Lotte Wubben-Moy is not a stereotypical English centre-back. “I’ve always been competing, I’ve always been competitive,” the Arsenal player says, sounding so far, so normal. “But, then again, I’ve always had parts of me that enjoy illustration, enjoy art, enjoy things off the pitch that I hold quite dear to my heart. Things that make me me.”
Football is everything and nothing to Wubben-Moy, so much a part of who she is but not the only part of her. “It’s something that has been really close to my heart throughout my whole life,” she says. “I went to sixth form in Stoke Newington and almost every single person in that school was an Arsenal supporter. Arsenal in the Community was active at that school. I remember cutting the ribbon for the pitch that was opened there.
“So football has very much been intertwined with my life and intertwined with things off the pitch. But then the things off the pitch have also very much contributed to my successes and who I am on the pitch.”
It is this view of football, of its holistic potential and power, that inspired the 23-year-old to come to the table for contract renewal talks with more than money, contract length and football in mind. Friday’s confirmation of an extension, the length undisclosed, came with a twist.
“As part of her new deal,” an Arsenal announcement said, “Lotte has also committed to working closely with Arsenal in the Community over the coming years to give back to the local area where she grew up and still lives.”
The England international, who has seven caps, is not just involving herself in existing community projects but has, with the club, drafted into her contract a 12-week programme that will run four times a year, inspired by her passions and aimed at women and girls in the communities in which she grew up.
“This is the next stage in my career and the contract is a reflection of that,” she says. “But beyond that, it is important to me as a person too because I exist in the same community as Arsenal. I come from north and east London and that’s very much where Arsenal is present – Hackney, Camden, Islington, these are the communities that the club serves. Within my contract I have excitingly built a programme inspired by my outlook on life, of appreciating the little things. Some of you may know that I write a blog [The Lotte Little Things] which is where I like to share my appreciation for those little things.”
The programme is “built upon giving back to my community”, she says. “It will serve young girls and young women for the duration of my contract and I’ll be part of it – giving my time and energy to give back. I’ll be able to talk to them, to get involved. This is a side note on my contract which is extremely important to me.
“I say this a lot, but football is a bridge over many waters. It helps give individuals options, give them possibilities, not necessarily reaching the highest professional level on the pitch but just on an enjoyment level. Football puts a smile on so many people’s faces and I think it can help you be your happiest self.”
Wubben-Moy’s project will incorporate football, art, reading and the environment, she says. “It’ll be a 60/40 split for each session, which will be, hopefully, one and a half or two hours a week running for those 12 weeks. I haven’t confirmed my timings and the amount of time that I will be able to give to those sessions, but I hope to get to as many as possible. In those sessions 60% of the time will go to playing football and 40% of the time will be looking towards either art, reading or the environment, bringing in individuals externally who will be able to help with that. At the end of the 12 weeks, there’ll be an excursion, a trip out – I’m pushing for a trip to the Tate but I’m sure we’ll be doing various other trips as well.”
That Wubben-Moy has been able to incorporate this project into her contract talks is testament to her ambitions for the game but also to her form. Having risen through Arsenal’s academy and into the senior side before playing college football with the North Carolina Tar Heels in the US, the defender is 18 months into a second spell at the club – making her second debut in September 2020.
She is a core member of the team and her new contract comes not long after her fellow centre-back and Arsenal fan Leah Williamson signed a new deal.
“The direction in which the club is going isn’t built upon sand, it’s built upon years of legacy,” says Wubben-Moy. “Like Leah, I know that legacy, I know we come from a heritage of winning, of competing, and that is what we will continue to do and what we will build upon. I’ve been watching Arsenal all my life but this seems like the next stage. It’s my job and I want to use my skill, my experience, to achieve on the highest levels, parallel with the club, and to continue to push the team on.”
