Aston Villa Ladies goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck is able to reintroduce herself after two life-changing years.
The 25-year-old has returned to the WSL from Barcelona this summer season, and after recovering from an ischaemic stroke, is hoping {that a} new begin will help her return to her greatest ranges.
In an unique interview with Sky Sports activities, Roebuck mentioned: “Towards the back end of last season, I wanted to come home, not because anything was wrong, but I wanted to come back to the WSL to challenge myself, to hopefully get back playing and push myself in that aspect.
“I cherished each minute at Barcelona, it was a fully unbelievable expertise and I haven’t got a nasty phrase to say about it, however football-wise, I knew that I wanted to make a change with a view to get again to me and my stage. I am nonetheless solely younger, though I really feel fairly previous.
“There’s a great project going on here and the club’s really backing the women’s team. It felt like a really nice fit. The manager [Natalia Arroyo] is Spanish as well, so I still had a little bit of that and I think our visions aligned.”
Roebuck’s return to England will hopefully mark the tip of a chapter that examined her psychological and bodily resilience.
The 25-year-old suffered her stroke firstly of the 2023/24 season whereas she was at Manchester Metropolis, which left her needing intensive restoration and leaving her off the pitch for 19 months.
It has helped Roebuck to reassess her priorities and never solely needing to adapt to a brand new lifestyle after a significant well being incident, however it’s also fuelling her WSL return.
“It’s been a really difficult time, to say the least,” the goalkeeper mentioned. “Maybe looking back a year ago, football wasn’t necessarily a priority and rightly so. There were many other things that were a lot more important.
“Now I am in a spot the place I am snug with all of that. It took some adjusting, I’ve needed to learn to be a brand new model of myself, study alternative ways to prioritise my well being and adapt to what I have been dealt as a result of that is the fact of it. I am making an attempt to maneuver on and make the very best out of a reasonably unhealthy state of affairs, however that is life, issues occur.
“Now I’m looking to put that behind me and take the lessons that I’ve learned from that experience, hopefully build on them and focus on playing football.
Ellie Roebuck spent eight years in Man Metropolis’s first crew, having come by means of the membership’s academy
“I’ve learned a lot in terms of resilience and the body is such a powerful thing. I don’t want to say it’s a comeback, because it’s not necessarily something that I could have done anything about, but it adds fuel the fire that’s always been burning in the background to get back there. I believe in myself.”
Transferring to a brand new membership and nation whereas recovering from a stroke was arguably not on Roebuck’s to-do listing, however she had already dedicated to becoming a member of Barcelona, a transfer she describes as ‘daring’.
She made only a handful of appearances in her season in Spain – together with her return to motion in December 2024 – however credit the transfer with instructing her that she will be able to do something she units her thoughts to.
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Highlights from the WSL match between Aston Villa and Brighton on the ultimate day of the 2024/25 season
“I’m really proud of myself for taking that step,” she mentioned. “People from the outside are always going to have their opinions about what’s right and wrong, whether I should have gone somewhere that was easier to play or these types of things.
“However I signed with Barcelona earlier than I might had the stroke, so it was already within the motions of taking place. That was my intention, not solely to return again after having a stroke, however to return again at the very best crew on this planet.
Ellie Roebuck spent a yr at Barcelona earlier than returning to the WSL
“Nobody can say they’ve ever done that before or even give that a shot. For me, it was something I wanted to do and something I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of doing. That really set the bar for me. I know that I’m limitless within that now.
“To go and practice day in, day trip and take pictures from the very best gamers on this planet, I do know that I took myself to the utmost and I would not have had it another manner.
“It’s a scary thing coming back to play football after not playing for six months, throwing your head at people’s feet and to do that there, it gave me the confidence that I can do that anywhere.”
Now, she is going to use that to assist Aston Villa this season. It was a turbulent marketing campaign final yr, seeing three managers – together with Shaun Goater as interim coach – because the membership appeared to keep away from a relegation battle.
That was achieved with 5 WSL wins on the finish of the marketing campaign underneath new boss Natalia Arroyo, ultimately ending sixth. This season will probably be earmarked to construct additional on that success with Arroyo having a full pre-season to form her squad.
“There’s a good mix of seniority and experience and some really exciting young talent,” Roebuck mentioned of her new team-mates.
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In one among their greatest outcomes of the season, Aston Villa beat Arsenal 5-2 within the WSL. Watch free match highlights
“They’ve strengthened as well, we’ve brought players from abroad in with experience, some even coming back from the Euros, that adds quality. There’s always transition periods within clubs and I think now it seems to be in a good place.
“There is a actually beautiful crew spirit. I’ve felt actually welcome and it has been a pleasure to be part of up to now.
“This year, it’s about looking internally and achieving from within. Aston Villa put on an amazing run of games towards the back end of last season and it’s something that I noticed from the outside.
“If you will get that momentum to push and make life tough for the large groups, but in addition ensuring you are constant in opposition to the groups that perhaps aren’t difficult, you by no means know the place you are going to find yourself.
“I would like to win something with this football club for sure.”
Sky to indicate 90 per cent of all WSL video games from 2025/26
Sky Sports activities will probably be embarking on a brand new five-year partnership with the WSL, exhibiting 90 per cent of all Ladies’s Tremendous League matches from the 2025/26 season. Sky Sports activities will present 118 stay video games, together with 78 solely
From this season, most Ladies’s Tremendous League matches will kick-off at 12pm on Sundays – topic to stadium availability – giving followers an everyday and accessible viewing window.
Sky Sports activities will broadcast matches concurrently throughout channels, together with Sky Sports activities Predominant Occasion, Sky Sports activities+ and the Sky Sports activities app, providing larger selection and visibility.
