FOOTBALL: BIRMINGHAM City Ladies defender Jess Carter was quick to thank all of the people her made her dream of becoming a professional football possibly after scooping the Young Player of the Year accolade at the PFA Awards.
The 19-year-old has played in every Women’s Super League match for the Blues over the past two seasons and in total made 21 appearances last year.
Carter’s performances across defence and in midfield earned her no fewer than four accolades at last season’s Player Awards.
The England Next Generation star received the Manager’s Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season and Supporter’s Club Player of the Season.
“My family have been massive for me ever since I was a little kid, taking me everywhere to play football,” said Carter after receiving her latest award on Sunday evening.
“I’ve played with some great players and the coaching staff I’ve had have all had a massive part to play.
“They’ve all helped me learn and develop something different so to me they’ve all me been massive. I have to say thank you to them for my progress.”
There were signs that Carter was going to be a star in the making from an early age after picking up the player of the match award on her debut as a 16-year-old in a Champions League clash against Arsenal.
The Warwick-based player has been selected for England in recent months but has yet to make her debut and also missed out on the Euro 2017 squad.
But Carter remains solely focussed on helping Birmingham City Ladies finish as high as they can in the Spring Series and also has a first FA Cup final to look forward to at Wembley.
She added: “For me my main focus is just playing for Birmingham because they are my club and I want to perform for them, week in, week out and anything that comes with that is just a massive privilege.
“Hopefully I’ll get international call-ups in the future but if I don’t get them I just keep working harder and harder until I do, but for now my focus is on Birmingham.
“We’ve always been labelled the ‘underdogs’ and some people have said we wouldn’t get to Wembley, but the fact that we’ve had to beat the best in Arsenal and Chelsea to get there just proves where this club is going with this group of players that we’ve got. It’s a massive and exciting opportunity for us.”
