Relishing her return to the game after a lengthy time away from it, this ‘anywhere but in goal’ player has a Wayne Rooney World Cup song connection.
1. Name: Holly Royall
2. Age (D.O.B): The wrong side of 30 …
3. Team: Falcon Ladies FC
4. Position (and have you always played there)? As we are a team of first-timers and only been going a year, we are still deciding our positions but I see myself as a defensive midfielder. Anywhere other than in goal – I have a particular dislike to it after performing goalie duties in a casual kick about last year resulted in me needing two pins in my finger! Our keeper Sarah Cammack is awesome anyway so will leave the shot-stopping to her!
5. Team Supporter/Fave player? Nottingham Forest. My favourite players have always been those that show passion, loyalty and leadership on the pitch, something I aspire to. Current favourite is Andy Reid for Forest, all time is Stuart Pearce and in the ladies game, Casey Stoney.
6. Occupation/or what you are studying? Member Services Rep at PRS For Music. I help aspiring and established songwriters claim their music royalties. I was advising a guy the other day who had written a World Cup song called ‘The MacaRooney’ – an updated version of The Macarena …. not sure it’ll be shooting up the charts!
7. Are there other footballers in your family? No, which is strange considering I have three brothers! But this always made for good kickabouts in the garden. Back then I was always Toto Schillaci and my brother Simon was Gary Lineker – this was solely due to World Cup Italia ’90 with which we were obsessed.
8. Favourite game you have played in (and why)? Probably be the very first friendly we played together last year as the Falcons. It was against Kick Talang in Whitechapel. None of us had played a competitive game as adults. We started as a group of ladies that kicked about in Greenwich Park, brought together solely by our manager Rachael Brown and it was a big moment for us.
It was the first time I experienced the team spirit we had created, we were now a proper team, a collective, a solid unit. It didn’t matter that we got beaten 12-0 – I didn’t even take stock of the score to be honest, the adrenaline from just playing together for the first time was something I’ll never forget.
9. Your best attribute as a player? Eagerness to play and learn – I would play all day everyday if I could and I always want to improve myself as a player.
10. What are your ambitions in football? To play as much competitive football as possible with Falcon Ladies and achieve our potential in the Greater London League when we join next year. Personally, I’d love to fulfil my aspirations of a career in football – particularly promoting the women’s game. Oh and for Forest to get promotion to the Premier League!
11. Who has been the biggest influence in or on your footballing career? Well it has to be Rachael Brown for starting the team and getting me playing again after so many years. I’d wanted to play football again for so long but found finding a team an incredibly daunting and scary experience. I couldn’t imagine playing for anyone else, or life without the Falcons now, its been so good for me for so many reasons, mentally and physically. So thank you Rachael!
12. What is the best thing about playing for your team? The camaraderie and team spirit. We never take ourselves too seriously. We have so much fun together, whenever or wherever we play.
13. If you got to design your team’s kit, what would it look like? I love the minimalistic kits of the 70’s (apart from the crotch hugging shorts!) a classic adidas three stripe, in red and white of course! 😉
14. Do you listen to music to get you motivated, or while you train – if so, what tracks? Aaaah, music is my second love to football … anything with loud guitars usually – New Orders World In Motion has always been a favourite or ‘Come On’ by The Verve played loud in my headphones as I get off the tube to a game.
15. Who, that plays for your team, should we know more about and why? Danielle Ludlam is a massive character for us – constantly breaking into song and dancing around the pitch, always good for team morale! Genuine natural ability though and extremely passionate player, I wish I had her tekkers!
She Kicks – the online news service for women’s football
