Olivia Smith Admits Meeting Marta At 2015 World Cup Changed Her Life

The day she lost her position as the world’s most expensive female player, Olivia Smith – the first to move for a million pounds – admits she never worried about her price.

This week, Smith collected the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) award for the best Young Player of the Year last season. Her eye-catching performances for Liverpool earned her the illustrious accolade and in doing so, she became the first foreign woman to ever be voted in by her fellow professionals.

Smith had already made the move last month from Liverpool to Arsenal with the new European club champions paying a transfer fee of $1.36 million (£1 million). She therefore became the first woman in the English game to move for over a million British pounds.

Earlier today, Orlando Pride broke that record by signing Jacqueline Ovalle from Tigres in Mexico for a reported $1.5 million. Smith had held the position for a mere 35 days but there will be never be another first within the English game. The transfer in January of the United States defender Naomi Girma made her the first million dollar player but amounted to less in sterling.

The one million pound threshold was first crossed in the men’s game 46 years ago when Trevor Francis moved from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest. That move came 25 years before Smith was even born but she is all too aware of the significance of his name.

“At the end of the day, a price tag is a price tag, she said when questioned about her seven-figure valuation. “It’s not something I’m really focused on. I’m just focused on being on the pitch, learning from a great set of players. I think it’s also great to see the development of women’s football and that price going up as well. Obviously, it’s an honor to have achieved that.”

“To come with such a hefty price tag, for such a young player like me, I think they see the potential that I have. They see, like my mum said, I’m hungry, I’m driven, I want to learn, I want to grow and I want to win things ultimately. The money is not really a big deal for me.”

Smith will be moving club for the third year in succession having joined Liverpool from Sporting CP in Lisbon the previous summer. A young woman living on another contintent, she concedes that relocating constantly is “not comfortable, but you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

“It’s been quite tough for me personally, not knowing what’s going to come next. My first year in Europe, I never expected to leave Sporting after one season. It’s not easy, especially when my family is so far away, but it does make transitions easier, building relationships with people here.”

At Arsenal she will at least link up with one old acquaintance, the United States international Jenna Nighswonger. Their paths briefly crossed at Florida State University before Smith opted to go to Penn State. “I didn’t stay there long,” she admits, “but she was my mentor for about two or three months when I first arrived there.”

Some will question where Smith will fit into the Arsenal line-up where she is competing for a starting position against three Ballon D’Or nominees – Alessia Russo, Mariona Caldentey and Chloe Kelly – as well as the scorer of the winning goal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final, Stina Blackstenius, the Player of the Tournament at the last UEFA Women’s Euro. Beth Mead, and Australian Caitlin Foord.

Smith is however is relishing the challenge. “The biggest thing is that I’m very versatile. I spoke to (coach) Renée Slegers about this. I just want to be out on the pitch but at the same time, I’m competing with the best players in the world so we’re just pushing each other to be better every day and I’m learning from them as well to add to my game. At the end of the day, it’s up to Renée based on performance but I’m working hard, giving it 100% – yeah still learning and growing.”

Smith was ten years of age when Canada hosted the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Inspiring girls like Smith was behind the “To A Greater Goal” slogan of the tournament. Growing up in Whitby, Ontario, close to Toronto, the nearest host city to her was almost 350km away in Ottawa. She told me that did not stop her watching some of the games in person.

She joked “it kind of sucked that it wasn’t in Toronto but my family and I actually made the trips to go and watch games and I think that was really special for me. I actually remember attending the Brazil game that was in Montréal. As a lot of people probably know, Marta is also one of my biggest idols that I modelled my game after.”

“It’s pretty special watching that World Cup, and I think that was also a turning point in my career realistically. I had actually gotten the chance to speak to Marta and she gave me a lot of insight on what it’s like growing up not having women’s football idols, because she didn’t have one. I think it’s so special now for the girls to look up to people like us doing what we do.”