Allison relishing the prospect of calling Manchester court home
Imogen Allison is relishing the prospect of playing in front of the fierce Manchester Thunder crowd - but this time as a home player.
The Halifax native joined the four-time Netball Super League champions after seven years with Team Bath, and will now play alongside England teammates Nat Metcalf and Amy Carter in the midcourt.
Allison will have several family members in attendance as they cross the Pennines to cheer on the 24-year-old. She said: “I always used to love playing at Thunder, even as the away team because of the atmosphere. Although it wasn't for me, it was still great to be a part of it, it is really fun.
“So, I am looking forward to them being on my side this time and cheering us on. It is so loud. It really spurs you on when you're playing.
"It won’t be a quiet one from my family. Six of them have got season tickets and then the rest will get tickets too.”
Allison’s feet have barely touched down in Manchester after a whirlwind few weeks with England.
The Vitality Roses were runners-up in the Nations Cup to world champions Australia having played against South Africa before Christmas. Thunder kick off their Netball Super League season against top-four rivals London Pulse at the Season Opener in Nottingham on
February 17.
For Allison, the move to Manchester was prompted by a desire to challenge herself.
She added: “I think I was just looking for a new experience, something different.
“I feel like I was in a place where I wanted to keep progressing my netball and keep getting input from different coaches and playing with different people because learning from different people is huge for me.
“Thunder has always been such a huge club in terms of culture and drive and, wanting to win, and I think they're all things that I really buy into.
I'm obviously a hugely competitive person, all of us are and coming into the Thunder environment, there's just so much drive to be better and train hard and build together as a squad and I really valued that.”
Allison is now part of one of the Super League’s leading teams and alongside a host of England stars, the team also has a South African thread running through it.
Defender Shadine van der Merwe is returning after two injury-hit seasons and at the opposite end of the court is her Proteas teammate Elmerè van der Berg.
She added: “I'm really excited to be playing alongside
Nat and Amy with the comfortability of the international season.
“But then I’m also super excited to play with Elmerè, she's now my new housemate and we're having a lot of fun.
“And I've watched her on the international stage before and know how incredible she can be so I'm really looking forward to playing with her and feeding her in the circle.
“It's been a bit of a rollercoaster moving up to be honest, I've only just settled in Manchester, after the international season.
“It's just completely different, but it is so nice to be close to home and see my family a bit more.”
The Season Opener marks the start of the 2024 Netball Super League season and takes place on 17 February. For tickets go to the England Netball website