LOAN signing Soffia Kelly is excited for the opportunity to grow as a player after joining Rangers.
The young goalkeeper, who is 18 years of age, became the second recruit of the January window, agreeing to make the switch from WSL side Aston Villa until the end of the campaign.
Speaking to RangersTV in her first exclusive interview with the club, the shot stopper is keen to develop further and highlights her ambitions for her time in Glasgow, she commented: “I feel like it is an opportunity that you have to take with two hands.
“I have been lucky enough to be at a club like Aston Villa, but to be able to come here and gain that little bit more experience.
“As a young player, I want to try and develop as much as I can, and I feel like coming to a big club like this, I am going to get the most out of it.
“You have got your Rangers and Celtic rivalry, and I just feel like that whole atmosphere is something that I really have to experience.
“I just feel like the club can go really far, with the girls that they have, with the staff that they have.
“The way that they are together, they work hard, they craft.
“For me, I want to try and help push that and do as much as I can for the team and hopefully by the end of the season we can win some silverware.”
Born in Wales and representing their youth sides, and then getting a call-up to the senior squad, including last summer’s Euros. Kelly gave an insight into the steps in the game she has taken and the strides in her development she has made so far in her first season as a professional.
She continued: “Being from Wales, I played with my local boys team until I was about 13.
“I felt like it was the right place then for me to go back into women's football.
“I trialled for a performance centre, and there was a new academy made in Wales called the FAW Girls academy, and we played against boys academies all around Wales.
“I was lucky enough to get into that. I was there for about three or four years, and I thought then it was time for me to take my next step. I managed to put videos together and send them through to PGA clubs all around England, and Villa came back to me.
“I did a trial for the first time, and I didn't get in, which was unfortunate, but then about a year later, I had an Under-19's call-up when I was 17, and they invited me back to trial, and I got in.
“It was quite an amazing experience; last season was my first year in the PGA league, then I got offered my pro at the end of last season, and I have been in the first-team ever since.
“First pro deal? It was amazing, that is something that I have dreamed of since I was a little girl.
“It was amazing, honestly, when you see the emails come through, and you think, wow, obviously it is such an unreal experience, but to be able to go there and see what some of the girls have done.
“They have come from all different sorts of teams and environments.
“When everyone comes together, and for us as Wales, it is just one big culture, I feel like that is what you need.
“Throughout the youth age groups, we try to sort of push it ourselves, but as soon as you go into a senior team, it is an unreal feeling.
“Euro call-up? It was just a crazy day for me. I was out for food with my family, and I got a call from Rhian Wilkinson, and I was like oh is this for real and then I answered it, and she was like look can you get here.
“Then I got there the next day, and it was the England game, and I just think that whole experience for me is something that I will never ever be able to forget.
“I feel like I have learned a lot from the girls. I feel like just the way that they see the game, and also just how confident they are in all sorts of aspects.
“I have learned a lot from the girls at Villa. To be able to come here and try learn from some new key players and just get a different side to it.
“That is what is most important about this.”
The goalkeeper shared her excitement at getting started with the Gers as she continues making strides in the professional game, saying chats with the club were only helpful in making her decision to swap Birmingham for Glasgow.
She added: “The conversations were really positive; I just loved the vibe they bring.
“I am really excited; it is an amazing facility. I love just how everything is here, you have got the gym and I like how the boys and girls are together.
“It is just one environment, one culture, one team. I feel like that is a big part of this club.”
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