Milestone moment for Rayner at the Blades
BEX Rayner will walk out into the glare of the Bramall Lane floodlights tonight for the 100th time in a Sheffield United shirt, excited by what the future holds for not only her generation of female footballers but the next one as well.
The 24-year-old has lived the footballer’s life since she was six – it is her ‘obsession’ as she calls it – yet in her first year as a professional it feels like the start of a whole new ball game.
For Sheffield United, for all the sadness and controversy that has haunted them this year, remain the county’s standard bearer in women’s football, stepping up to full-time status with their players as the rampant professionalisation of the Women’s Super League cascades down into the Championship.
“I feel like I’m at the beginning of my career with this being the first year as a professional, I feel like my career is just kicking-off and that I’m in a really good place with my football,” Rayner tells The Yorkshire Post ahead of tonight’s crucial game with fellow Championship strugglers Watford.
“We’ve stepped up our sessions to four pitch and three gym a week, compared to three and two last year. There’s a massive benefit to all of that, I’m a lot stronger and able to focus more on my technical ability and I’m really knuckling down on the little bits. I’ve worked so hard to get to this stage, it’s not been an easy journey for me.”
Born in Cleckheaton, that journey began with Bradford Park Avenue when she was five, and like many girls two decades ago – even 18 months ago – that meant playing in a boys team.
It wasn’t until she was eight and spotted by Leeds United scouts at a summer camp that she started training with girls, spending eight years in their centre of excellence.
The knock-on effect of the huge success of England’s Lionesses and the growth of the women’s game means girls as young as five can now join all-girls teams, a development applauded by Rayner.
“The Lionesses have done so much for us,” she says.
“The strength of this league, for instance. I won it when I was 18 with Doncaster Belles and since then the quality of players as it has gone more full-time has just got stronger. The younger ones coming through are physically so strong and that’s to do with facilities and having the gym and the equipment they need.
“Technically they’re better too because they get to watch more women’s games. All I watched when I was growing up was the Manchester United men’s team. Now these girls have the option to see so many more women’s games. If they can see a player who plays like them they can base themselves off that.”
Scores of impressionable young female footballers are expected at Bramall Lane tonight as United look to grow their fanbase over the next 11 days with three home games at the famous old stadium.
“We want to put a good performance on for those young girls, mainly to just show them where they can be. The sky’s the limit for girls now,” says Rayner, who despite upping the amount of hours she spends training, still clings to a part-time job of going into schools trying to get youngsters involved in football.
What would her advice be to those young girls taking their first steps in the game?
“Enjoy it, but expect the hard work along the way,” she offers.
“Watching football was the main thing for me, that and playing on the streets for hours and hours. I guess kids don’t do that nowadays but I was out every night playing football, at school I was playing at every break – I’m like a street footballer.
“So just play as much as you can. Obsession isn’t a bad thing.”
This is her second spell with United, her first coming when she was a teenager following an eye-opening baptism with Doncaster Rovers Belles in which the creative midfielder was playing in the WSL as a 16-year-old just three months after leaving the Leeds United academy.
“The ambition now is to get back into the WSL,” says Rayner, whose 100th appearance will be watched by family and friends. “I want to experience it when I’m maturer, older, knowing I can really make an impression in that league.”
To get closer to that she needs to help United move away from relegation trouble in the Championship. Beat bottom club Watford tonight at the start of a spell that includes visits from Reading and Crystal Palace over the next two Sundays, and they’ll take a big step towards that.
It would be a bright end to a dark period in the club’s history.
The long-serving and popular player Maddy Cusack died in September.
Manager Jonathan Morgan was sacked in February after news came to light of a relationship with a player at a former team.
Rayner said: “We want to move forward while not forgetting anything in the past. It’s been a tough season. We’ve come together through hard times and now we’re trying to push each other to finish the season as strong as we can.”