Charlotte Grant on settling in: “My team-mates have all made me feel at home”
Tue 30 January 2024, 16:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Charlotte Grant says she has been ‘loving’ life at the Club after making her first start in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Australia international completed a move to N17 at the beginning of January and has since featured in everygame this month, starting in the victory over Sheffield United in the FA Cup and, most recently, against Manchester City in the WSL.
After a few weeks settling in at Hotspur Way, ‘Charli’ admitted it was difficult moving to another country but feels she has adapted to life in England with the help of her team-mates.
“I have settled in really well,” Charli said. “It has been easy with this group of players and staff as they make you feel so welcome. They have all made me feel at home, so I’m loving it.
“They made me feel very comfortable from the beginning and have invited myself, and the other new players, to different places and things like that, making you feel part of the squad.
“It’s difficult moving to a new country, getting use to different lifestyles and how different things are, but as I mentioned, the girls have been giving me all the best tips and tricks and that has been really helpful with the move.”
Charli was our third signing of the transfer window, joining alongside Shuang Wang, Amanda Nilden and Matilda Vinberg - who she knew from her time in Sweden - and the defender spoke about the importance of having some familiar faces when arriving.
“I knew Matilda from mutual friends in Sweden and Olga [Athinen] from playing in Sweden as well, although I didn’t know her personally, it was a familiar face which was nice. Joining here with Amanda and Matilda has been nice, we have been bouncing ideas off each other and experience those feelings of moving to another country together.”
Charli has made four appearances in all competitions so far and netted her first goal for the Club in the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup tie against Southampton, forcing the ball home from Matilda’s corner, and she referred to it as a ‘special feeling’ to open her account in Lilywhite.
Reflecting on her time in England so far, she said: “It has been a great experience, but also challenging at the same time, especially coming up against Manchester City at the weekend, one of the best teams in the world at the moment. That was a really good challenge for me and as a team.
“It was a special feeling to score my first goal for the Club, it doesn’t happen often though, so I was very excited for that to go into the back of the net. I think when you score a goal for a new team, that’s when you really feel part of the squad.
“We have been working on set pieces, so to score from one of those was great as we worked hard on them heading into the game.”
