Interviews

Women's Football Weekend shows how far game has come, says Jarrett

Showcase for the WSL with all six games live including Albion's trip to West Ham on Sunday.

By Charlie Hanson • 14 November 2020

By Paul Hazlewood
All of the WSL fixtures will be available to watch live, with kick-off times staggered.

Rianna Jarrett believes Women's Football Weekend shows the progress the game has made in recent years.

All six WSL matches will be shown live on Saturday and Sunday including Albion's game against West Ham United on Sunday (12.30pm) which will be broadcast on the club's website.

During last year's Women's Football Weekend Albion hosted Birmingham City at the Amex where over 4000 supporters watched Hope Powell's team win 3-0.

By Paul Hazlewood
Albion celebrate going in front against Birmingham City in front of 4000 supporters at the Amex.

Jarrett said, “Unfortunately we can't have supporters in the stadium. This time last year we had supporters watching at the Amex so it's a shame that with no Premier League matches on we can’t get people into the ground to watch us play, but it’s great the fact that supporters can watch it for free. My family back in Ireland have been able to watch the games which is great.”

Albion are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa against a West Ham side they shared four goals with last month in the Conti Cup.

“Villa was not a good performance at all, but hopefully we can rectify that this weekend against West Ham. That's the beauty of football, that we have that chance to put it right.

“We spoke in pre-season about our identity and we no longer just wanted to try and contain the big teams when we came up against them, we wanted to contend with them and start getting results against them.

“We have done that to an extent, we got the point against Manchester City and against Everton who were flying high.

“Now we just need to find that consistency against the teams that are around us. We pride ourselves on being hard to beat, but it's about building on that now and scoring the goals.”

By FA Ireland
Rianna Jarrett has been a regular in the Republic of Ireland senior squad in recent years.

Jarrett is one of three Irish players in Albion's squad along with Denise O'Sullivan and Megan Connolly and all have developed in a country where there is no professional women's league.

“As a kid I didn't think there was really the option to be a professional footballer. But then you had Niamh Fahey and Emma Byrne play for Arsenal, then more recently, girls of my own age like Grace Maloney turned professional at Reading.

“Once girls like that started getting full-time contracts, I realised that those doors were starting to open in women's football, that there might be that opportunity.”