Signing a professional contract is the focal point in the dreams of millions, if not billions, around the world – and Jade Pennock did just that in July 2021.

  • Signing for Birmingham

Born in Pontefract, the versatile forward penned a deal to join Birmingham City and has impressed in her first season in the Women’s Super League, having scored twice in her first thirteen matches.

“Playing in the WSL was something I always dreamed of so I will always be so great full to Birmingham for making my dream come true and the Birmingham fans for been so welcoming. It is the proudest moment in my career,” says Pennock.

“I am loving every minute of it and taking it all in, we have a great group of girls and one of the best training/playing environments I’ve been involved in.”

  • Making a name for herself

The 29-year-old moved to the Blues from Women’s Championship side Sheffield United, where she had broken the club’s record for most goal involvements in the second tier. This success wasn’t fleeting, it was constant throughout her time at the club. After scoring thirteen goals in the last fourteen games of 2018/29, Pennock struck a 94th minute winner against Liverpool to give the Blades a 3-2 victory in the Continental Cup the following season and signed a contract extension through to the end of 2020/21 not long after.

“The record was a great achievement in my three-year spell there, some of the goals I scored there are some of my favourites.

“I don’t know if it [her great form] was down to anything in particular, I just worked hard in training and always tried my best to help the team in the best way I could. It also helped having some great players and teammates around me.”

  • Staying grounded

Despite rising up the leagues, though, Pennock keeps her feet firmly on the ground and thanks her family for giving her the chance to follow her dreams growing up.

“I’ve got my grandad to thank for getting me into football. My mum always tells me he gave me a football when I was a toddler and I just never stopped playing. I knew straight away I loved the sport and I wanted to challenge myself to be the best I could be. That’s one of the reasons I joined Leeds [United] – their academy was one of the best when I was young.

“It was so important my mum and dad drove me all over the country growing up and they never had a problem with it,” says Pennock. “I understand more now how tough and tiring that must of been and it just makes me so thankful and motivates me even more to make them proud.”

Winning the County Cup in 2009 gave the diminutive attacker her first taste of glory aged just sixteen, and was also an important moment which gave her the self-belief needed to succeed in such a competitive career path.

Despite this, though, the opportunities in England compared to overseas were simply incomparable. Pennock, then, packed her bags for the States – and boy was it worth it.

“It was a lot different [the opportunities in England] when I was young. It was one of the reasons I decided to go down the path of a football scholarship in America because the professional game over here wasn’t big at the time.”

  • Helping the next generation

With the rise of the WSL, it’s easy for the magnitude of America’s women’s football scene in the noughties to be forgotten – some young fans today won’t even know of the National Women’s Soccer League – but Pennock says that going abroad was definitely the right decision for her.

“I am glad it’s worked out the way it has because I’ve been able to have some unbelievable footballing experiences and opportunities and they’ve all contributed into making me the player I am today.”

The experience was so inspirational, Pennock has taken up an ambassador role with SRUSA, a scholarship programme that helps young female footballers find places in universities in the United States, as she looks to give back and help the next generation come through.

“I really enjoy working alongside SRUSA talking about my experiences as a student athletes because it was the best decision I ever made going to America and I hope I’m able to help other young girls decide if that’s the path they want to take, too.”

  • Can the Blues beat the drop?

Back to this side of the pond, and it’s not all gone to plan for Birmingham this season. Languishing at the foot of the WSL on four points, it will take something special for Darren Carter’s side to catch the likes of Leicester City, Everton and Aston Villa in their bid to avoid relegation.

They’ve shown they can do it, though, when they caused one of the biggest upsets not only of the season but of all time in the top tier of English women’s football by beating league leaders Arsenal 2-0 at St. Andrews in January.

“That game, everything came together and we were able to show what we are truly about,” says Pennock, who believes the fight is still on. “We know what we are capable of as a group and I think that [the win against Arsenal] showed it. Other results and decisions haven’t gone our way, but we will never give up and will fight till the end.”

  • Planning for the future

We may be in the latter part of the season, but Pennock’s career still has a while to go yet. “I’d like to play at the highest level for as long as possible and challenge myself against the best players,” says Pennock, who also has a view on when she does decide to hang up her boots.

“For sure I’d like to stay involved in football in some way. I haven’t decided in what capacity yet, but coaching is something I’ve thought about absolutely enjoy. I’m doing my coaching badges now so you never know, I could be a future manager.”

  • The growth of the women's game

We finish our conversation talking about the growth of women’s game and how important it is that this momentum keeps going. Unlike the men’s set up, a lot of clubs, even in the WSL, don’t have a clear pathway from their academies up into the first team – and that’s if they do have academies.

There is also a bit of a stigma around the lack of opportunities for players in the lower league like the National League to come up through the divisions because of the influx in money for the top two tiers, but Pennocks says that there is – and always will be – a route up through the pyramid.

“I think it is still possible to work your way up through the leagues. It’s a hard pathway don’t get me wrong, but for me it was a rewarding pathway. I felt my hard work had finally paid off when I signed for Birmingham. You can never give up.”

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