‘It lit the fire in me’: Why Jen Beattie is swapping the WSL for the US
Jen Beattie exhales deeply. She has just been asked what it is like to say goodbye to Arsenal after five years at the club in her second spell in north London.
“They’re the most conflicting emotions I’ve ever felt when leaving a club,” says Beattie. “They’re team-mates who became friends who ultimately became family. That, 100 per cent, will be the hardest thing: to say goodbye. I’m so sad about it. There’s no denying it, there’s no hiding it at all, I love them all to bits.”
To be persuaded to leave, therefore, took a special proposition: a move to the United States. The former Scotland international, who was capped 143 times, has signed for Bay FC, one of two expansion clubs arriving in this year’s National Women’s Soccer League, the United States’ top women’s league.
The team, based in the San Francisco Bay area, was co-founded by four former US women’s team legends, including Brandi Chastain, and the club’s owners, global investment firm Sixth Street, are investing a reported $125 million (£98 million), the largest sum pledged to date for any women’s football side worldwide.
As they are putting together an entirely new team, it is understood Bay FC were attracted to Beattie’s experience, seeing her as a crucial part of their jigsaw. For 32-year-old Beattie, who says the offer “came out of the blue”, it clearly means a great deal to be approached at this relatively late stage of her career.
‘Many games left in the tank’
“I think the whole point for me is, I don’t feel done,” Beattie says, speaking exclusively to Telegraph Sport about her move, which was announced on Friday. “I know I retired from international football but I still feel like I’ve got so many games left in the tank.
“When you get over 30, the contracts get shorter and you’re well aware that you’re getting older, and for a club to really invest in a good ‘two plus one’ contract, for them to offer that at my age, it’s such a nice feeling to feel valued and have someone still believing in your capabilities. That lit the fire in me.
“It was just too exciting to say ‘no’ to it. I was quite happy at Arsenal but when something knocks on the door, and once I’ve heard them [Bay FC] out and had all the calls, it was too good to say no.
“And when I’ve got my opportunity with Arsenal over the last couple of seasons, I’ve felt really good and I still feel really competitive, and I think that’s the whole point. I’m up for the challenge, and I’m super excited.”
The lure of life in California is also appealing to Beattie. “I grew up watching The Hills and Laguna Beach and all of those programmes and I absolutely fell in love with it,” she adds. “So if somewhere is asking for a kid from Glasgow to go and live in California, it seems like a no-brainer.”
Another part of the attraction is Bay FC’s vision, with Chastain claiming that they “want to be the club and the brand that changes the perception of females in sport, in football and in business”. The club are set for their NWSL debut in March and last month they also signed Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos from Manchester City and Nigeria striker Asisat Oshoala from Barcelona. Beattie adds: “I’ve spoken to the owners, the investors, the manager, all the new staff, and you can really feel the excitement from being part of a brand new, amazing project.
“Everyone seems to be singing off the same hymn sheet. The way they want to play football, everything they want to do as a club, it goes beyond just three points at a weekend.”
Getting three points is something Beattie has been well-accustomed to during her career. She was a title winner with Arsenal in the old Women’s Premier League in 2009 and 2010, before helping the north Londoners win back-to-back titles in the Women’s Super League’s first two seasons, 2011 and 2012, then won the league again with Manchester City in 2016. Plus, she has won the FA Cup and League Cup four times apiece, and also helped Melbourne City lift the Australia W-League title.
She has left an indelible mark on the WSL, scoring more headed goals – nine – than any other defender in the league’s history, according to Stats Perform. Only five players have completed more passes than her since the WSL was founded 13 years ago and only 13 players have been involved in more victories.
Such longevity no doubt makes leaving all the more emotional, as does the fact Arsenal were so supportive when she continued her playing career while undergoing treatment for breast cancer in 2020 (she is now cancer-free).
“Arsenal were the ones who gave me my first real opportunity when I was 18, and English football is what has made me the player I am and the person I am. I absolutely love English football,” she says.
“But I know for a fact, I’ll still be so invested in it. I love the league. I think what is going to go on over the next year with the big takeover [NewCo] is going to be incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.”
