| Julie Fleeting |
Among the women who have performed outstandingly for club and country, Julie Fleeting probably stands alone. Her career is, in many ways, unique. Paradoxically, she spends much of her life traveling, yet has remained very close and very loyal to her roots in the historic town of Killwinning. On the soccer map, the nearest major landmark is Kilmarnock. More important for Julie, you don’t have to look far away on the Scottish map to find Glasgow airport. The striker in the No. 10 shirt lives in her home town, captains the Scottish national team, married a fellow footballer called Colin Stewart and commutes to London to play her club football with the 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup Champions, Arsenal Ladies FC.
Football is deeply rooted in her life, thanks in great part to the enthusiasm of her father, Jim, the Scottish FA’s Director of Football Development for the last year or so. Julie still recalls with affection the goal she scored in a 2-1 win against Cunningham Boys Club for her local Under-10 team when she was the only girl in the league. She immigrated to the USA for a spell with San Diego Spirit in 2002 and, on her return, left Scottish club Ross County to join Arsenal in 2004. In the meantime, she had made her debut for the senior Scottish national team at 15 and, at the time of writing, was poised to make history with a career total of 97 caps and 98 goals – at the tender age of 26. But let’s allow Julie to tell her own story, starting with the obvious question:
How do you cope with such an unusual lifestyle?
It sounds complicated, I know, but I’ve developed a routine which seems to work out okay. From Monday to Friday, I teach physical education at the local school where I studied. Then I get an easy jet flight down to London on Sunday morning, play a game for Arsenal and fly back on Sunday evening. In terms of fitness, my job helps. But I always do a session in the gym before work in the morning and, two evenings a week, I train with the men’s Under-21 side – only five minutes from home. I can understand that people raise eyebrows about playing but not training with Arsenal. But when I arrive, they always give me a good briefing and if there’s something special they’ve been working on during the week, it’s explained to me before the game. It hasn’t been a problem so far.
How much did it mean to you and the club to beat Umea IK in the UEFA Women’s Cup Final?
It definitely represents the greatest achievement of my career. Competing against the best in Europe always is a great experience, and winning the title was a huge thing for everybody. We had been working hard to raise our standards over several seasons of domestic football and to achieve something that no British club had achieved in Europe made all the hard work worthwhile. Let’s be honest, we rode our luck in the final against Umea, especially in the second leg at home. That match gave me the worst and best feelings I’ve ever experienced. During the game, we were under so much pressure that I felt guilty about being on my own up front and contributing so little to the team. Holding out and winning was just fantastic. Then our captain and vice-captain went straight off to the main stadium in London to parade the trophy at the men’s team’s league fixture. I think it was a huge boost for women’s football in the UK – not just in England, because we have girls from all the countries within the UK in our team –because we’d always had the feeling that we were trailing behind other nations in terms of the players we produce and the football we play.
You’ve mentioned the Arsenal men’s team – and one of the talking points in the women’s game is whether more professional men’s clubs should be persuaded to run women’s teams. What’s your first-hand experience?
My personal opinion is that it definitely works well. I think that being part of such a massive club is very positive, even if we do play at a smaller stadium near the club’s training centre. What’s more, Vic Akers is part of the men’s set-up and bridges all the gaps.
Yes, we wrote about Vic (recently) because he also was an unusual case of combining the job of kit man for the men’s team with coaching the women’s team. How does that work from your perspective?
It works very well, and I would even say it’s something for other clubs to look at. Vic is involved in the day-to-day work of the professional squad and brings things back to the girls’ team. He’s also a direct link and helps to generate a lot of interest in our team. As a result, we get great backing from the men’s team and the supporters. It works fantastically well.
You’ve had quite a variety of coaches in the Scottish national team. What sort of guidance do you look for or appreciate the most?
That’s right. When I made my debut at 15, the coach was Millar Hay. Then I was with my dad for a while – which worked out much better than you might suspect! And, in more recent times, I’ve had Vera Pauw and Anna Signed as coaches. I think you want your coach to pass on as wide a range of experiences as possible and to prepare you physically and mentally to compete with the top athletes in football. When Vera arrived in Scotland, she took on a group with very limited experience. She was very positive and demanding, and I think that Anna is building very well on the foundations that Vera put down. When I see the Under-19s play and the quality of the players we’re producing now, I have to compare with my day. A lot of good work has been done, and is being done. In more general terms, what I appreciate most from a coach is that he or she imposes thoroughly professional attitudes and behavior. That is why it is so good that Vic comes straight from the men’s elite level pro environment to the women’s team. Vera and Anna also have done a great deal to establish really professional standards about everything we do – including our conduct!
In your opinion, what are the main differences between national team and club football?
I live in a strange situation. Because I train apart from my teammates, we have a very special relationship. And, in fact, my closest relationships within the game tend to be when I’m with the national team and spend a week or so with the girls that I’ve known since I was 15 and try to catch up with everything that’s going in Scottish football. It’s probably exactly the opposite of a normal player.
How demanding is the English league? There is talk about the top players in other leagues not getting enough truly competitive matches in a season.
I would say that the Arsenal side that won the European trophy is the best we’ve had in many years, if not ever. Some of the other clubs can’t match us for strength in depth, but that doesn’t make them weak opposition. Everyone wants to beat us and, especially if we don’t score early on, we have to be prepared to play under a lot of pressure. The league is really competitive.
As champions of Europe, do you feel that you’ve become role models?
Yes. We would obviously like our success to have been publicized a bit more. But role models are very important, not only in terms of playing but also in behavior. Kids do copy what they see the seniors doing. This is brought home to me because it’s a factor in my job as well as my playing career. Fortunately, I’ve always lived my life as an athlete so, as a player and as a teacher, I don’t have any worries on that score. It’s a pity I didn’t have any role models in my time. There were no female players to model myself on. And I didn’t grow up with a special passion for any particular club. If I had to name one player, it would be Henrik Larsen. During the years he spent in Scotland, he came across as the sort of player and person that I would like to be.
As a role model, what would you say if you were asked to give one piece of advice?
Play football to enjoy it and work hard – and you’re prepared to work hard if you’re enjoying it.
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