Getting to know: Carrie Simpson - Leeds United

Until she was 16, Carrie Simpson had never picked up a pair of goalkeeper gloves. Now, she is Leeds United’s number 1…

For any footballer, a first-team debut is something they will have dreamed of as a child. It’s a proud moment after years spent practising their craft and wanting to emulate their heroes, but one filled with nerves and trepidation.

For former striker Carrie Simpson, her first outing in the women’s game came in the second tier of English football. And not only that, perhaps the most daunting of all, it came between the posts!

“I used to play up front,” she laughs, perhaps somewhat still surprised at what she has gone on to achieve after swapping the number 9 jersey for the number 1.

“I did my ACL when I was 13 and then I did my other ACL when I was 15. From that point it was a bit of a bargaining thing. I was told you can play a little bit outfield and then you can maybe play a little bit in goal. That was the first taste of playing in goal, really, because it was about managing my injury.

“I didn’t actually start playing in goal until I was around 16. I played my first season for Leeds City Vixens at that point in the Northern Premier League, which was the second tier. Before my debut, I think I was definitely nervous. I still get really nervous, now, when we play!”

A Whites fan growing up, Carrie played for local side Norristhorpe Juniors, while also representing the Leeds United Academy. A switch to the Vixens followed, before moving on to a side that have since gone on to become a powerhouse of women’s football domestically, Manchester City.

“It was clearly different to what it is now but it was certainly a different level of professionalism, moving from Leeds City Vixens. They were an amateur club which had gone on to progress to be punching above their weight in that respect. City were in the same league at that point, but it was really good and definitely different levels of standards and coaching.”

There, alongside current Whites’ teammate Sarah Danby, Simpson would be part of the footballing revolution at the Etihad Campus, laying the foundations for the current crop of world-class talent to become a dominant force in the Women’s Super League.

Balancing university commitments while playing, and not sure of the career paths football could offer at that time, Simpson then swapped the Mancunian weather for the Gold Coast, Australia; initially wanting to experience a different lifestyle. The football that was to come would be the cherry on top.

“I moved to Australia, not really with an intention of necessarily playing football,” she reminisces, as rain hammers down outside. “I went to a club training session for a local team once and they told me not to sign for them because they weren’t very good!

“But there was someone there who worked in the Brisbane Roar set-up and he asked me if I would go train there. I lived on the Gold Coast and travelled up to Brisbane to train with them for a few weeks. They wanted me to sign and it was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up.”

Competing in the A-League Women, Australia’s premier division for women’s football, the Queensland outfit travelled across the country competing in a league that, at that time, was pioneering in its approach to the sport.

“It was incredible,” Simpson smiles. “It was an even more professional set-up than even being at Man City. The facilities and the stadiums that we played in were amazing, and they were a lot more ahead – playing double-headers alongside men’s games and things like that. There were a lot more fans and, obviously, the weather helps!”

Playing in the venues she mentions were clearly proud moments for the now 32-year-old. Brisbane’s 52,000-seater Suncorp Stadium has hosted Rugby League World Cup finals, Sydney’s Allianz Stadium was a venue for last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, and Central Coast Mariners’ aptly-named Central Coast Stadium backs idyllically onto the New South Wales waterfront.

“That’s definitely my favourite stadium, looking out to sea while you’re playing. It is very similar to Garforth!” she laughs.

A return to the UK ended Simpson’s adventure down under, with the Halifax-born stopper wanting to forge a career back home. Now a senior operations manager for a leading British supermarket, she balances being on-call 24 hours a day alongside her football, relying on colleagues to swap shifts when necessary to accommodate the busy, and ever-changing, FA WNL schedule.

We speak in the run-up to the Whites’ impressive 4-2 victory over Durham Cestria at the Bannister Prentice Stadium, roaring back to winning ways after falling to a narrow, late defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough.

That loss to the Teessiders was, she admits, “very frustrating”, but confidently predicts that “we will come back feeling differently after Sunday’s match”. That, they did.

Level at 2-2 heading into the dying minutes, a stunning strike from last campaign’s Player of the Season Jess Rousseau saw the Whites wrestle back the lead, before the striker sealed proceedings with a low finish as the clocked ticked to 90. Simon Wood’s side then followed that up with a home victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles.

“The fans are absolutely brilliant,” she adds. “They come whatever the weather and obviously the more fans the better for us. Across the years, the number of supporters we get has improved massively. It definitely lifts our mood and gives us even more motivation.”

Having represented Leeds growing up, Simpson returned in 2022 and has seen first-hand the strides the club has made both on and off the pitch when it comes to helping the women’s side try to climb back up to the heights of yesteryear.

“It has been fantastic to see the fanbase grow. I think across the UK, it has grown massively and it is good that it is not just young girls that come. There are also boys that watch so there is a lot more variation in the fans – and the numbers have grown massively from when I started playing.

“I was definitely keen to make the move back. I think over the last few years the club have bought into the women’s side of things and you can see that in how we have managed to attract more players to keep growing and to be as competitive as we can be. Training at Thorp Arch is brilliant for everyone on our team – you come from work daily and you might feel tired or whatever, but as soon as you get to training, it brings a bit of pride going to such brilliant facilities. It gives you that extra few per cent.”

Leeds United Women continue their FA WNL Division One North campaign with a trip to Cheadle Town in Sunday’s 2pm kick-off. Read our match preview HERE.