Interviews

Le Tissier: This is a special group of players

Defender won the Women's Young Player of the Year award on Monday night.

By Nick Szczepanik • 11 May 2022

By Paul Hazlewood
Maya Le Tissier won the Women's Young Player of the Season award, sponsored by SYH Properties, at the end of season awards.

Maya Le Tissier, the Women’s Young Player of the Season, credits her teammates and the coaching staff for her award.

“It is a team game and sometimes as a young player it is difficult to come in and step up,” the 20-year-old defender said. “But they have helped me and guided me along the way. It is a special group. There are a lot of leaders in the team that I look up to. 

“To have a manager like Hope Powell to guide us is great and we are privileged to have her – an icon, a legend of the game. She keeps the standards high. Victoria Williams is all you can ask for as a captain. Massive credit to her because I don’t think we would be the team we are if she wasn’t here.

“A lot of the players say that other teams aren’t like this and that has helped us to stick together and push up the table. It is hard because there is a big gap between us and the top three or four but we are trying to bridge it and the only way is up.”

The club recently unveiled a strategy aimed at getting closer to the WSL top four by 2024 and Le Tissier is excited by the vision. “It makes you hungry and to want to be a part of it,” she said.  

By Paul Hazlewood
Le Tissier broke the record for the most WSL appearances made by a teenager earlier on this campaign.

“It is difficult in this league but that is our ambition and we have all the support and the facilities to achieve that so why not give it a go?”

And she believes that it can help her own development as a player. “I want to be the best and this special group will push me to be the best I can be. You always want to learn and get better and I know I have got so much more in me.”