Welcome to the second edition of ‘My Football Journey’, our programme feature designed to tell the stories of the Albion Women players and how they came to love the beautiful game.
Harriet Grimshaw was first up, but now it’s Rhianne Oakley’s turn to discuss her football beginnings in the second instalment of our featured series.
From her early grounding in rugby to her favourite Mark Noble shirt, and with an appearance from Mary Earps along the way, there are plenty of interesting subjects mentioned.
The floor is yours, Rhi…
What’s your earliest memory of football?
Probably putting on a West Ham United top as a kid. My dad is a huge West Ham fan, so putting one of them on has got to be my first memory from when I was younger. I can’t remember who it was, but I remember having a Mark Noble top in more recent years, which I’ve had for a while.
Do you remember the first match you ever went to?
It was probably a Bristol Rovers one; my Nan sponsors a few of the players, so I’d always go along and have my photos with them. They were my local team growing up; it was never Bristol City, it had to be Rovers. My Nan is like a proper hooligan; she goes to home and away matches, and she knows all of the players at The Memorial Stadium.
You played rugby before football; what was that journey like?
I started playing rugby when I was three. My dad played both football and rugby; he’d play for Forest Green Rovers on a Saturday, and then rugby on a Sunday - they caught him out in the end and told him to pick one or the other, which was quite a dilemma for him, but he went down the rugby route. My older brother grew up playing rugby, so I’d go to his games, and I got involved with it. I played with the boys’ team when I was younger, and I played with a lot of players who went on to play for Bristol Bears. I couldn’t play with the boys’ team after the age of 12, so I went to the girls’ team and got called up for the southwest of England and Gloucestershire and played for the U18s at the age of 14. I then went to a football tournament in Year 10 because my teacher asked if I wanted to go as the goalkeeper. I went as a goalkeeper, and I went up front for the last game because it didn’t really matter - I scored like six, and then my teacher went over to my dad to say I should be playing football instead.
What happened after you made the switch?
Well, rugby training clashed with football training, so I’d fallen out with rugby a bit, just based on not having too many teams in my area. I probably didn’t start playing until I was about 14 or 15, and I played for two years before I got called up for Wales, and I joined Bristol City not long after. There was Lauren Hemp, Mary Earps, all there - quite a lot of people there. They realised I was Welsh, and I got the call-up for the youth teams - it all went from there.
Who was your footballing idol growing up?
Mark Noble would be up there, but I really liked Fernando Torres, probably just because of the long blonde hair - otherwise, it was just any West Ham player, really. Maybe even Andy Carroll, you know.
Do you have a favourite memory in football so far?
My first call-up for Wales was very special, it happened so quickly, and I wasn’t even interested in playing football before then. Maybe even winning the treble with Cardiff City was a good year. We beat Wrexham in the cup final, and that was brilliant.
What’s the most iconic pair of football boots you owned?
I used to have a pair of red and white T90s, they were brilliant, and I used to love them. Even when they stopped fitting me, I would make them fit because I couldn’t get rid of them. Nowadays, it’s any boot that’s pink; it doesn’t matter the brand, they’re all brilliant.
