“I think it’s a bit of a surreal time”, says Emma Thompson. The 18-years-old striker signed her first professional contract with Chelsea this summer, before joining 2nd league outfit Lewes LFC on loan.
She added: “Growing up, all I did was play football. (…) For that to sort of turn into now being my job is a really good feeling. I don’t even see it as a job like I’m just doing the same thing every day that I love to do. I’m getting to do it at the highest level I can. So, I think it’s just like, it was a lot to take in, but it was exciting.” By now, everything has settled in and the youngster is already enjoying life at Lewes.
Thompson started playing football at a very young age and joined a local boy’s team at the age of five. “As soon as I could walk, I was kicking a ball around”, she remembers. “I played for Reading Academy for five or six seasons and then when I was 13, I just decided to try for Chelsea. I wasn’t really thinking too much, I thought I’d just go play football for the day and then that would be it. And then they ended up offering me a place in their academy. I couldn’t really say no and then I stayed there until [they] brought me into the first team.”
The striker enjoyed the great surroundings at Cobham, where she worked with some of the best coaches in the country. “It’s a high-performing environment and you meet really good people and just enjoy playing football”, said Thompson. “It was just a really fun place for me.” As regular starter of the academy team, she scored 17 goals in 15 games in all competitions last season. Her side went on to win the Southern Division and Thompson was the third best goal scorer at youth level.
Although the pro-contract might have seemed as just a matter of time, she felt enormous relief when Chelsea approached her. “It was an amazing feeling”, the striker said with a smile. “You never really know, like you work hard, but a lot of it is people’s opinions. And you’ve just got to keep working hard and hope that they see that and they see something in you. So, I think obviously there was quite a lot of nervousness for a while wondering what I was going to do, (…) if I didn’t get approached, like thinking about sort of the next step. I think when I was told about it was just sort of a relief, but then also the recognition that it now starts again, that you’ve got to continue to work hard. That’s only the first step. There’s still a long way to go.”
The pro-deal was signed in combination with a loan-agreement, meaning that Thompson gets to spend the whole season with Lewes in the Championship. After talks between club and player, it was decided this was the best move for the youngster’s development. “I just spoke to Lewes, I had a call with them and I was just really happy with how it went”, she explains the choice of her loan-destination. „The values of the club, it’s a very community club, what they were saying about how they’d help me develop. And then I went to visit and I really loved it there. So, I think I just knew from the initial conversation that it was the right place for me. I still think that now and I think it’s really going to help my development.”
So far, Thompson has featured in a few games for Lewes and seems happy about the first footballing impressions at the new environment. However, it took her some time to adapt, she admitted, as it was physically and technically a step up from academy football. “I’m enjoying the style of play [at Lewes]”, Thompson emphasized. “I’m playing as a striker, which is my main position. So, it’s good be working on tactically different things and I’m improving every day. I’m getting to learn new things, so I think it’s really good for me.”
In addition to improving as a player and playing regular league football, Thompson has set herself more aims to reach. She wants to make it to the scoresheet as often as possible, to be a, if not the top-scorer of the Championship. “But I am also aware that it is my first season in senior football”, added the striker when talking about her ambitions. „I think just taking things day by day, just keep improving each game, but obviously I’d like us as a team to be up there contending for the league as well.” Last season, Lewes finished the league in eighth place. Now, after two rounds played, they are eighth again having drawn against Birmingham and Southampton.
Thompson’s qualities in offense will come handy for Lewes as they try to make it to the top of the table. She describes herself as „old school type striker”, who likes to get the ball at the feet, play with people and get in front of goal. The forward sees her main strength in her hold up play with a good finishing. Also, she creates a lot of opportunities for herself. “I think in terms of things I will work on, maybe just vary my style of play a bit and get a bit quicker.”
Growing up, the Chelsea loanee would always watch videos of Alan Shearer, Jermaine Defoe, Terry Henry and now, Harry Kane. Thompson thinks she resonates that type of player a bit more than modern day players, who she views as are very technical and quick. At the Blue’s training ground at Cobham, she eventually got to train with her role models from Chelsea FCW’s first team. With a laugh, the striker admitted she was a little starstruck at the beginning: “You look up to them and you want to be like them one day. So, the fact that I got the opportunity to be on the same pitch with them, that was like a really, really special moment, definitely.”
She went on to tell: “It was surreal for me when (…) because you see these people on TV, all of the big names, who are winning things. I was constantly watching them, what they’re doing, what can I learn, how they are like, how much they demanded of themselves and others. (…) So, I think that I really just constantly tried to be like a sponge and soak up everything I could.”
It is clear how much the 18-years old values the environment at Chelsea, where she sees her long-term future. After the end of the loan at Lewes, Thompson aims to compete for a spot in the Blues’ starting XI, play WSL football regularly and compete for as many titles as possible. She has similar goals on national team level, where she currently gets called up for England’s promising U19-squad. “I go and come to them and just keep working hard and hopefully progress through the age groups next year”, the striker told in a humble manner. “And just sort of keeping my head down, making sure I’m also then playing well at club football because I think that’s also important. And I just think, as long as I keep full focus, I think hopefully one day I get the call-up.”
Surely, her ambition to play for the Lionesses was additionally fuelled by their outstanding success at this year’s UEFA Women’s Euros. Thompson followed the “amazing” tournament closely, as England won the title in front of a historical record crowd at Wembley Stadium. “Previously, people always saw England as the team that almost got there, but we never seemed to actually win”, the youngster reflected on the Lionesses’ campaign. “The fact that we went in, did it and proved people wrong and the way we did it as well, so together as a team (…) it was just amazing to watch.” She thinks that the engagement that came with it and the amount of people that are now increasingly interested in woman’s football and women’s sport in general is really good to see. “Like looking into next season, with the amount of season tickets and tickets they’re selling, I think that’s on the back of the Euros too. I think it was a really important moment in women’s sport.”
When thinking about the legacy created by the Euros win, Thompson believes it has left people her age and younger in a really good position. “I think it made us realize that you can go and achieve whatever you want to achieve”, she said. “It’s inspiring and it’s people growing up who now have something to strive towards, which I think eventually when I was younger (…) didn’t always have that. It’s really going to change the game.”
The talented forward now has exciting years of development and growth ahead of her. The loan at Lewes is a big step into this direction, as well as an important one for her professional career. Thompson seems to live by a valuable advice given to her once: Just work hard and enjoy what you’re doing. “Because I think if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing it’s really hard to perform well”, she pointed out. “I’ve noticed that so far in my life, the times I’ve been the happiest, I have been performing the best.”
Written by Alina Ruprecht
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