Ellie Brazil says she is ‘up there with playing her most enjoyable football’ at Southampton in the WSL 2 this season. 

The Halfway Line sat down with the forward, who signed with the Saints in the summer, for an exclusive interview.

Brazil speaks highly of her time on the south coast so far. “I’ve really enjoyed it,” she says. “As a club,  everything that we get here is pretty exceptional, to be honest. It’s WSL standard, if not more. So, we’re very, very lucky with the facilities and everything that we get.”

‘Tenacious’ Saints ready to compete says Brazil

Simon Parker’s side have the youngest squad in the second tier, with an average age of less than 23. Brazil jokes, “Apparently I am one of the grandmas of the group, which isn’t something I’ve done at 26!”

The striker packs on the praise for her youthful teammates, gushing, “A lot of the players that we have are quite tenacious. They just keep going and they’ll give everything that they’ve got, and that’s such a lovely trait.

“That’s one thing that I can really credit the recruitment on,” Brazil adds, “is that the attitude of all the players is spot on. We have such a hard-working team.”

‘We started so well, and we’re still there’ urges Brazil

Southampton suffered their first WSL 2 defeat of the season against Bristol City, and shared the spoils with a strong Sunderland side the following weekend.

“We started so well and we’re still there,” Brazil says affirmatively. “We go to ten men, the girls are running every single last bit they can out of themselves. You can’t ask for any more,” she recalls the challenging circumstances of the meeting with the Robins.

Fellow Saints forward 19-year-old Ruby-Rae Tucker picked up a serious-looking injury during the loss, Brazil explains compassionately.

“Obviously in that situation — I’m someone that’s come off with two ACLs in my career — we side note that game a little bit because Ruby is what takes priority here and her shoulder was horrible. So we just make sure that she’s okay. We pick her up and we go again.”

Brazil has faced challenges of her own since signing with the Saints. The number nine doesn’t classify herself as a “niggly human” but unfortunately suffered two serious knee injuries in three years when she played for Brighton and Hove Albion and then Tottenham Hotspur.

“I picked up a niggle pretty early on which meant that I didn’t get many games in pre-season,” she explains. “But the medical staff, they’ve been nothing but great with me to be able to get me to a point where I could actually start the league, and that was the most important thing at that point. I’ll be very grateful to them for that.”

‘I knew I was moving with good people, because ultimately it’s not always just about the footballer’

Brazil makes it clear she is enjoying her time with Southampton so far, but one special goal sticks out most for the new signing.

“My standout moment this season so far is Mary Bashford scoring her first professional goal, and seeing the genuine tears in her eyes when she scored it, and then going ‘Ellie, what do I do?’ and I went, ‘You celebrate, Mary! Go and celebrate with the crowd.’”

Brazil laughs warmly, “It was just so unnatural for her to score in her mind that she just had no idea what was next. One of her best friends was on the pitch at the time for Ipswich — Beth Roe — she went to her when she scored a second goal, ‘What do I do?’  and Beth went, ‘You don’t score another one!’”

“She’s an absolute dream to have on your team,” Brazil beams proudly, “You couldn’t ask for anyone better to be on your team than Mary Bashford.  Knowing that she was coming here was like that cherry on top for me signing here.

“I knew I was moving with good people, because ultimately, it’s not always just about the footballer and how amazing they are. Mary is an exceptional footballer that hasn’t probably been seen enough in the league.”

‘I would love nothing more than to get promoted’ with Southampton

Brazil doesn’t shy away from the possibility of Southampton earning promotion to the Women’s Super League this season. “You would be silly to start a league and not put yourself in the running,” she says passionately.

“But also [we’re] very content to be the underdogs in it. Very content to just plug away every single week and see where we get to. We block it off into quarters. We get to the international break. We then get to Christmas, we do it the same the next year, and we just see where we’re at.

“I personally would love nothing more than to get promoted with this team. But it’s not the be all and end all — at the end of the day, we’re creating something here.”

Brazil has areas of her game she’s keen to develop on an individual level, too. “Back to goal play is a big area of a number nine’s game. I can do it, but also when you’ve got Ellie Hack or Amy Goddard coming through the back of you, it’s not always that enjoyable,” she laughs.

“I’m very fortunate to have them two with me every single day because they exposed me to that. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think there’s many defenders in our league that would probably hit me as hard as them two can, so I’ve got good prep  every single day.”

Brazil and her teammates are eager to build upon their existing strengths this season.