Academy product Izzy Elliott is proof that youngsters can progress into the first team. Now, the defender wants to inspire the next crop coming through...
It is Friday evening at the West Riding FA. Over 250 aspiring female footballers have descended on the training pitches, each brimming with excitement and ready to continue their development. The next generation of stars, right at the start of their footballing journeys.
Each proudly represent Leeds United, with the sessions put on by the club’s Foundation working with children from Under-7s to Under-16s level as part of the Shadow Squad development programme. Tonight, however, there is a twist to the schedule.
Alongside Whites’ teammate Alice Hughes, former Academy product Izzy Elliott is a special guest at training, bringing back memories of when she was in the youngsters’ shoes.
“There is a lot here, isn’t there?” she laughs. “I think it is motivating for them to see us. When I was at that age, all I looked up to was any of the Leeds Women’s players that I knew. I just wanted to be like them, so for me to now be in that position, I think it is great for them to also be inspired.
“I really hope a few of them do go away and take some of the advice that we have given them tonight. It is just nice for them to know that they can also one day get to where we are, and if that is the goal, then also know what they need to do to work towards it!”
The versatile 20-year-old defender, capable of playing centrally or at full-back, is hounded by questions from all age groups; the children keen to get an understanding of what it takes to get to the top, clearly inspired and equally excited about having the chance to meet a member of the first-team squad. For every fun question, a serious one follows.
“What is your penalty technique?” is met with a quick: “I’m a defender so I don’t know, but I reckon I would just whack it in the top corner!” Football is an easy game when said like that.
Elliott takes a moment to think before answering the next question posed, though, as one of the members of an older group wonders what advice she would give them.
“I would just say to always enjoy yourself. You know what your goals are so keep working towards them. Don’t think that anything can stop you.”
Izzy’s words resonate with the aspiring players and with good reason. Having progressed through the youth ranks, she made her debut for her childhood club in an FA Cup victory over Redcar Town back in 2021, aged just 16 at the time. Proof, then, that they can reap the rewards of today’s hard work later down the line.
“It is really good,” she continues, when we ask about the importance of tonight’s training sessions and the hours that go in behind the scenes by the coaching staff. “It is great to see all the hard work that is being put in to show them what they can really achieve.
“For them to come down and speak to Alice and myself tonight, it has been really good for them to know that they have got a step forward that they can take to go further up with the Women’s team rather than getting to the older age groups and not knowing what they need to do.”
The next theme brought up, this time by the Under-13s before they break off into a six-a-side game, focuses on dealing with setbacks. That, unfortunately, is something the defender knows all too well this campaign.
Just three games into the start of the season, in an impressive 2-0 cup victory over higher-tier opposition Halifax, Elliott sustained a serious long-term injury that she is still recovering from.
A painstaking amount of gruelling rehabilitation has gone in at Thorp Arch, with the 20-year-old setting her sights on the start of next term to make her long awaited return to action.
The extended spell on the sidelines has been frustrating she admits, forced to watch from the stands while her teammates have competed towards the top of the FA WNL Division One North.
“It has been tough,” she continues. “It is my first long-term injury, but I think in a way it has helped me. It has helped me to get to know what I need to be working on. I am hoping that I will come back as a better player. I know what I need to be working on that can help me so I am taking all the positives I can from it.
“After the injury happened, I couldn’t really change anything. All I knew was the hard work that I had to start putting in was more than what I was doing before. I am looking forward now to getting back on the pitch and earning my way back into the squad to do everything I can to help the team.”
The club means everything to Elliott. Raised in a Leeds-obsessed household, football was all the defender knew from an early age.
Joining her local side Howden Clough aged six, a boys’ team that was coached by her father Richard, Izzy’s education in the game started at a very early age and she soon linked up with the academy set up. A “dream come true”, she recalls with a smile.
After making her debut for the Whites, she has been a feature in matchday squads as she looks to cement herself in the first-team picture, making 21 appearances last term across all competitions and scoring twice, before injury curtailed what promised to be a breakout year for the defender.
As time winds down on what has been an eventful and exciting training session under the dimming evening sun, two girls approach Izzy and Alice wanting a photo.
“I feel like they can look up to us now, which is amazing, rather than it being men’s players and the men’s teams that they look up to. They have actually got a chance to look up to women’s players. The academy is growing a lot so it is really good to see that they can be inspired by the women’s team!”
Once in their shoes and still finding her feet in senior football herself, Elliott has been there before and the evening’s chat with the upcoming generation might have just inspired the next Leeds United star.
The Whites return to FA WNL action this weekend with a trip to face Barnsley at Oakwell. Read our match preview HERE.
