Kim Little

[Murfy1]

Huge signing. Will star in the W-League

 

 

Exclusive: Kim Little on moving to Oz and why Scotland's women will beat the men in the race to reach a major finals

 

Stewart Fisher

17 October 2015

 

KIM Little bodyswerves the assertion that she is Scotland's only world class footballer but doesn't deviate from her expectation that the nation's women's team will reach a major finals before the men ever do. This unassuming 25-year-old, raised in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, has quietly become one of our greatest sporting exports. Having ticked off England with a trophy-laden spell with Arsenal Ladies, and the USA with her successful ongoing attachment to Seattle Reign, now it is time to hold another continent in her thrall. In a week or so, Little will pack her bags for a whistlestop loan spell with W-League outfit Melbourne City. It is the kind of temporary arrangement usually reserved for the globetrotting world stars of the men's game like David Beckham or Frank Lampard.

Where Little really wants to go, though, is Netherlands in the summer of 2017, for the finals of the Uefa Women's Euro. Speaking of world class players, many of them of all sexes and from many minor nations have agonisingly failed to make it to these summer showpieces over the years but if ever there was a chance for Little to experience that Gareth Bale moment and inspire Anna Signeul's side to that big breakthrough moment then this, surely, is it.

After a victory in Slovenia on the group's opening matchday (courtesy of a Little hat-trick), now it is the turn of Belarus to take on the Scots in Motherwell next Friday night, the first part of a double header which also includes a trip to Skopje to face Macedonia. While miracle football nation Iceland are the highest-ranked side in the group, at No 19, the finals have been expanded from 12 to 16 teams, meaning the eight group winners and the six best runners up all qualify. Scotland can call themselves the 20th best team in the world and the 11th best team in Europe so Little would take it rather personally if they can't make it.

"No-one has ever said that to me," Little told the Herald Sport modestly. "I don't think that really comes into it. We all want to qualify for major tournaments. It doesn't matter whether you are a goalkeeper, a forward or whatever, everyone would love to get there and everyone would deserve it if we can do it. I'm not really someone who feels extra pressure.

"But we have drawn a really good group, probably better than we ever have done," she added. "Iceland are obviously a great team and will give us hard games but we hope that we can pick up all the points we should from the teams ranked lower than us and that will hopefully lead us to get us to the Euros.

"It would be a huge disappointment if we don't make it, considering we are ranked one of the top 16 teams in Europe. It is definitely a far more achievable campaign than any other we have been in. But we are not complacent - we know we need to go out and get the results, then hopefully come the end of next year we will be on our way to the Netherlands. Getting to a major finals would be a huge leap forward for us in terms of developing the sport in this country. We have been so close the last two times but just fallen short. It would be a great thing for young girls to see a Scottish women's team playing on that stage."

Little's close control and touch were honed in mixed gender teams at Mintlaw Academy but suffice to say a few of the finer points in the failed campaign of Gordon Strachan's side were lost on her. "I am never really in Scotland and I haven't really been able to sit down and watch one match right through," he said. "It is obviously very disappointing, though, especially when you consider how well Wales and Northern Ireland have done in qualifying. Obviously their focus will be the next campaign now but I think any nation with a footballing culture like ours should expect to be at major tournaments."

So busy has Little been recently - her Seattle Reign side finished the regular season with the best record only to lose in the play-off final to Kansas City FC for the second successive year - that this former FA and Premier League player of the year, NWSL League MVP and NWSL golden boot winner also admits she is going into her Antipodean adventure somewhat blind. She has never even previously been to Australia but her three month, 12-game season with expansion team Melbourne City, at the height of the Australian summer, will be another life experience.

"We get together on Tuesday afternoon, play on Friday, then we go to Macedonia the week after and then it is out to Australia for me," said Little, the scorer of 44 goals in her 108 caps to date. "I have never been out to Australia before or that part of the world and I would love to see it. The season in the USA is not so long as some other seasons, the Australian season kind of fits into it. I thought about doing it last year but chose not to. I have been told Melbourne is a great city by a load of people but I don't know too much about the league. The Australia team is very strong, though, and three or four of them play with Melbourne."

Little has, of course, graced one major finals already, one of three Scots in total called up for Team GB team at the London 2012 Olympics - something she looks back on with fondness despite all the political football being played around that time. "What goals do I have left?" she asks. "Just to go out and play football. To keep getting better. To go out there every day and win."

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13875818.Exclusive__Kim_Little_on_moving_to_Oz_and_why_Scotland_s_women_will_beat_the_men_in_the_race_to_reach_a_major_finals/

 

 

[Shahanga]

Classy creative midfielder. She looks like she'll be able to provide good service to De Vanna

[Murfy1]

Kim Little: North-east star making her mark across the world

 

3 December 2015

Neil Drysdale

 

There aren’t many Scottish footballers plying their trade in two different continents at the moment.

But, there again, Kim Little has always blazed her own trail and racked up the air miles with the attitude that genius is an infinite capacity for taking planes.

The 25-year-old Aberdonian, who launched her career at Buchan Girls, recently signed for Melbourne City in the Australian W-League and she is returning Down Under tomorrow after helping Scotland thrash Macedonia 10-0 in a European Championship qualifying match last Sunday.

Little, who has already amassed 113 international caps, will spend the next three months in Melbourne before rejoining the United Nations squad at Seattle Reign in the National Women’s Super League. And, as she told the Press and Journal, she has no doubt her “Have passport, will travel” philosophy is helping her country take strides forward.

Little said: “It has been paramount to our development that so many of the Scottish girls are now playing in professional and semi-professional leagues, whether it is in England, the US, Europe or Australia.

“It gives us the chance to train full time, to fling ourselves into football 100%, and you can see the signs of progress we are making.

“Sometimes, it does get tiring when you have to come all the way from Australia to join the rest of the squad, but you never complain about being picked for your country. The standard of the W-League isn’t as high as it is in America, but the quality is rising, the fan numbers are going the same way, and it’s a fantastic opportunity to be playing in two different places, thousands of miles apart.

“It also means that I can finish the season in Melbourne before getting back to Seattle for their new campaign, which runs from March to October. It was my choice to do this and I’m enjoying every minute of it”.

Little has been part of the Scotland line-up which has thus far scored 24 goals in four matches against Slovenia, Belarus and Macedonia. But there’s no trace of smugness or complacency in her make-up. Instead, befitting the individual who became the first-ever recipient of the Professional Football Association’s “Woman Player of the Year” in 2013, she thinks her compatriots have to keep striving to climb the rankings.

Little added: “We’ve made a good start to the Euro qualifiers, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. Yes, we’ve managed some big wins, but we were expected to win these games, so the real test will come when we tackle Iceland next year.

“We’re confident in how we are playing, and there is a terrific spirit among the girls, but, to be honest, we’ve only achieved what we thought we would do at this stage. We have to kick on from here in 2016.”

This is somebody who has never lost touch with her roots, not since the early days when she beat the boys as one of the “Mintlaw Miracles” at a skills tournament in Aberdeen. But Kim can see at least some benefit from spending Christmas in Oz which has nothing to do with football.

As she said: “I’ve heard there could be a barbecue on the beach, so that will be something different and something a bit warmer than usual.

“My Scotland teammate, Jenny Beattie (daughter of former British Lion, John) is also in Australia just now, so I’m sure we will find plenty to talk about over the festive period. And there are lots of Scottish expats in Australia, so we won’t be alone when the New Year arrives.”

Her name may be Little. But there is nothing small about the ambitions of this special north-east talent.

 

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/sport-editors-picks/770032/kim-little-north-east-star-making-mark-across-world/

[Murfy1]

Little Kim standing among the giants

 

23 December 2015

 

Melbourne City have set a new standard for the Westfield W-League and the jewel in a glittering crown is diminutive Scottish maestro Kim Little.

The league’s new club are on track for a premiership win in their maiden season having racked up an incredible nine straight wins. And while the real prize remains next month’s grand final, City can claim the premiership with a win on Monday at Brisbane Roar.

Little has won the league premiership with her two most recent clubs – Arsenal and Seattle Reign – in seven out of the eight past years, and hopes to add another with City.

It is simply an extraordinary record.  “I don’t like losing,” laughs Little when the matter of her remarkable run is raised.

The Aberdeen native is a bona-fide star in USA’s NWSL, a league where many of the headlines are grabbed by Americans.

Though mostly playing as an attacking midfielder, Little was the league’s top-scorer in 2014 and second top-scorer this year.

Now she is thoroughly enjoying a new chapter in her football odyssey at Melbourne City.           

“It has been great to come out here and get the season off to such a great start,” Little says. “Australia has been a place I always wanted to visit so it has been a great opportunity for me.

“The club is run very professionally, and on the pitch the team plays a nice style of possession football which is the way I like to play. We have many great Australian internationals here which helped make the transition smooth.”

Off the field Little is lapping up the Melbourne lifestyle, comparing it favourably to another 21st-century city where she spends much of her year: Seattle.

“A few of us like to go out and have brunch and coffee,” Little says when asked how she fills her days between training and playing matches. “When we can, we go to St Kilda or along the river. There are so many places, and I think we have been to a different one every time.

“It is a cool city and we are getting to see a lot, and do a lot of cool things. I really like Melbourne and it is just a little bit similar to Seattle, though much warmer here. It is a very cosmopolitan city.

“Going to outdoor cinemas a couple of times has been fun too, and you certainly can’t do that back home in the UK."

Not that Little is seemingly distracted by off-field activities. She has scored five goals, and is averaging a goal a game to be among a pack of players chasing Westfield W-League top-scorer Larissa Crummer.

And if Melbourne City’s results are not impressive enough already, Little says her side have further room for improvement.

“In some games we have performed really well, and in other games I think we felt we could have done more in terms of possession or scoring more goals.

“But in general of course we have to be happy, having not lost and with so many cleansheets.

“We can be better overall, and it is just a case of improving our performances going into the last part of the season."

 

http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/little-kim-standing-among-the-giants/1j3y1wcjst5sq16cnliz22v7mx

[Kinnibari]

It's been very enjoyable watching her play this season.

[Murfy1]

Little heading home after W-League win

 

1 Feb 2016

 

Kim Little, the star of Melbourne City's W-League grand final success, won't be back to help defend the club's hard-earned title.

Little won the player of the match award in Sunday's 4-1 grand final triumph at AAMI Park for a masterful attacking display.

The 25-year-old set up Jen Beattie for the opening goal before curling home a fine free kick herself to put City 2-0 up.

In injury-time, Little released Lisa De Vanna to score the game's final goal - showing the Scot's commitment to finishing off the job.

It comes as a shame then that Little won't be back for City's second season.

"It was always a one-season thing," she said.

"I wanted to experience Australia, experience the league here and have a different opportunity.

"I go back to (US club) Seattle in March and I have other priorities come October."

Little said she was proud of her role in setting up the foundation club for success in their debut year.

"Melbourne City are a club that's raised the bar here in Australia especially," she said.

"The club environment, the facilities, the coaching staff, everything around us was so elite and professional.

"I played for Arsenal and in America with Seattle, (City) is up there with the highest quality.

"I've had a great time here."

Little shared a light-hearted moment with Welsh star Jess Fishlock before scoring her free kick.

Fishlock requested a rock-paper-scissors with Little, the club's usual free-kick taker,

Little obliged.

"We've done that once before in Seattle," she said.

"Normally I take them ... because I'm on set pieces, she has to win to get me off it."

Both women threw the scissors, leaving Little free to send the set piece sailing into the corner.

 

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/01/31/little-heading-home-after-w-league-win

[jw1739]

It's going to be hard for Joe and his team to repeat, or even go close to, what they've achieved this season. If we're going to see a sustained improvement in women's football here we're going to have to do better than a salary cap of $150,000 and a 12-match season.

Those who didn't go yesterday missed out on something special that we're unlikely to see again. Four top women footballers (Little, Fishlock, Beattie and De Vanna) on the big stage. Will remain one of my best football memories.

[fidrildid6]

Thanks for playing Kim you superstar.

[Kinnibari]

3 hours ago, jw1739 said:

It's going to be hard for Joe and his team to repeat, or even go close to, what they've achieved this season. If we're going to see a sustained improvement in women's football here we're going to have to do better than a salary cap of $150,000 and a 12-match season.

Those who didn't go yesterday missed out on something special that we're unlikely to see again. Four top women footballers (Little, Fishlock, Beattie and De Vanna) on the big stage. Will remain one of my best football memories.

A full home and away season is a must, some clubs played us twice and some only once, not very balanced. And if we want a strong national team we need a strong league that gives our players game time to develop.

[Falastur]

Just to mention that Kim has been nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award. I suspect you blokes (and ladies) can't vote due to region locking but don't let that stop you from trying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36102460

Edited April 24, 2016 by Falastur

[HeartOfCity]

1 hour ago, Falastur said:

Just to mention that Kim has been nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award. I suspect you blokes (and ladies) can't vote due to region locking but don't let that stop you from trying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36102460

Just voted no worries at all. No idea who the other players are though so go Kim

[Falastur]

1 minute ago, HeartOfCity said:

Just voted no worries at all. No idea who the other players are though so go Kim

In all likelihood it's going to be won by Carli Lloyd. She's considered the greatest player of her generation, and has the advantage of playing for a national team which wins honours like most people eat breakfasts. However, hopefully Kim will still come out well.

[Kinnibari]

Thanks for the tip, I have voted!

[Falastur]

The results are in:

http://bbc.co.uk/sport/live/35944880

[Kinnibari]

An excellent result! The official w-league Twitter account posted about it, but City have been quiet, which seems like a missed opportunity.

[jw1739]

6 hours ago, Kinnibari said:

An excellent result! The official w-league Twitter account posted about it, but City have been quiet, which seems like a missed opportunity.

I think Latrobe HQ has drifted into snooze mode again. It seems to do this every little while. City's PR is bland at the best of times, but bloody terrible during these snooze attacks.

[Kinnibari]

They were a bit slow off the mark but have now tweeted about it. Still think they could have made more of it, especially during the voting period.

Little mentioned us in her tweet about it:

Edited May 25, 2016 by Kinnibari

[luka74]

Currently Playing for Arsenal under Joe Montemurro. Season just finished