In another universe Claire Rafferty might not have been around to enjoy Chelsea’s successes this season.
Chelsea are on the brink of securing their first Women’s Super League title but things were not always this rosy at the club, who did not finish higher than sixth (third-bottom) in the first three years of the WSL – only just avoiding relegation in 2013. And the England left-back admits she considered other options in years gone by.
“A few times in my career I’ve thought about moving on from Chelsea and to do new things, but in the end I’ve stuck with it,” says Rafferty, who has been at the club since 2007 and is thus their longest-serving player.
“With Emma [Hayes, Chelsea’s manager] coming in and developing that winning mentality I knew that at some stage in the near future we were going to be winning, and it hasn’t taken too long, thank God. I’m really happy – I wouldn’t say I wasn’t proud of the club before but I’m a lot more so now.”
With two games left in the season Chelsea could wrap the title up with a match to spare, should results go their way this weekend.
They travel to Liverpool on Sunday evening by which point they will know whether a victory on Merseyside will make them champions. They are two points clear of Manchester City so a Chelsea success will require City to slip up at home to Bristol Academy, although admittedly it would be something of a surprise if everything was decided now. Bristol are bottom of the table with just one win to their name all season and will be relegated if they don’t win in Manchester but, as events of a year ago displayed, nothing can be taken for granted.
On the final day of last season Chelsea travelled to Manchester City knowing that a draw would be enough to clinch the title. However, by the 35th minute they were 2-0 down and what looked like a formality slipped away as they couldn’t salvage a point and Liverpool, 3-0 winners over Bristol, pipped them on goal difference.
“No one wants a repeat of last season,” says Rafferty. “It was quite painful but we’ve learned a lot from that as a team. In an ideal situation we would go to Liverpool on Sunday and get it all done and dusted, but I don’t really think that’s going to be the case. I don’t see any other teams slipping up so it’s just for us to keep focused.
“At the beginning of the season we spoke about it a bit and we nailed down that we don’t ever want that situation to happen again, and equally that we’ve learned a lot from it.
“We’ve talked about using it in a positive way, knowing that we’re never going to let it happen again. And even if it does come down to having to win 5-0 on the last day of the season, we’ve been there and we know the pressures.”
This campaign has been a slightly curious one given that it started in March, took a six-week break for the World Cup, then began again in July. Because of various cup games and an international break Chelsea have played just three league fixtures in the last seven weeks.
“It was a slow start post-World Cup,” says Rafferty. “It just drags out a bit with international breaks and everything. I can’t even remember when the last league game was – I think it was three weeks ago. There are lots of ups and downs, and we keep having to get up for games when there’s some quite long periods in between which is mentally quite tiring.”
If Chelsea add the WSL to the FA Cup they won earlier in the season Rafferty and her team-mates’ efforts, both mental and physical, will be all worthwhile.
