Now in her 19th season with the club, our Women’s team skipper talks us through her time with the Whites since signing aged nine…
There is a sense of excitement in the air as Leeds United Women captain Olivia Smart walks through the doors of the LUDO Lounge.
Today, the defender is a special guest, dropping by a Leeds United Foundation run Grassroots Summer Camp held for a large group of budding female footballers from local side Calverley United at Elland Road.
After the initial hellos and the clamour for photos, the session kicks off with a multiple-choice quiz all about Olivia, for the youngsters – with questions primed and ready – to get involved in.
“I hope I get them right!” she laughs, ahead of the quiz ranging from what position she plays to what team she supports. We hope you get them right too, Olivia! The quiz comes to an end and the floor is open for the young girls to speak to one of their role models, with them keen to find out about the 30-year-old’s experiences in the game and the best bits of advice she would offer.
“It’s a good event,” she says a little later, now sat in the Revie Stand looking across the famous old ground, with a smile beaming across her face. “There were a lot of girls in there so it was nice for them to be at Elland Road. It is a massive thing for people who don’t get access to football when it’s not on over the summer. I think us being able to provide something for them makes their day.
“It means a lot for us players to be able to come and help them have a nice experience. We were once those kids and that should never be a thing that we forget. The smallest thing that we can do is to try keep them interested in football and I think that is helpful for the area and can go a long way.”
The community aspect is something the versatile full-back is keen to buy into. Growing up in the city, access to girl’s football at the time was limited for Smart, until she was scouted by the club whilst playing for a boys team. Conversations followed, before she was invited up to Thorp Arch to go on trial as a youngster. Nineteen seasons later, Smart still shares the same buzz of excitement when reporting for training.
“It is always a privilege and, mainly as a Leeds fan, going up there it is a special environment. It is not something I can explain to people unless you are in my position. I am fortunate enough to do that. It’s a professional outfit. We’ve got an elite mentality.”
That drive to win has been instilled in the skipper since youth, helping her to win caps for England Colleges, among a number of accolades during her career with the Whites, notably lifting the FA Women’s National League Plate in 2023.
“For me it’s about mindset. Football is all about physical performance – but mental performance comes hand in hand with that. Having that professional environment that makes you feel like an elite athlete while you’re there, that is huge. It gives you some winning mentality from the off. You have got to have some winning attitude. You have got to want it.
“Hard work beats talent, doesn’t it?” she continues. “If talent doesn’t work, work hard. That’s a saying I have lived by since I was young. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t want it enough, it’s a wasted opportunity. All of those girls in there at that Foundation event will be talented enough to achieve things. They’ve just got to work hard and have the mentality to do that.”
Like many of Simon Wood’s squad, Olivia, or “Deej” as she is better known by her teammates, balances her football alongside her career. A nurse by trade, while still only 30, the defender has her sights on moving into the sport once her playing days are behind her.
“Football has been a massive part of my life for so long, that I wouldn’t know what I was without it. It has made me who I am. Obviously, there are other elements in that – my career, my family and my friends – that have all shaped me as well. But football has been so important for so long now that I wouldn’t want to be without it. It takes up so much time, so much commitment and I have dedicated the majority of my life to it. That, alongside a career is hard. Being a nurse is a very full-on job and I have had to work so hard at my career. But if I can do it, anyone can!”
A Leeds fan since childhood, moments like lifting the FAWNL Plate and leading her team out against powerhouses Arsenal in the Women’s FA Cup, with international stars like Leah Williamson lining up for the opposition, were made sweeter for the skipper, who proudly wears the armband when she pulls on the shirt.
“Being captain of Leeds United is something I would never have even dreamed of to be honest,” she adds, still surprised somewhat but with an underlying air of confidence about her qualities.
“I didn’t think I was that person but over the past few years I have matured into someone who can be a leader and I think people do look to me for mentality. Sometimes I am the bad cop on the pitch and that’s because I want the standards to be high. I expect 100 per cent effort 100 per cent of the time – and that’s not something I am shy about saying.”
The last piece of silverware Smart got her hands on was the Julie Chipchase Trophy, with Leeds having beaten Doncaster Rovers Belles in a pre-season fixture that celebrated the life of one of women’s football’s true pioneers. With a number of exciting new additions to Wood’s squad, the Whites are clear in their ambitions for the season, vying for promotion to help the sport continue its rapid rise across the city.
Smart and her teammates are laying the foundations for the next generations of girls to follow in their footsteps, and events like the Grassroots Summer Camp might just inspire the next Leeds United star.
“Today, these girls enjoyed some behind-the-scenes access which is amazing for them and one or two of them in there might be playing for Leeds when they are older. The girls are going to have a big opportunity to be professional. I am kind of sad that I am not a teenager now, coming into football. I hope that they can see that what we have pushed for them to have and they can reap the rewards from it.”
Leeds United Women continue their FAWNL Division One North campaign this weekend as they welcome Middlesbrough to the Bannister Prentice Stadium on Sunday. Read our match preview HERE.
