Becoming a Champions League starter is just the latest landmark feat in the remarkable recent ascent of Olivia Clark.
Heading to Dutch club FC Twente from Bristol City this summer, taking on European club football’s elite comes just six years after the Wales goalkeeper was playing in England’s seventh tier.
SK: Set the scene for us of where you’re based over there – are you in Enschede?
OC: We’re about 15 minutes from Enschede and five minutes from Hengelo. I live with the two other international girls, one’s Australian, Daniela Galic, and Amanda (Andradóttir), the Icelandic girl. It’s an English-speaking household, which is nice after a whole day of Dutch at training! There’s a little bit to do, but where we are in the Netherlands is quite rural; there’s a lot of greenery, a lot of farms, and it’s quite traditional. We’re not far from Germany.
SK: How were you weighing up the decision to join FC Twente, in terms of the options you had? Might you have gone somewhere else abroad, or was it basically here or England?
OC: My agent said, ‘Would you go to Europe?’ and I think at this point in my career, I’m so young, I think it’s a good time to do it. He contacted pretty much everyone to see if they needed a goalkeeper, some clubs also contacted him saying, ‘We’d be interested,’ so it was kind of a waiting game, because I had the offer at Bristol City to stay. I was obviously considering that, because I enjoyed my time there, it’s a good club to be part of. I just thought now’s a really good time to just do something completely different. I had a few clubs in Europe; some of them were a bit complicated because of the visa situation. I think some countries had different rules and it makes it a lot harder. This was the first offer that I had where I was like, ‘It’s feasible, and they’re a great club.’
SK: You mentioned Amanda Andradóttir. You’ve got (Dutch international) Kayleigh van Dooren who’s been doing really well going forward, Nikée van Dijk as well. Are there any other examples of teammates you’ve been impressed by?
OC: To be fair, I was impressed by everyone when I first came here. I think in England, it can be quite physical, especially in the Championship, but everyone here is so technical, and you can tell by the training that we do; even as a goalkeeper, I’m involved in a lot of the passing or possession drills, the outfield stuff, so you can tell where it comes from. In terms of players, obviously Kayleigh is a great player, she’s scored a lot of goals for us so far. Danique (van Ginkel), one of our midfielders, she’s really good; she controls the game and she’s just one of those midfielders who loves to get on the ball, loves to make a tackle. But like I said, everyone here is such a good standard, and everyone’s still so young; our oldest player is 25, which is crazy, but I don’t think you can massively tell.
SK: Being in the Champions League, it was only last season that you made your WSL debut, and not so many years on from being in the fourth tier at Nettleham, then the third with Huddersfield. Have you allowed yourself to stop and take in how cool this rise is that you’ve been on?
OC: Yeah, I think that’s something that’s massive for me, I don’t get too caught up in the moment. Everyone’s like ‘Champions League!’ and I’m just grateful to be here, and as much as I always want to do well, I always have perspective; I know where I’ve come from, so I’m always grateful for having these opportunities. Yeah, like you said, I was in Tier 4, Tier 3 – even Tier 7! At Boston United, I was in the Lincolnshire Women & Girls’ League, which I think is the lowest league you can get! I worked my way up. It’s been a rollercoaster few years, because I went to university just like any normal 18-year-old would, not thinking that professional football would really be a career of mine. Then when I was at university, I had the chance to go full-time with Coventry United (in the Championship). With Wales as well, playing with them has been unreal, so I’m just grateful for being in the place that I am.
SK: You went to the University of Sheffield, doing business management, so even though you were involved with the Wales squad at the time, what was your sense of what your future could look like at that point?
OC: I wasn’t confident at all (of becoming a professional player) when I went to university. I did business management, because I think when you’re involved in sport all the time, it can get a bit too much, so I wanted to do something completely different. Luckily, in my third year, Coventry United turned professional, so I moved down to Coventry and did all my uni online, which was also helped by COVID. I did that in my third year, so I didn’t really have to think too much about graduate schemes or careers at that point. I was fortunate in that sense but education’s always been a big thing of mine; I had to do an A-Level exam whilst I was on a Wales camp once, so that’s always something that I’ve had in the background. Even now, I’m looking to do courses, and I’ve done an accounting course. It’s something I want to do because people don’t realise you actually have a lot of spare time when you play professional football!
SK: Did anyone on a night out in Sheffield recognise you and say, ‘Are you that goalkeeper?’ Anyone on West Street?!
OC: West Street was my go-to! We actually had a night out once and you had to dress as your career, so I had to wear my football kit out, and that was the closest I ever got to being spotted!
“I’ve learned that ‘lekker’ can be used in any context; that’s my go-to word when something is good!”
SK: Playing for Wales, you’re representing that part of your family, on your mum’s side. What was the thought process of deciding to play for them early on, rather than perhaps leaving it open for the possibility of England one day?
OC: Well, I always knew I could play for Wales; my grandad was a massive Welshie and he always wanted us to play for Wales. I just randomly saw on Twitter one day, when I was 16, there were trials for Under-17s, like a development squad – I just said to my dad as a joke, ‘Should we go?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take you!’ So, we just got a day off school and he drove me down to Wales. Jon Horton, the goalkeeper coach with the seniors, was on that trial day – I just went in, I didn’t have a clue what to expect – and he was like, ‘We really like you, will you come on a senior camp?’ I was like, ‘Erm…yeah, sure!’ It was like an A and B camp, so there were a lot of young players on this camp, and I got put straight into the Under-19s from there, played with them for a couple of years and I was also on the senior camp at the same time, so I’ve been on seniors since I was 16. They just gave me the opportunity straight away, so it was a no-brainer for me, and for my family as well; I wanted to do it for them. I didn’t really ever think about representing England, it wasn’t really a choice for me. I loved Wales straight away and I loved the camps.
SK: You’ve mentioned before how (Wales boss) Rhian (Wilkinson)’s Canadian background comes through in her coaching. What did you mean specifically? Is she wearing ice-hockey gear while she’s coaching, listening to Céline Dion?
OC: (Laughs) I think she’s just very different to what we’ve had in the past. She’s quite loud, and in meetings, she’ll ask for people’s opinions; I think we’re quite quiet as a group, and she will just put people on the spot and be like, ‘What do you think?’ I think it’s brought some quieter people out of their shell a little bit more, and I think she’s just trying to make it an environment where everyone’s really confident. I think it’s coming through on the pitch as well; we’re really free to play how we want with the ball. I’ve really enjoyed working with her. She’s always in contact, like after games, she’ll say congratulations, and we have catch-ups in between camp with her and the goalkeeper coach and the other staff.
SK: This goal of getting to that first major tournament has obviously been there for so long now. It’s obvious to ask how much it would mean, but when you do qualify, will you cry more than you did after making your debut?!
OC: I think so! I tell everyone now, when I made my debut, I couldn’t stop crying for like an hour! I think it was just because I’d been on camp for so long, and I actually thought ‘is it ever going to happen?’ because as a goalkeeper, it’s hard to get opportunities when you’re young, and obviously you don’t expect to come on during the game as a goalkeeper. So, I think it was more shock than anything else!
SK: At Bristol City last season, you’d initially gone on loan to Watford for the year, but then ended up being recalled (due to injuries) and playing a fair bit in the WSL. You had promising moments as a team, but as time went on, was it hard to keep morale up?
OC: We had a really good group and I think morale was always quite high. Never mind the result, we always came into training and the vibe was actually good. Obviously, towards the end, it gets tougher when you know we haven’t really got much chance now (of avoiding relegation), but we always stayed really positive, and I think that was the biggest thing for us. It was just frustrating, I think, because in some of the bigger games, we actually got quite close to getting a result and we weren’t miles off it, especially at the start of the season. We played Man United at home, it was 2-0, Chelsea was 3-0, Arsenal was 2-1 at home, and we were actually in the game and we felt like we were playing well. After Christmas, we also got a point against (Aston) Villa, and then we had some big games and we just fell short, and as time got on, it got a little bit harder to stay positive, but like I said, we had a really good group. The staff all stayed optimistic and we never gave up hope, because you just never know what could happen.
SK: Let’s mention classic goalkeeper criticisms – ‘keepers shouldn’t get beaten at their near post’ etc. What’s your favourite that you’ve heard?
OC: Oh, that’s a good question. The near-post one is a common one. I just hate it when they say, ‘The goalkeeper should do better,’ and it’s already gone through everyone, like the defender’s had a howler! I think certain commentators, especially in the men’s game, commenting on goalkeepers really frustrates me, but it’s nice now they’ve had people like Joe Hart on the punditry. It’s been nice that they’ve been there to stick up for the goalies, but yeah, I think there’s too many (examples)!
“It’s been a rollercoaster few years, because I went to university just like any normal 18-year-old would, not thinking that professional football would really be a career of mine.”
SK: We’ve got to ask this…keepers regularly going down for treatment in games, while the team has a completely unplanned tactical break – any thoughts?
OC: I’m all for it! I don’t see why people get so angry about it! Those tactical breaks, when you’re in the game, they’re needed, so I’m all for it, and there’s no way you can stop it either – there’s no way to prove if you’re injured or not! I actually don’t think that will ever be stopped, because I don’t think it’s possible.
SK: The rivalry side of the women’s game has been growing, so have you had any ‘banter’ with opposing fans behind the goal yet?
OC: Arsenal are the ones that have given me that! Arsenal away last year, in the Conti Cup, we played them and I got all sorts from behind the goal!
On fellow Wales goalkeeper Laura O’Sullivan:
“I owe a lot to Laura. When I started playing over the past year, she never complained once; she’s been so good with me. I have so much respect for her, because she works a full-time job, she comes on camp, we play on the Tuesday night and she’s back to work on the Wednesday. She’s always been an inspiration.”
SK: Was it all good natured, though?
OC: Yeah, I think it was. I quite like it as well; I think it’s something that’s missing in the women’s game, that competitiveness of the fans. It’s nice to see away sections now in grounds, but yeah, I got all sorts. I got, because my last name’s Clark, I got ‘your name’s just a shoe shop’! I got ‘Bristol City’s number four’ thrown at me*, even though we didn’t have four keepers! But it was fine, and it actually kind of makes you want to play better!
*Kaylan Marckese, then on loan to Bristol City from Arsenal, was ineligible to play her parent club, hence the Arsenal fans’ vested interest in City’s goalkeeping options!
SK: You got really into playing golf back in England. What else have you been interested in away from football lately?
OC: It’s something I’m thinking about at the minute, because I need a hobby, and golf is good, but not when the weather’s awful. I actually had to get a golf licence to play over here, so it took some time for that to happen. I need a winter hobby; I’ve done a bit of yoga in the past, pilates. To be honest, I need to learn Dutch! That should be my hobby right now, because everything’s in Dutch during the day; trainings, meetings, the girls are speaking Dutch.
SK: Finally, you’ve been doing a column for the BBC website, so if you were She Kicks’ editor, which current or former teammate would you want as assistant editor?
OC: I think…Hayley Ladd. She is very switched on, and we’re kind of on the same wavelength with a lot of stuff. She’s done a column as well, I think, with the BBC before, so yeah, I’d go for Hayley!
INTERVIEW: Chris Brookes IMAGES: FC Twente Media, FAW & Sports Press Photo
