Tottenham’s Charli Grant seems to be drawn to the big stage. Less than twelve months ago, the Australian national was an unused substitute as the Matildas were defeated by England in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal. Now, the 22-year-old finds herself preparing to partake in Spurs’ first-ever Adobe Women’s FA Cup semifinal, after signing for the Lilywhites in January.
Speaking to FromTheSpot at Hotspur Way on Tuesday, Grant was full of positivity as she offered an insight into life in N17. ‘I’m loving it here,’ she told reporters. ‘From the first day, everyone has been so welcoming, and you can just see every game that we’re getting better and the plan that he’s [Robert Vilahamn] put in place has been awesome. I think we’ve got a lot of potential at the club and there’s a lot to achieve here, so I’m really excited to be here – it’s been an honour.’
Grant acknowledged that the move has been great for her personal development, highlighting her technical progression as the key improvement. ‘When I first got here, I felt a little bit off the mark because everyone was so consistent and had such good quality,’ she recalled. ‘I definitely feel myself fitting in now with the technical side of things, and I feel like I’m just going to keep getting better every training.’
‘As a team, I think you can see from the weekend [against Manchester City] that the plan that we have been putting in place is coming along a lot more consistently. We’re really heading in the right direction, and that’s really nice to see.’
Embed from Getty ImagesPrior to making the move to North London, Grant plied her trade for Vittsjö GIK in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. Experience in Scandinavia – and Sweden in particular – seems to be a common theme that runs through the Tottenham squad, and the Australian international explained that ‘Sweden is a very good step for players.’
Grant isn’t the only player to swap Sweden for Tottenham in recent months, with Olga Ahtinen, Eveliina Summanen and Matilda Vinberg also putting pen to paper on deals at Hotspur Way. Robert Vilahamn made a similar move too, and the same flow of player traffic can be seen across the league as a whole – especially with Australian internationals including Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross.
‘I still think it’s a challenge to come over here [to the Barclays Women’s Super League]. You’ve got the best players in the world playing in this league, and I think that’s what draws us over here. You want to be playing in the best league – as a footballer you’re always striving to be the best you can. So I think for a lot of us playing in England, that’s one of the top leagues you can be a part of, so it’s just a dream to be here.’
‘Sweden is a very good step for players. For me, going from Australia to Sweden and then to England, they’ve been really good steps for me in my development and helping me settle in here. It’s still been a challenge, but it’s a step up again,’ she summarised.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt would perhaps be easy for the Lilywhites’ focus to switch prematurely to next month’s semifinal – but Grant insists that the squad will continue to take each game as it comes, focusing on the WSL as they strive to break into the top half of the table.
‘We’re really excited for the Leicester game, but we’re just going to focus on the league now and focus on that when we come to it,’ she explained. ‘They’re a really strong squad. I quite like watching how they play, they’re quite aggressive in their press and they’re quite a difficult team to play against. They haven’t conceded too many goals, so it’s definitely going to be hard to break them down. If we continue building on those connections like we have been, then I think we can get a good result – but it’s definitely going to be challenging.’
‘It would be a dream come true,’ Grant revealed, quizzed about how much lifting the trophy would mean to her come May. ‘I want to win silverware at this club, that’s why I came. I know that there is a good plan set in place and we want to win.’
‘For my family, I think they’ll actually be here because my mum and dad are travelling over here in May! So it would be amazing to have them there, they’ve worked so hard to help to get me to where I am today. I wouldn’t be here without them, so everything I do is for them and it would be really special.’
