Getting to know: Harriet Jakeman | OneFootball

When firefighter Harriet Jakeman isn’t tackling blazes, she is tackling opponents…

“Being a firefighter, I work day-shifts and night-shifts which can make training difficult to get to,” explains full-back Harriet Jakeman, offering a fascinating glimpse into balancing a hugely important and inspiring career with the toils of FA WNL football.

“Recently, I was at a fire, so I was half an hour late to training. I thought to myself, it is a long way and I am tired, so do I go home? But I thought no, I need to go and I need to train so I still made it and still made an impact.”

It is that selfless approach and determination from Simon Wood’s squad that has helped Leeds United Women rocket up Division One North, currently sitting top of the standings at the half-way stage of the campaign after recording seven scintillating victories in a row.

The Whites’ most recent triumph came on Teesside, where an Amy Woodruff brace helped fire United past Norton & Stockton Ancients, with substitute Jakeman playing a crucial role off the bench as Leeds defended resolutely to see out yet another impressive win on the road.

“We have worked really hard in training and we have tried to come up with our own identity as Leeds United,” the 30-year-old continues. “We have started working harder for each other and for the team, and I think that has really shown in our performances.

“We train at a really high level and we have some players that are absolutely class, so I think we just got our heads together and we have stayed really positive in training and obviously now that has showed massively.”

Leeds, battling for the league’s single promotion spot, find themselves in relatively untested waters this time round in the bid for the title, with memorable victories along the way – the statement triumph over York City Ladies at Elland Road attracted nearly 5,000 supporters – continuing to help the side develop, cementing their credentials of achieving the club’s lofty ambitions.

An experienced, hard-working squad was bolstered by noteworthy additions over the summer, bringing together players from different backgrounds to mould an exciting outfit with enviable depth all across the pitch.

So far this campaign, Jakeman had embodied the side-before-self mantra of the club, perhaps starting fewer matches than she would like, as expected from any elite athlete, but ready to make an impact off the bench whenever, and wherever, she is needed.

“Sometimes, naturally, it can be a little frustrating for me, but again, I have a job that requires me to not train quite a lot. And, obviously, as a team that is working incredibly hard together and gelling really well, sometimes it is fine to take that back-seat role. I think I can come on for those last 20 minutes and I can work my socks off for the team and get us over the line.

“Everyone in the squad are supportive and push each other, so it is good to know that your teammates back you and they trust you, and they want you to be on the pitch with them as well! It is a long, long season and you do need a big squad to all contribute.”

Hailing from the rural North Yorkshire village of Leeming, opportunities in the girls’ sport growing up were few and far between for Harriet, the youngest of four, who laughs as she recalls her earliest memories of chasing her football-obsessed elder brothers around and not being afraid of putting in a challenge.

“I vividly remember I got to around the age of 13 and my brother had said to my mum, ‘We need to find her somewhere to play because she is actually starting to be able to get the ball off us 18-year-old lads, so she needs to play for a team!’.

“It was difficult finding a local team, but my parents luckily put a lot of time and effort in and travelled, taking me all over the country to play football and get to where I wanted to be. It was hard because we did have to travel a couple of hours to training there and back to try and get to a really good standard.”

Those exhausting midweek journeys and weekend trips took their toll, Jakeman admits, but paid dividends down the line when the defender was offered a scholarship to play football while studying at Newman University in Kansas, America.

“The university had watched my clips and I was lucky enough to get contacted and was offered a full scholarship for four years. Playing there was amazing; the facilities that they had over there and the money that they pumped into it were fantastic.

“I had come from playing on Sunday league grass pitches that were more mud than grass, and then I got thrown into this world in America where you had all of the best pitches, so much kit, so many physios and doctors. It was wild and it was completely different compared to what I was used to in England.”

Those trips around the north of England felt like short commutes in relation to what quickly became normal treks for the full-back. Fifteen-hour overnight stays on buses to Texas were regular, cramming in as much academic work and match preparation as possible between the occasional bouts of 15 minutes of inevitably broken sleep.

Competing in the NCAA Division II, the second tier of collegiate sport in the United States, Jakeman would go on to proudly captain the Newman Jets to a Championship Play-Off in one of her later seasons with the side.

After graduating, a return to Yorkshire followed, enjoying a long spell at neighbouring Bradford City before joining the Whites at the start of last campaign. Those high standards of professionalism Jakeman had been accustomed to Stateside continued when she signed for the club, training at Thorp Arch’s state-of-the-art facilities and joining a strong, ambitious squad capable of achieving their targets.

“We are lucky enough to be under the Leeds United badge,” Harriet adds, proud to be contributing to the team week in, week out, and repaying the faith shown in her and her teammates.

“We are so very well looked after in that aspect which makes it easier to do, because we are there a lot and we are working hard. It is great getting the backing from the club.”

Jakeman’s cameo in the victory on Teesside perfectly summed up the collective nature of Wood’s high-flying squad, brought into a feisty encounter to ensure the team got over the line. Used to battling the biggest blazes, extinguishing a few flashpoints and dangerous Norton attacks was never going to be an issue for the firefighting full-back…

Leeds United Women continue their FA WNL Division One North campaign this weekend, as they welcome AFC Fylde to the Bannister Prentice Stadium. Read our match preview HERE.