Republic of Ireland international Rianna Jarrett told David Hennessy that London City Lionesses believe they can get promoted to the Women’s Super League this season.
They kick off their season against Liverpool.
Rianna Jarrett says her London Lionesses believe they can get promoted to the Women’s Super League, the top flight of the women’s game, this season.
The club finished sixth in the FA Women’s Championship last season and have been strengthening their squad over the break bringing in the 26-year-old Republic of Ireland centre forward and nine other players.
Only founded in 2019, when it was founded as an independent breakaway club from Millwall Lionesses, it would be an incredible achievement for such a young club to reach the super league.
Rianna told The Irish World that promotion is very much being spoken about in the dressing room: “It’s important that everyone is not only saying it but everyone is believing it. We have great belief in the group, both us as players and our staff.
“Everybody says that they want to win the league, they want to get promoted, but we thoroughly believe that it is something that we can achieve.
“And that’s why the most important game is your next game.
“And that’s Liverpool on Sunday.
“It’s important that everyone is on the same wavelength and everybody is rowing in the same direction.
“And I think those sorts of conversations are important to have, not only in the pre-season, but throughout the season as well.”
Jarrett joined the Lionesses from Women’s Super League side, Brighton & Hove Albion, where she made 16 appearances and scored two goals.
She has also been a regular for Republic of Ireland since making her debut in 2016.
The Lionesses come up against a team led by Galway’s Niamh Fahey on Saturday. Liverpool have also just added Leanne Kiernan and Megan Campbell, two more of Rianna’s international team mates.
“For now all we’re focused on is London City Lionesses and the game against Liverpool on Sunday.”
“There’s a lot of familiar faces in the Liverpool set up. Us Irish are kind of scattered all over the place at the minute, which is fantastic.
“And obviously Niamh Fahey in particular. She’s been at Liverpool for a while now.
“Obviously I come up against her day in day out when we’re training with the Irish team.
“Obviously we do enjoy a little bit of a battle with her being a centre back and me being a centre forward.
“And I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Obviously, she knows how I play. I know how she plays.
“But club football and international football are completely different. There’s different styles, different managers want different outcomes from different players in different positions.
“The two of us enjoy a battle on the training pitch and I’m sure that’s going to be no different on Sunday.
“And obviously I’ll be looking to kind of get the edge in that area.
“But looking forward to seeing the girls after the game and getting talking to them.
“But more importantly, just looking forward to that first game kicking off and putting our best foot forward and see where we go from there.”
Rianna and London City Lionesses get their FA Women’s Championship season underway against Liverpool 2pm Sunday 29 August.
Full interview with Rianna Jarrett in next week’s Irish World.
