old enemy with a goalless draw.
Away from home. Against a team ranked 32 places higher than them.
It has taken a few days for the result to sink in for O’Sullivan, who hails from Rumney, Cardiff, and was heavily praised for keeping the Lionesses at bay in what was new England Women’s coach Phil Neville’s first home game in charge.
After the highs of being named Player of the Match following a stellar shift on Friday, O’Sullivan has spoken about how boos from England fans pushed her on, the congratulatory message from a Wales football legend – and how she went straight back to reality on Monday morning as she returned to her fulltime office job.
On the result, the 26-year-old goalkeeper said: “It was much better [than expected]. You’ve got to respect them as a team. They are second in the world and they are there for a reason
“In any sport, England and Wales is always massive and the publicity around it is always bigger.
“You’ve kind of just got to switch off from it. You just hope it goes your way. It was very intense.
“But I think a lot of the adrenaline takes you through it. You kind of stay focused.
“The support and the response after has been so overwhelming. It’s really surreal.
“A few of us were like, ‘did that actually just happen?’
“I think it’s taken a few days to sink in. We are a small nation and we are building. It’s all about building towards the future and I think getting a result like that shows that we can do this. It’s showing how far we’re coming.”
The jubilant scenes of players and FAW staff celebrating after the result were enough to make any football fan smile.
And Jayne Ludlow was no exception.
O’Sullivan said: “To bring the team through something like that, people who know Jayne know how passionate she is. With that game as well, emotions were high. Getting results like that was just massive for her.
“You can see the passion. We have so much passion in this team. She shows it a lot. She wants it for the whole of the country.”
Former Yeovil Town player O’Sullivan admits she didn’t even realise she had been awarded Player of the Match until she got back to the changing rooms.
“I didn’t even know I had it! Everything was so overwhelming.
“Emotions started to kick in then. It was quite surreal. I couldn’t have been more honoured to have that.”
The qualifier was played in front of a crowd of more than 25,000 vocal fans in Southampton - a hefty increase on what O’Sullivan is used to.
“It was difficult to hear everything in there. You just focus. I think that was the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in [front of ].
“You have just got to take the noise out of it.”
On boos from England fans, she said: “You know you’re doing something right because you’re frustrating the team.
“I think having those results, it’s just massive for us.
“Some people may say why are you celebrating like you’ve won the World Cup, to us it just shows the passion in the team.
“It means a lot to us, it’s just showing the pride that we have and it’s what we wanted and it’s starting to show now.
“We want to be up there with the big teams. It’s just the passion and the vibe. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s like a family away from home.
“I think we have had a few results against England that have never really gone our way, we were up against a team that won their last three games. There’s that pressure, it was massive for us.
“You appreciate getting the opportunity to put the red shirt on, or in my case different colours.”
Asked how she spent her weekend, she said: “A lot of recovery! I felt like I’d been hit by a bus!
“You’ve just got to take the time to recover. It’s just switching off and relaxing.
“We’ve all had a good look at the game. I’ve watched it back. I do a lot of debrief analysis.
“It’s pretty different watching it! I was more nervous watching it! You’re looking at it differently.
“I can be quite harsh on myself sometimes.
“Every game, the situation is always different.
“You just try to be better every game. You just focus on the one that’s coming towards you!”
And after her colossal shift and work-rate in keeping a clean slate, O’Sullivan was pleased to receive a message from one of Welsh football’s greats.
“I had a nice message from Neville Southall. He was just saying ‘you played a great game’. But it means a lot coming from someone who was big in the game back in the day.”
O’Sullivan’s in-form display came after she got into football relatively late – just seven years ago.
“There weren’t many opportunities in school or college to play football. There wasn’t any local football teams around by me. If there was anything, you had to travel.”
When she joined up with Cardiff City Ladies aged 19, she initially wanted to be an outfield player.
“I ended up being a defender for quite a while.”
In 2015, she committed to goalkeeping and got into the Wales squad a year later.
“We’d gone up a league. I just wanted to stick to it then. This is my position. I wanted to do well at it.”
And while her evenings and weekends are consumed by football, the Cyncoed Ladies player’s day job sees her work as a quality administrator for training provider t2 Apprenticeships - where she received a warm welcome on Monday morning.
“It was nice to go in and everyone was really supportive and applauding. It was just back to reality. I walked through the door and they applauded me as I walked in.
“It can be tiring. You do your 9-5 and training starts at 6pm. It does work out.
“They are really supportive. I got into the squad two years ago.
“I got the call on the Sunday and I had to work on the Monday! I spoke to a manager and they said ‘go for it’. They let me go just like that.
“It’s really heartwarming to know they let me go and play in these camps.”