‘What if?’
Two relatively innocuous words that, when married together, possess the ability to wreak mental havoc.
Two words that crossed the mind of Katy Maddock as she sat in the Wembley stands last July, watching on as the Lionesses were crowned European champions.
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Just a decade earlier, the 28-year-old had been sharing a pitch with England’s Alex Greenwood and Nikita Parris. The trio had played together at Everton, and Maddock -who is now a goalkeeper for fifth-tier Tranmere Rovers - had also been tasked with keeping her club teammates at bay while representing Wales as a youth international.
“We lost that game comfortably against England,” Maddock recalls. “But I actually had a Facebook memory pop up from that game a few weeks ago and I had a little look at the lineups because I was just curious about who was playing for them at the time.
“There was Alex and Nikita for England, and with Wales I was playing with the likes of Sophie Ingle, who now plays for Chelsea and Angharad James, who plays for Spurs. All of those players have gone on to have amazing professional careers.
“I was lucky enough to share a pitch with them and it's great now to see them doing so well for themselves.”
Maddock, a Chester native, started playing football with a local boys side at the age of eight before making the switch to Tranmere’s Centre of Excellence. It was while playing for Rovers that Maddock was scouted by Everton, where she plied her trade until the age of 18.
“It was great playing for Everton,” she tells the ECHO. “My parents are both Welsh so I had the ability to choose internationally which side I wanted to go for and so I played for Wales until Under- 19s level.
“I was travelling all over Europe and getting to play at the European championships. And then when I got to about 18 I decided to take a bit of a break from it.
“I think it just got a little bit too much for me. I’d started playing for fun and I didn't think it was going to get quite so serious. I guess that took a little bit of the joy out of it for me.”
After a brief hiatus from football, Maddock returned to Tranmere, where she - somewhat coyly - admits she is now one of the “more experienced” members of the squad. The 28-year-old juggles the club’s Sunday matchdays and twice-weekly training sessions with her full-time job as a driving instructor and, while she may not play professionally, football still remains a dominant force in her life.
“When we don't have a game on a Sunday, I don't know what to do with myself,” she admits. “Pretty much for the last 20 years, every Sunday has been about football.
“I look forward to it and, if we don't win on a Sunday, it makes getting up for work on Monday morning that little bit harder. If we're on a winning streak there’s a buzz within the camp and there's no feeling that replaces it really.”
Maddock could get another taste of that elusive winning feeling this weekend when Tranmere take on Stockport County Ladies in the Cheshire County Cup Final. Rovers came out on top when the two sides met in last year’s showpiece fixture and Maddock is hopeful that experience could give her team the edge on Sunday.
“It's our trophy. We’re the holders and we’re there to retain it,” she says. “It'll be a challenge playing against a team from the division higher.
“Stockport have had a decent run this season and there are a couple of girls that did play for us this year that actually have left us to go there. There's a little bit of rivalry there as well, but we’ve got a versatile squad and hopefully I can use my experience to help the younger players too.”
One of those younger players is Anya Mccready. The 18-year-old central midfielder joined Tranmere at the age of seven and harbours ambitions of one day becoming a club legend.
“This Final has given the team something to aim towards,” Mccready says. “Although we’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster of a season, I think individually and as a team we’re all really looking forward to it.
“There’s a real togetherness within this team. It took some time to find that connection but now we’ve gelled so well and being around some of the older girls is really inspiring.
“Our captain Lindsey [Smith] has been there since she was a kid and I’d love to do the same.”
Mccready, who hopes to study Sports Science at university next year, regards England pair Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway as two of her biggest idols, and believes last summer’s EUROs have totally transformed the landscape of the women’s game.
“It’s amazing now to see girls given the opportunity to play,” she says. “Being in a football team, you make so many friends and get so many opportunities. I’m so glad more young girls are being encouraged to get into the sport.
“Last year, we got the opportunity to play at Prenton Park which was amazing. Obviously it’s where Liverpool Women play so we don’t often get the chance to play there.
“I ended up scoring a hatrick but even just seeing the amount of people there showing their support for us was incredible. I won’t be forgetting it any time soon.”
When Tranmere step out against Stockport at the vanEupen Arena in Ellesmere Port on Sunday afternoon, down the M56, Manchester City will be facing Reading in a bid to keep their Women’s Super League title hopes alive.
Alex Greenwood, who Maddock shared a pitch with all those years ago, will be marshalling City’s back line, eager to cement a starting spot for England at this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
But while the trajectory of Maddock’s career has diverged massively from that of her former teammate, the shot-stopper reserves little time for regret or despondency, and is instead relishing the opportunity to help Rovers to another piece of silverware.
“I was always quite fortunate really that I just played football for fun and I must have just had some good natural abilities,” Maddock reflects.
“I just turned up and played for fun and it took me places I never imagined that it would. I do look back at it now and think if I had stuck at it for those few years and not taken a break, and maybe put a bit more into it when I was younger, things might have been different now.
“You go down different paths in life and I’m happy with my career now. Even just playing now on a part-time basis is great but I do look back occasionally and think ‘what if?’”
The Cheshire County Cup Final will take place on Sunday 30th April, 2pm, at the vanEupen Arena - Vauxhalls Sports Club. For more information, click here.
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