Sophie Whitehouse has said that promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League is ‘the best feeling ever.’
After victory over Leicester Karen Hills sat in the Charlton media room awaiting her first question. That was the moment when a face popped round the door, red sunglasses adorned her head with ‘SW’ over one lens and ‘#1’ over the other. Ushered in by the Charlton media officer, Sophie Whitehouse took her seat next to her head coach, grinning from ear to ear.
Whitehouse had every right to be, she had just put in a quite astonishing performance, complete with four out of five penalty saves in the shootout that ensured Charlton’s promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League. She spoke to the media after her all action performance and The Halfway Line was there to hear from her.
Sophie Whitehouse says promotion is ‘the best feeling ever’
Sophie Whitehouse was asked how she was feeling after her heroics ensured her team’s season was a success at the bitter end,
“I think that was like the best feeling ever, to make those saves in that game and do what I needed to do for the team was just amazing” Whitehouse rejoiced. “I’m so proud of the club, the players the staff, everyone involved.
“It has been such a journey and yeah to finish it like that is the best feeling ever.”
‘Once we went to penalties, I was in the zone’ says Whitehouse
The Irish goalkeeper has had a huge impact for Charlton this term. Even before today, Whitehouse had won the Golden Glove and was nominated three times for Save of the Season. Whitehouse was asked how she prepared to have such an impact in such a pivotal moment,
“I think as a club and as a staff they prepare us for those moments” she explained. “So as a club and as a staff I felt ready. I knew that obviously when we played against Liverpool we were so close to getting to penalties in the quarter final and I knew we just needed that extra edge we did that today.
“Once we went to penalties I was in the zone, do what I can do, make some saves and Neil [Moore], he’s a great goalkeeper coach and he really helped me prepare for today.”
Whitehouse was then asked if she had help from her bottle too?
“I can’t share those secrets” she laughed.
Whitehouse ‘really proud’ after victory
For so much of the season Charlton looked set to run away with the title but that never quite materialised. Whitehouse was asked about her goals at the start of the season and whether they marry up to the outcome today?
“I think at the beginning of the season, I wrote down three goals that I had” Whitehouse explained.
“The first one was consistency, the second one was the Golden Glove and the third one was promotion. And that’s all I was striving for this whole season.
“In every game I just wanted to do everything I could to make sure that we could do it and we’ve done it. So, really proud.”
Katie Keane is a ‘great young goalkeeper’
On the assertion that Keane threw her water bottle into the crowd. Whitehouse was diplomatic, even if she allowed a smile to creep onto her face as she replied,
“Um, for some reason my bottle disappeared” Whitehouse reported. “I don’t know where it went but I guess you can guess! Luckily there was someone there behind the goal to scramble and give it back to me.
“As you know I maybe had some information that maybe helped me in those moments” Whitehouse laughed. “Thanks to Neil [Moore] and Sej [Sejin Yoo] obviously they do so much extra behind the scenes and they prepared me for that and thanks Billy for getting my bottle back!”
During the shootout, Whitehouse was booked for going to her bottle by the referee, she explained what happened,
“Yeah I think maybe I was wasting a little bit of time” Whitehouse said. “I’m not sure, I knew that it didn’t really matter if I got one more yellow card, it’s worth it!”
The Halfway Line asked Whitehouse about her opposite number. Despite the fierce competition that both Irish goalkeepers demonstrated today, Whitehouse clearly still has huge respect for Keane,
“Yeah she’s a great young goalkeeper and she has taken her moment with injuries” Whitehouse said. “Yeah she did really well. She is very good at making saves.
“We probably prepared, our strikers prepared maybe a tiny bit more. We prepared as a goalkeeper unit a tiny bit more. Like she did what she could do but we did what we needed to do.”
Karen Hills lauds ‘Unbelievable’ Sophie Whitehouse
Karen Hills has always been an admirer of Whitehouse, bringing her with her to Charlton after impressing when both were at Spurs. Hills had nothing but the highest amount of praise for her goalkeeper. As Whitehouse sat beaming next to Hills, the head coach began to describe Whitehouse,
“Unbelievable” Hill said simply. “We have been extremely honest with each other over the years of knowing each other. What she’s done is she has been in different environments, we’ve been in different environments together.
“We always stayed in connection, we first and foremost have always been good people with each other and I’ve seen Sophie grow over the years.
“To have her at the start of the season, knowing that she was going to be our first choice goalkeeper filled me with loads of confidence. What Soph done was she grabbed that opportunity and grabbed it with both hands. Wow. What a season she has had.”
Hills continued to praise Whitehouse,
“We also had the belief and every single player had the belief in Sophie that our last line of defence was bang on” she said. “And like I said she didn’t disappoint.”
