In July, 2019, Rosella Ayane swapped the city of Bristol and moved to the capital to begin a new adventure with the Club.
Fast forward nearly five years later – well, four years and eight months to be precise – and the 28-year-old has achieved a magnificent milestone in Lilywhite.
Rosella wrote her name as a centurion in the Club’s history books and surpassed 100 appearances for Spurs, becoming a vital part of our growth from our first-ever season in the Barclays Women’s Super League to now.
As we sat down with the Morocco international at Hotspur Way in the Women’s training complex – highlighting the growth of the Club since she joined in 2019 – it all feels like home for Rosella now.
“It’s a special moment to have achieved this milestone with the Club,” said our number 23.
“I have been here for a couple of the years now but, when it was mentioned to me that I was coming close to it, it was quite a surprise as it has gone by quite quickly. It’s a proud moment and, hopefully, I can kick on from here.
“It’s always special to put on a Spurs jersey and it feels like home to me now, I have been here for so long and, to be settled at a Club for such a long time in women’s football, it can be unheard off.
“It has been an honour to step out on the pitch in Lilywhite and play in front of our supporters, I have loved every minute of it and watching our supporters cheer us on and get behind us every match, year on year.
"We know sometimes it hasn’t been easy, but we are really kicking on now and the support means the world to all of us.”
Rosella made the move to Enfield ahead of our first-ever season in the WSL and has been with us every step of the way in England’s top division, so the forward has seen quite the difference, on and off the pitch, across her five-year spell so far.
"I joined the Club ahead of our first-ever season in the WSL, so to see where we were then to when I first joined, it’s like night and day," Rosella added.
"It has been a pleasure to have been on this journey with the Club, to see it grow for my own eyes and even some of the players develop as well – the women’s side has evolved so much.
"But, even off the pitch, we have seen so much progression in the women’s game with supporters, more coming through the gate at the stadium, crowds getting larger and games getting sold out.
"Our fanbase has grown over the last five years, so it has been really positive to watch and you can clearly see the difference from when I first joined."
Rosella was part of the squad that played against Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time back in November, 2019, and we have gone on to play seven more fixtures in N17 since then, including that memorable victory over the Gunners earlier this campaign.
We will be returning to the world-class stadium on two occasions before the end of this season – the Adobe Women’s FA Cup semi-final against Leicester City on 14 April and then the WSL clash with West Ham United on 18 May – and she’s looking forward to being back there next month.
“It’s obviously great to play at these stadiums and get crowds in, it’s always special to play in these games. I’m hoping it can become a more regular thing and something we can get used to.
“The attendances are increasing and the popularity is getting bigger, so hopefully we can play in stadiums like that more often and we get bigger crowds.
"We are looking forward to returning to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, especially after such a memorable game against Arsenal last time out, and we will look to do that once again against Leicester City next month.”
Rosella Ayane celebrates scoring against West Ham United in January, 2022.
Rosella Ayane celebrates scoring against West Ham United in January, 2022.
It has been some journey in the Women’s FA Cup so far and it all started with late heroics from Rosella in the fourth round, after finding ourselves 2-0 down to Sheffield United, Bethany England netted a brace to bring the scores level in the closing stages of the game.
As the clock ticked towards the sixth minute of injury-time, it seemed that we were heading to extra-time, however, a beautiful ball over the top from Olga Ahtinen found Rosella through on goal, where she showed complete composure to lift the ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
That moment really kicked started our historic campaign in the FA Cup as we overcame Charlton Athletic and then Manchester City in the quarter-final to book our spot in the last four of the competition for the first time in our history.
So, where does that goal rank for Rosella in Lilywhite?
“That goal is up there as one of the most important goals during my time at Spurs, I think a last-minute winner is something every forward loves, especially in a knockout game. It was really special and it seems that we love late drama in the FA Cup but, if it gets us through to the next round, that’s all I care about.
“In terms of my favourite goal for Spurs, that one was fun and can be considered as one. This might be completely off topic, however I do remember scoring a header once, I can’t remember the opposition, but I get bantered a lot about my heading ability so any headed goal that I score I will take.”
We are at the backend of the season now, with only five games left to play in the WSL and, of course, that semi-final fixture in the Women’s FA Cup, but it has been a vastly improved campaign.
We have already surpassed our points tally from last season and have closed the gap on the top five, sitting just three points behind Manchester United in fifth place – and we face the Red Devils in our next league fixture on Sunday 21 April.
“There’s still a lot to play for before the end of the season,” said Rosella, when asked about the targets heading into the final months.
“If anyone said to us at the start of the campaign for us to have reached the semi-final of the Women’s FA Cup, everyone would have been all over it.
“It’s a huge moment for the Club and, hopefully, we can go one step further, but all focus is on our clash with Leicester City. In regard to the league, we just wanted to finish better than we did last season, so where we were 12 months ago feels like a lifetime ago and is way behind us.
“We are just trying to improve as the team, on and off the pitch, and you can see that in our performances. We aren’t focusing too much finishing on a specific position in the table, we just aimed to improve from our last campaign and we are currently doing that.”
Rosella celebrates her winner against Sheffield United in the Adobe Women's FA Cup in January, 2024.
Rosella celebrates her winner against Sheffield United in the Adobe Women's FA Cup in January, 2024.
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