Laura Blindkilde Brown: My grassroots story

When I first started out playing football, I played for a boys’ team for a couple of years when I was young. The boys probably thought at first, ‘why is a girl playing?’ but I slotted in.

My first team was Warndon Villages Boys – I was there until I was about nine. I didn’t actually ever play in a girls’ grassroots team. At that time, there weren’t many girls’ teams around, so it did feel a bit daunting playing in a boys’ team.

Reflecting back, that’s really helped me in my career because it really pushed me when I was in the team.

My brothers both played football and my dad was a coach so, naturally, I just did whatever they did! It always has been a really competitive household but as much as it was competitive, it did really push me.

My brothers are always telling me what I can do better but it’s also good because I can learn off them as well. Whenever they watch my games now, they’re the first to tell me what I should’ve done or I should’ve shot there – they’re definitely on at me constantly!

My dad would take me to one game and my mum would take me to my brothers’ game so it was mostly split. If we had different training days, my dad would take me one day and then my brother the other. It wasn’t stressful for my mum and dad but they put a lot of hours in driving and sitting and watching training.

But by the time I joined a girls’ academy, I was in a place where I could compete with the other girls that were there.

When I was in school, a Villa coach came in to do some coaching and he said he wanted me to come and trial for Villa. I went and trialled for the under-11s and got in there.

When I first trialled, my mum and dad didn’t think I was going to get in! I probably wasn’t as good as some of the other players. When he told me I passed the trial, from then, being in an academy from a young age and playing at a high level was really helpful. I went through the pathway at Villa for about five years, then joined Birmingham City for two years.

But starting playing football from such a young age did really push me on. It was just about the enjoyment of playing and constantly getting better. Those were the main things.