Ashleigh Neville: “It’s going to be a great occasion” | OneFootball

In July, 2017, Ashleigh Neville made the choice to move from Coventry United and become a Lilywhite and the defender, when looking back, simply said: “It’s probably the best decision I have ever made.”

Ashleigh, who is our longest-serving player in the squad, currently competing in her seventh season with the Club, has enjoyed some memorable moments during her time, from winning promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League for the first time to securing our first-ever victory over Arsenal.

Now, the 31-year-old is set to walk out at Wembley Stadium and be part of the squad to compete in our first Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final, where we face Manchester United on Sunday afternoon (2.30pm UK).

Speaking on a special FA Cup Final edition of Inside Spurs this week, ‘Ash’ explained: “I looked back a few times and thought what bigger games we have had, I know we were under pressure last season with relegation, but going into this one, it will be a nice occasion and not one we should feel under pressure, so I’m really looking forward to it.

“We obviously already made history for the Club by reaching the final so it’s just going to be an enjoyable day for everyone involved.

“At the minute, there’s a lot of excitement, I guess, on the day, there will be a little bit of nerves, but just playing at that stadium in front of a sold-out crowd is going to be incredible… the girls are really looking forward to it and it’s going to be a great occasion for everyone involved.”

As they looked back at the celebrations after securing promotion to the WSL following a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa back in May, 2019, the experienced defender was asked whether she thought we would be here now and she replied: “Definitely not and that’s no disrespect to the people involved at the time, but it never crossed my mind.

“We were playing against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City that have been in the league for a long time and well-established and we were coming in as a new team.

“It’s great to see that the two teams in the final will have their name on their trophy that they didn’t have before.”

Rounding off the interview at Hotspur Way, the defender was asked one final question to reflect on the decision she made to join the Club and our number 29 said: “It was a hard decision at the time, I really enjoyed working at a school and I knew the travelling was going to be hard, but I said ‘I will try one season’ and then we did really well and then one more… I’m sure we will do something special and then we kind of got promoted. It’s probably the best decision I have ever made.”

Watch - Inside Spurs | Looking ahead to the FA Cup Final