Young Gun: Sophie Harwood

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

Sophie Harwood spoke to us recently, and here's what she had to say about recovering from injury, feeling at home here and more.

I've absolutely loved my first few months playing at Arsenal. When I first joined the club, I was still in the process of rehabbing an injury and hadn’t played a football match for nine months. I had the U17 World Cup in my sights during my recovery and I made it back just in time. In fact, my first minutes back were at the World Cup!

Football is my life so not being able to play for nine months was definitely the hardest thing I've had to go through. I love the game so when it’s taken away, it really tests your resilience and how mentally strong you are. I feel like I came out the other side even better and even stronger, so I see that as all part of the journey. It's just about trusting the process.

The girls and all of the staff here are so amazing and they’ve made me feel at home immediately. I’ve already made some close friends who have supported me across these first few months at Arsenal. Part of what’s so good about this team is that we’re all friends on and off the pitch and that closeness shows with our performances. We link up so well.

I had a great seven years at Southampton, but Arsenal was an offer I couldn’t say no to. The history of the club when it comes to women’s football is just amazing but I also made this change because of the player development provided here. It’s incredible.

I'm a very attacking full-back, who loves to drive forward and contribute to the team in terms of goals and assists. But I love defending too! I take pride in my 1v1s and I’ll stop at nothing to win back the ball. I’m relatively new to the position as I grew up mostly playing in midfield, so my focus over the past few seasons has been on becoming as well-rounded full-back as I can be.

Some of my favourite Arsenal moments so far have been getting my first couple of assists for the club, helping the team win and beating Manchester United in the Cup. It’s always a tough game against United but all the girls put in a shift and we played some really good football that showed in the result.

"Both the Lionesses and Arsenal are incredibly high-performing, so that drives me on"

Away from Arsenal, the U17 World Cup was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Going over to the Dominican Republic and playing against some top nations from across the world with different styles of play was a great learning experience. To get to play with so many Arsenal players too was amazing as we already had that team chemistry. It was mentally challenging to not get as far as we’d hoped but we’re all proud of the team’s achievement and look back on the tournament as a massively positive experience.

And of course, to do it with so many Arsenal players as well, obviously already having that chemistry from the Arsenal team and transferring out to England, I think that was great, but of course, it was again, mentally challenging, not getting as far as we hoped. But I think we should still be proud of our achievements and reflect on it as a positive experience.

Since then, I’ve had my first call-up to the England U19s camp and I’ve really enjoyed the change so far. It’s a good transition between the age groups and there are so many talented players to learn from. It’s also more physical so I want to keep pushing at this level now.

There are interesting similarities and differences between international football and academy football. My time with the Lionesses is often more obviously competitive because we’re playing knockout, tournament football. At Arsenal, we obviously still want the right result, but 100% of our focus is on our performance. Both environments are incredibly high-performing so that drives me on.

Constant progression is always what I’m aiming towards but this season specifically, I'm hoping to make a senior team debut. When we train at Sobha Realty Training Centre, the focus and professionalism of everyone there is a fantastic example for us. Being around players you’ve looked up to for so long is inspiring and helps raise your own level. It’s just a case of putting in the work every single day to try and improve myself, to be in the best position for any opportunities that may arise.