Ashleigh Neville on 150 appearances: “This is home to me”

It has been some journey for Ashleigh Neville in Lilywhite.

Joining the Club in July, 2017, from Coventry United, the defender has achieved a number of magnificent milestones in her six years so far, including being part of the squad that secured promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League for the first time in 2019, but, most recently, she reached another personal career achievement.

Already our longest serving player, the 30-year-old made her 150^th appearance for Spurs last month as she started and played the full 90 minutes in our 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate in the WSL.

Taking our spot in the Women’s building at Hotspur Way as the rain began to fell outside, we sat down with Ashleigh to reflect on the impressive milestone and the progression of the Club throughout each year.

“It feels like a very big number and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be able to hit that, so I’m really proud that I have been able to achieve that at this Club,” our number 29 said.

“It’s my seventh season and if you add up all those games, then 150 doesn’t seem a lot but it has kind of flown by. I remember reaching my 100^th appearance and getting little memorabilia which is still hanging on the wall at home and that seemed ages ago.

“This is home to me. I have always said that I would want to finish my career here. I have hopefully got a few more years in me still, I love it here with the staff and players, the facilities we have available for us, and the way we have been playing this season has been enjoyable to play in and watch.

“It has progressed massively from where we came from as a team, but also as a Club from where we have come from standard-wise and it will continue to grow with the plans put in place.”

Although Ashleigh was quick to praise the staff and her team-mates for her journey so far, the defender wanted to reiterate the impact the supporters have made, from the very first time she stepped out as a Lilywhite at The Stadium Cheshunt to playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“The supporters have been fantastic during my time at the Club and I have kind of seen more and more new faces throughout each season,” Ashleigh added. “I still keep in contact with those who came down seven years ago at Cheshunt when there was only 50 people and to still be in the stands to this day, week in, week out, whether it’s home or away, for me personally, and also the Club, we are very grateful to everyone who come down to support us.”

With 150 appearances and seven seasons to her name, what has been Ash’s favourite memory at the Club to date?

When posed with the question, she answered: “One of my favourite memories has to be scoring at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Leicester City in the final game of 2021/22 campaign and, obviously, beating Arsenal earlier in the season was also another highlight.

“There’s also a few memorable moments before we got promoted to the WSL, including the game against Charlton Athletic where I scored twice to win 3-2 and that kept us in the race to get promoted and then the game when we drew with Aston Villa at their ground to secure promotion to the WSL for the first time in our history.

“We could even look back at recently and that was the penalty shootout success over Manchester City to progress to the semi-final of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, so it’s fair to say there’s quite a few to pick out in my journey with the Club so far.”

As we wrapped up the interview at Hotspur Way on what felt like a winter day in Spring, sitting in the Women’s building is a constant reminder to Ashleigh of the progression of the Club from when she first joined and acknowledges the impact it has had not only on the first team section, but also for the academy.

“We obviously had a lot of games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and there’s a few more to come in the next couple of weeks and, hopefully, more in the future,” Ash said.

“But, facilities-wise here, it’s incredible and, I know, they have got a lot of plans for the future for the Women’s and Girls’ section, which will be fantastic to see the continued growth of the set-up. However, we are very grateful for what we have at the moment from where we have come from.”

Gallery | Ashleigh's Spurs career in images so far

Join us at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tickets remain available for our Women’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 14 April (12pm UK) as we look to reach the final of the competition for the first time in our team’s history.