Gracie Pearse: “It meant so much”

Gracie Pearse has been a Spurs fan from a young age, so to make her debut for the club in Sunday’s 8-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League was a childhood dream come true.

“It felt great, to be honest,” she said after the game. “I’ve been waiting a little while to come on the pitch, but being patient and finally it coming was a great feeling. 

“We just wanted to keep the ball as much as we could, especially with the good performance that was already happening. I wanted to try to keep the standards high but it was a great performance from everyone, that’s the main thing, but I really enjoyed it.

“It meant so much to be fair, especially my mum and dad being here was quite nice. The level of the game it was, it was a great game to come into.”

Spurs were already 7-0 up when Pearse replaced Molly Bartrip in the 71st minute, and Gracie was keen to maintain the high level of quality when she came on.

“Honestly, even when I was on the bench, prior to coming on, it was good football to watch. The amount of shots we were taking, because that was a target we had prior to the game - taking more shots - eight goals, they were great goals as well, so it was good football.”

Going forward, Pearse will be aiming to get as many minutes as possible throughout the rest of this season.

“I think just staying patient, like I was, and trying to work as hard as I can is the main priority for me at the moment,” she said.