A switch back to her native South Coast last summer teed up Southampton midfielder Molly Pike for her strongest scoring season yet. Weighing in with seven league strikes for the Championship challengers, the 23-year-old’s attacking exploits also included a (team) Goal of the Season-clinching stunner against Arsenal in the Conti Cup.
Pursuing a personal return to the WSL, the England Under-23 intends to get there with the club that has been unlocking new levels in her game.
SK: How’s the summer been for you? How much relaxation, and how much fitness work on holiday?!
MP: I had my sister’s hen do, which was fun, then I went to Mykonos with a girl I used to play with at Leicester, Missy Goodwin, which was also good. Got some nice family-and-friends time in as well, and on the side of that, did the fitness that we had to do!
SK: You’re coming off the best individual season in your career so far, with a huge increase in the goals you got. Did anything feel different in the connections around you, or were you personally working on anything that allowed you to hit that form?
MP: I had a goal going into last season, wanting to score more goals than previous seasons, and I think I was just comfortable and relaxed in the team. I really enjoyed my football last year and I think that was a big part of why I did what I did, because I was purely just enjoying it.
“We were very up and down, and we didn’t win many games on the bounce, so hopefully we can do that this season.”
SK: With (long-time former WSL midfielder) Remi Allen coming in recently (as head coach), what has her approach been so far? Did you know each other beforehand?
MP: I had her at Under-23s with England, when she was a coach there, so I do know Remi. She’s been really good. She’s come in, she’s had individual meetings and team meetings. She’s really honed down on what she wants and the standards that we’re going to set.
SK: Are there any indications as to what she might want to do differently – in playing style or just in general – to (previous head coach and current head of girls and women’s football) Marieanne (Spacey-Cale MBE)?
MP: Everything day to day is probably the same, it’s just basically the standards and learning from what we didn’t do well last season, how we’re going to put it right this season. To be more consistent, because we were very up and down, and we didn’t win many games on the bounce, so hopefully we can do that this season.
SK: You’ve had some notable people leave over the summer, with some new arrivals, too. Have any of the new ones been getting their feet under the table straight away?!
MP: To be fair, everyone’s been really nice! I was saying to the girls the other day how much of a nice team we’ve got; wouldn’t say anyone’s a massive character and no one’s really quiet. I think we’ve got a great group of girls.
SK: Obvious question, but do you have initiations for the new players?
MP: We do but none of them have been done yet, so we’re waiting for the first away trip of the season, hopefully, and then we get to watch that. That’ll be fun.
SK: Did you have to do one last season after you joined?
MP: Yeah, I did ‘Islands in the Stream’ (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton)!
SK: Did you do that on your own, even though it’s a duet?
MP: Yeah, we had to stand up on the chair, on your own, and take it away really.
SK: You’ve been around the country in your career so far – Everton, Bristol City, Leicester – and now back on the South Coast. Was it just a nice coincidence that Southampton are relatively close to home, or did you actually feel like you needed a move like that at this point?
MP: For me, I’ve never really struggled being away from family, because I’ve moved so young, but it was quite a nice coincidence. I always knew Southampton were a great club and something I wanted to be a part of. It just happened to be only 40 minutes up the road, which was nice.
“I always knew Southampton were a great club and something I wanted to be a part of. It just happened to be only 40 minutes up the road.”
SK: In your time at Chelsea as a youngster, were you travelling to Cobham after school a few times a week? Does someone need credit for all the lifts they gave you?!
MP: Mum and Dad, they were brilliant with it; they travelled me up and down to Cobham four times a week, and to be fair, hats off to them, that got me to where I am today.
SK: Speaking of significant journeys! You said when you signed for Southampton that you weren’t especially looking forward to the Durham and Sunderland trips, so are you happy that there’s now Newcastle as well in the Championship?
MP: Oh, yeah, over the moon!
SK: How do you get through those long trips, have you got a strategy?
MP: We’ve got board games on the coach, listen to music, read books. Loads of people do everything different, to be fair, but I download some Netflix documentaries.
SK: Alongside school, it feels like you’ve been geared towards being a footballer for a long time, with everything you were achieving at a young age. Has it always been the number-one focus? Did you ever fancy just working in an office instead?
MP: Oh, no, I could not be in an office! I think ever since I was younger, I knew it could be a full-time job, and that’s all I wanted to do. I just put my head down and made sure I could make that possible.
SK: Apologising in advance for asking this…but as you two have seemingly switched identities before in the odd photo caption, have you ever heard people confuse you and (teammate) Jemma Purfield?!
MP: Yeah, all the time! On the pitch, people have got confused before, so I get that a lot.
SK: There’s a YouTube interview you did at Wembley ten years ago, when you were captain and won the Girls Cup with Broadstone Middle School (representing AFC Bournemouth)! Was that the first interview you ever did?
MP: Yeah…can you tell?! (Southampton teammate) Kayla Rendell was the goalkeeper in that tournament, because me and Kayla went to school together, so that was a good moment to share with her.
SK: You’ve come through the age groups with England alongside some great players. In terms of developing understanding on the pitch, or friendships off it, who have you especially felt that with?
MP: My age group, I’m probably quite close with Ebony Salmon, Jess Park. I’ve always got on with them really well, and with Jess Park being a midfielder, I got on well with her on the pitch as well.
SK: Your goal against Arsenal last season, have any come close to that in your career so far or is that your clear favourite?
MP: It has to be my favourite, just purely because of the occasion, the amount of fans. Yeah, I did love that goal.
SK: You played quite a lot in the WSL at a young age, and it’s obviously where you’re working to get back to. As we speak now, how do you feel about where you’re up to in your career?
MP: I’d obviously love to get promoted with Southampton and come up with them, because I’ve come down here, I’ve played a lot of games, and I feel like I’m improving every training session. If we got back into WSL, I’d definitely be a better and stronger player than I was when I left it.
INTERVIEW: Chris Brookes IMAGES: Southampton FC & Sports Press Photo
