Hayley Raso: “I wanted to be back in this league and at this level”
Sun 01 September 2024, 15:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Hayley Raso is excited to be back in the Barclays Women’s Super League after completing her move on Sunday.
The Australia international, who penned a deal that will run until 2026, arrives at Hotspur Way with a 13-year playing career to date, making over 250 senior club appearances and scoring more than 50 goals.
After 12 months away from WSL, having had spells at Everton and Manchester City between 2020 and 2023, Hayley returns to England’s top flight following her spell in Spain with Real Madrid and she highlighted a chat with a fellow Matilda in the squad was key in making her decision.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be here,” said our new number eight. “Coming into the facilities, meeting the staff, everything is just expectational.
“I have met a few of the girls already and they are so sweet, I’m looking forward to getting started.
I say I’m pretty versatile, super determined and I always give 100% at all times, I’m fast-paced, I like to press and run at players.
“The WSL is such a competitive league and you saw that with all the games and teams so, for me to come back here was an easy choice, I wanted to be back in this league and at this level – and Spurs was the team I chose to do that with.
“I had a chat with Robert [Vilahamn] and he gave such a good impression and good vibes of the team and then I spoke to ‘Charli’ [Grant] who has been here a while about what she thought of the Club and how things have gone. For me, after that chat, it was a pretty easy decision to want to come here.”
The arrival of Hayley becomes our third Matilda in the squad – joining Charli and defender Clare Hunt – and she is looking forward to joining up with them. She said: “Having the Aussie girls here is bit of an extra comfort, coming in and already knowing them, I think, it will make my settling in process a little easier.”
With 82 caps to her name for Australia, scoring 19 goals in that time, it’s fair to say we know what to expect from the versatile forward heading into the 2024/25 campaign but Hayley is keen to contribute more in the final third.
“I say I’m pretty versatile, super determined and I always give 100% at all times, I’m fast-paced, I like to press and run at players and, hopefully this season I can get a few goals and assists,” she added.
“My personal goal for this season is to help the team as much as I can, I think, times have changed for me now and I feel I’m more of a veteran to the game, so I hope to bring my experiences to the team to help the group as much as I can.”
It has been a whirlwind 12 months for the 29-year-old. First, she competed at the 2023 FIFA World Cup on home soil, where she netted three goals in their campaign, helping them to reach the semi-final of the competition for the first time.
Her impressive performances in that competition not only saw her complete a move to Spain to join Real Madrid, becoming the first Australian to play for the club, but she was also shortlisted for last year’s Ballon D’or in 2023 for the first time her career
“It was probably the biggest honour of my career, to be up there with some of the names included and to be recognised for the way I was performing was pretty special,” when reflecting on the achievement.
“The last 12 months have been really good, we had the World Cup in Australia which was incredible, then off the back of that, I went to Real Madrid and I really enjoyed my time there. We then had the Olympics and now I’m here so I feel the last 12 months have been big.”
