Royal Blue Mersey Exclusive Interview with Everton Ladies’ Chloe Kelly

Everton Ladies have answered our footballing prayers and signed Chloe Kelly until the summer of 2020. The forward was on loan from Arsenal this season and has found the back of the net 7 times so far. Her former teammate at Arsenal, fullback Taylor Hinds, has also joined the Blue Girls until the summer of 2019.

Kelly is busy preparing for the U-20’s World Cup with England and starred in Everton’s unfortunate loss over the weekend against Chelsea, but still took time out to discuss with us how thrilled she is to officially become a Blue.

Congrats on signing a deal with Everton! You said that this was an easy decision for you. What is it about Everton that makes you feel so at home?

Yes, it was definitely easy for me to choose Everton, I have now had 2 loan spells here, both which I felt welcomed to the club by the staff and players and made me enjoy my time here so far and I knew this was the place I wanted to be playing my football.

Are you looking at this as a new beginning and if so what are your personal goals for the rest of the season?

Yes of course it will be a new beginning for me but nothing changes In terms of football, I need to keep working hard to get minutes on the pitch and now prove myself in the team and the league and hope for more goals for myself this season and with some more wins.

Did you have any say in getting your former Arsenal teammate Taylor Hinds signed as well or was that purely a coincidence? What can you tell us about her and what she can add to the Everton Ladies?

I did speak to Taylor and told her that this was a great club but, no, that’s not my say. I think it’s a great move for her to come to this young team. She will fit right in and I’m looking forward to being on the pitch with her again. She’s an attacking minded fullback, she likes to get forward and can play off both feet which is very impressive & has great delivery into the box which will be great for us with the likes of Courtney [Sweetman-Kirk] & myself in there to get on the end of it.

You interviewed Taylor Hinds and did a great job. Any desire to get into broadcasting eventually like Alex Scott and other players are doing now?

Yes, I really enjoyed that. Actually it was the first time doing something like that, but yes, definitely something I would like to get into as it was very enjoyable. We will see.

You are Everton’s top goalscorer and scored a hat-trick against Oxford. What’s the most important component to scoring a goal?

I would just say composure in and around the box, it’s so when the pressure is high and just picking what you are going to do and sticking with it really.

What’s your favorite goal this season?

I did like the 3rd against Oxford to cap off my hat-trick, that was special to me being my first senior one.

You have a very good sense of humor. Is that important in football?

Yeah I like to have a laugh, it’s about really the enjoyment of it, you can’t always be really serious. I think there’s a lot of us [on Everton], really, that like a laugh and when it’s not going too well this is very important.

Everton Ladies are preparing for a very high profile game against WSL champs Chelsea Ladies, which will be on BBC. How is the team preparing? Any different from any ordinary game?

Yes, we have had a strong week of training working hard to ensure we are ready for the game. I don’t think we prepare any different. All games are as important as each other no matter who you are playing.

Everton played Chelsea in a preseason game in September and lost 2-1. How has the team progressed since then?

I think then we were a very new group of players getting to know how each other’s play, and also just starting full time, so a lot of work has gone on the training pitch. We are definitely a stronger team than when we played them last.

How do you fit in preparations for your club and for the World Cup with the England U-20s?

Obviously I’m with Everton on a more day to day basis but it’s trying to work on myself, how I can be in a better place come August ready for the World Cup and I’m trying to do that in my training and matches. But also working hard when I go on camps to earn the chance to play in the World Cup as nothing is just given; you have to prove yourself.

Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Everton is about to play Bristol again in the SSE Womens FA Cup in early February. How does the team view Cup games?

I think a game’s a game. You want to win them all no matter if it’s a friendly or a FA cup game. So definitely we will go into that game looking for a win, and hopefully as we did in the Continental Cup, get another good Cup run under our belt and get as far as we can

Are you going to watch the NFL’s Super Bowl coming up or could you care less about what the Americans call football?

I would love to go as I really enjoy watching it on the TV. I’m not too sure on the rules yet but it’s great and the massive hype of it. I love it. It’s great that now [the NFL is] being played a few games over here.

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Everton has got a diamond called Chloe Kelly. Thank you for your effort Chloe and we’re very happy to have you at Everton!

Come on you Blue Girls!