Young Gun: Izzy Fisher

Our Young Gun series gets to know the academy youngsters kicking off their careers at Sobha Realty Training Centre.

Izzy Fisher spoke to us recently, and here's what she had to say about her journey to Arsenal, making the step up to women's football, and more.

When I was younger, my brother joined our local football team and I’d come along to watch him train. It wasn’t long before I was asking my dad to let me join a team too and he’d check I was sure because it was against boys. I always liked to try and beat my brother at everything, but I might have taken this one a bit too far because now I’m here!

I played for a boys’ team for six months before I went in for a trial at West Ham at under-10s. I was there for two years and then moved to Tottenham, but I was playing for two other clubs at the same time: Colebrook Royals and Arsenal’s Player Development Programme. I was actually at Arsenal PDP for four years and it took three trials before I was accepted into the academy.

Back then, they still used letters to say whether you’d made it or not. I remember one of the times, Dad was still at work and I tried to wait until he was back to open it, but couldn’t hold off any more. When he got home, I told him that I hadn’t got in, that I’d had a cry, but that I’d be alright. That I’d try again. To have gone through that rejection and finally become an Arsenal player, it was the best thing ever.

I was in year 7 and obviously we’re not allowed our phones out in class, but I kept texting my dad asking if he’d got any messages. I had my phone under my blazer trying to hide it! When I got in the car after school, I was sure I hadn’t got in again but then we got a call from Elliot Allum, saying they wanted to start me in the academy. With the PDP squad we used to walk past the academy girls and say to ourselves “one day”. That day finally came.

It was a bit surreal when I finally did join the academy, because I’d reached the level I wanted to at my age. Arsenal was the best place to be.

One of my favourite Arsenal memories is still the Oakham tournament. The team stayed at a boarding school for a bit and played a lot of football. I think we won every year, so we always liked going! Oakham was a great bonding experience for everyone. I remember sunny days, all sitting together on the sidelines and our parents going to the supermarket to buy ice for everyone because we were literally melting. With our team, if someone scores, everyone scores. It’s a team effort and everyone is happy for everyone, and that hasn’t changed since we were little kids.

"Their vision is elite, the passing is crisp and smooth"

In terms of my football style, I’m quite a physical presence on the pitch and I’ve got a pretty powerful shot on me too. As a striker, my link-up play and holding up of the ball needs to be as good as possible.

This season, I’ve been on dual registration with Ipswich Town and Watford. Making the step up to senior women’s football, I could hold my own physically and technically, but it’s been a new experience. It’s helped me mature as a footballer. If you make a mistake at this level, it’s not a case of “oh don’t worry, it’s fine.” It’s a case of learning from it as soon as possible. I’d rather be told what I’m doing wrong than just being cuddled up in cotton wool because it’s a challenge.

At the beginning of this season, I had a grade three tear in my quad. It didn’t keep me out for that long - only for about four weeks - but it was at the beginning of the season and we’d all been given the opportunity to train with the first team. I’m sad that I didn’t get to experience that, but it is what it is! I had to carry on and managed to get fully fit as soon as possible.

With the first team at Sobha, it’s just a whole different level of football. I know it sounds silly, but there won’t be any messy passes or simple tap-ins. Their vision is elite, the passing is crisp and smooth, and even if they’re in a good position to score, if you’re in a better position, they’ll look to play you. It’s great experience to play with them and understand what you need to improve on to reach their level.

Playing with England throughout the youth groups has helped me develop too. I’ve been there since under-15 level and learning to play with girls I’m used to going up against at club level has been such a good experience. It’s the best of the best from each team and forces you to raise your game because you’re all in competition with each other. Even though we’re all in the same team, at the end of the day, there’s still so much competition for places.

I don’t like looking too far into the future and prefer to be in the present, taking each day as it comes to find new ways of playing and absorbing knowledge to grow as a footballer. So for the rest of this season, my main focus is regaining confidence and just becoming the best player I can be.