Shifnal Town’s Olivia Lloyd started playing football when she was just six years old, before spending a bit of time at Wolves, then stopping football altogether due to studying and work commitments, but now she is back playing and has just signed for Shifnal Town ahead of the upcoming season.
Olivia started playing football at the age of six, her uncle was a coach of a boy’s team called Warstones Wanderers. She was the only girl playing in that league, but she didn’t stay with her uncle’s team too long despite winning promotion as girls weren’t allowed to play with boys after they reached a certain age.
Reflecting on her childhood football memories Olivia said: “The transition from boys to girls football was good for me because boys play at a higher standard, but I no longer felt on my own as I was with girls who had the same ability and love of football that I had.”
After leaving her uncle’s team she did go along to Wolves for a few seasons, at least until she was in secondary school.
Lloyd has never suffered any major injury setbacks (touchwood) apart from a few minor muscle strains etc… however, one major setback for her during her time at Wolves was that she couldn’t always make it to training or matches due to other commitments.
Talking about her time with Wolves Lloyd added: “I was only there for a short time but the setup was really good! I don’t remember too much about it in all honesty, I can’t say I enjoyed it towards the end because they were becoming quite strict with diet plans and things like that, and I just found it overwhelming.
“They treated me fine overall, it was just difficult for me at times to get to games and training due to other commitments so I guess maybe they got annoyed especially if they were low on numbers a certain week.”
When she left Wolves, she joined one of her local teams but didn’t play very long before giving up football for a while as she decided to go to university, and studying for her job had to take priority over football.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and no one was playing football, teams were doing weekly zoom quizzes and workouts to keep the social side up. As Olivia missed playing she decided to get back into football after the pandemic.
Did she miss football? Olivia said: “I definitely missed playing football, especially during COVID, I think the pandemic made me realise I wanted to get back playing because it made me realise how much I enjoy the social elements, like playing with a decent bunch of girls and having a laugh and of course the fitness side of things.”
She joined another one of her local sides called Sedgley and Gornal United, she was there for just over two seasons before moving on to Sporting Khalsa briefly, then returning to Sedgley before moving to Kidderminster Harriers and now Shifnal Town Ladies.
On moving clubs a few times, Lloyd said: “I just wanted a change, but I found it difficult getting game time at Khalsa as well as the length of travel was a bit hard for me especially when I was working, I only went to Kiddy to help them out with players. But now I’m at Shifnal I’m very happy and I plan to stay there for this season and beyond should all go to plan.”
As Olivia has gotten older, the now 27-year-old has faced setbacks mainly with her job, she used to work for the ambulance service, so there was a lot of swapping shifts, etc… for her to play on weekends and there were times she would be shattered but because she loved playing she did whatever she could.
“Being a paramedic and playing football was really really hard, my shifts were just all over the place, and there were weeks where I didn’t train or play at all. There was just no balance, one day I could be on a night shift then the next day a day shift. It was only as I got my rota I could plan it around football, but I still found it very difficult as sometimes I’d have to come straight to a game after a night shift or go to work a night shift straight after a game.”
Some fun facts about Olivia Lloyd that no one knows about until now…
- Her favourite football moment as a player was when her team Sedgley and Gornal played against Basford United in the Women’s FA Cup third qualifying round, and they won 2-1 to secure a place in the first round proper for the first time.
“The whole team that day just put in a graft, it just was the best game I’ve ever played in, beating a team in a higher league was incredible. The whole atmosphere on the day from travelling up there on a coach to qualifying for the first round of the FA Cup was just amazing.
- She loves the social side and keeping fit elements of football the most
“I love making new friends through football, once you get a good friendship group you go out with them, have a laugh and just get on as football is your common ground. And of course, football keeps you active which is important for me because it’s always nice to stay fit and healthy.”
- She’s delivered five babies whilst on shift at work
“This was through work lol!, people deliver the babies themselves I just had to catch them as they came out. Being a paramedic you get to do/see so many different things and I was lucky enough to be at a few home births that all went really well.
“As scary as it was, it was pretty beautiful to see five babies be brought into the world. I don’t work in the ambulance service anymore so I won’t be delivering any more babies anytime soon lol.”
- Her favourite men’s footballer is Steven Gerrard, but she also looks up to Virgil Van Dijk as she herself is a defender. On the women’s side, she idolises Leah Williamson.
“I love Gerrard, he is my all-time favourite player, he was amazing and of course, he was a great leader. He was the player I loved to watch growing up. For the women it has to be Leah Williamson, I mean she’s the Lionesses captain and seeing her lift the Euros trophy in 2022 was a moment I’ll never forget. I do also like Virgil Van Dijk as I’m a defender myself so I like to watch him play and try to adapt some of his style/technique into my game.”
Despite facing some setbacks with her job as a paramedic, Olivia’s football career has lasted just shy of 20 years due to her short time away. Let’s hope this season for Shifnal she can continue to shine… Whatever happens though what a player and what a career she’s had on and off the pitch.
Sporty AF 