Humble & sweet, but a lion – the story of the first female £1m player

Olivia Smith has already established herself.

The 21-year-old is the first £1 million women’s football player to enter the Emirates Stadium on Saturday with a legacy in front of the crowd.

Arsenal broke the world record to sign her from Liverpool in July and, although it has since been surpassed, she will forever be the women’s game’s first seven-figure player.

“This was where everything was headed.” Erica Dambach, her ex-Penn State University head coach, told BBC Sport that she was born for this.

“Yes, it’s happened young, but it hasn’t happened without years of preparation to get into this environment.

Young players may struggle with it for a while after receiving the emotions and media training. Since she was 15 years old, Liv has been experiencing this.

Despite her meteoric rise, her former coaches say she has not changed.

When Liverpool were about to break their transfer record, when Smith completed her medical with a £210, 000 deal with Portuguese side Sporting, his new manager Matt Beard had his first meeting with his new superstar signing over dinner.

Because I know the footballer we signed and we shared a lot of similarities, it was surreal, Beard said to BBC Sport.

” She’s just a great kid, she’s very down to earth. But our initial conversation was excellent. She’s fantastic, and Olivia takes everything seriously.

“She’s a kid at heart. She is a human being, and I believe that when I tried to let everyone be themselves, she adapted very well. Her personality is exactly that,” she said.

The relationship that built between player and coach was deep and, even after both departed Liverpool, they stayed in touch. After her new club’s pre-season game against Tottenham Hotspur, Smith thanked Beard for his kind words.

This characteristic distinguishes Canadians frequently. Smith texted Sporting’s head of women’s football, Margarida Batlle y Font, after her move to Arsenal and also visited AFC Toronto this summer to meet Marko Milanovic and Billy Wilson, two people who played an instrumental part in her development when they were all at North Toronto Nitros.

Olivia is still just Liv, according to Wilson, according to Wilson. She has not at all changed. She’s still got the exact same group of friends.

She is simply a youngster who loves life, has a positive outlook, loves her football, and is always smiling.

Her parents have been there for her every step of the way and have been a huge part in her impressive rise.

Sean Smith and Sulee Riquelme-Smith were also at that dinner table in Liverpool – along with the forward, Beard and Russ Fraser, Liverpool’s former women’s managing director – and that will hardly surprise anyone who has followed the player’s career.

Beard praised the parents for doing an incredible job of getting her ready for this. They have made a lot of sacrifices as a family, they say.

” They have done a fantastic job raising her and preparing her for this moment as an athlete. “

She had a strong passion for football as a child. Her parents encouraged her to pursue her other interests, which in turn helped her develop as a football player.

” She played numerous sports such as hockey, and she did a martial arts discipline, “said Beard.

“I just think that education alone, if you’re looking at martial arts as a sport, is more about discipline and not the fighting side of it,” she says.

“Smith has a frustration that I never, ever want to take out of players, and you saw it a few times last season. And I think the top players are like that. You therefore don’t want to remove that.”

On the day Smith made her first move to Europe, Sporting, Batlle y Font got to experience the significant role Sean had played in his daughter’s career.

“Her dad is a figure a bit like the father of Venus and Serena Williams”, said Sporting’s head of women’s football.

Smith played for the North Toronto Nitros in 2022. She ripped League1 Ontario up.

She had already scored 18 goals in 11 games by the time the semi-professional league was over, making it her final international competition.

She relocated to Penn State University in Pennsylvania in the summer of that year. Again, her time there was fleeting.

By the end of her freshman year, calls from Europe had arrived at Penn State despite her serious cruciate ligament injury from the Under-20 World Cup and her frail run of form.

Former Penn State University head coach Dambach said, “It was neat to watch her be an 18-year-old because I don’t believe there have been many times where she’s been able to be her actual age.”

“Since leaving Penn State she has put herself out there and put herself in uncomfortable situations and I think through those she was able to really grow and develop”.

In spite of strong interest in France and England, she eventually left her college and moved to Portugal to start playing sport a year later.

Batlle y Font gained a significant amount of benefits from convincing Smith to switch to the obscur Portuguese league.

“I won’t say that our project is better than those clubs, obviously it’s different”, said the 30-year-old. She probably understood our desire for her, she said.

She chose us because she understood that she would not be a single player, but because she understood that she would have the same rights and obligations as other players.

“Once she made the decision, we never felt that she was looking at us as a minor club, compared to the other clubs interested in her”.

In Portugal, she quickly made an impression.

She would make a little fool of them because she was 18 when she faced experienced players.

” When she played we would look at each other and say, ‘ how did we fool this girl to be here? How fortunate are we? ” “

Again by the end of another fruitful season, she was packing her bags and Batlle y Font was receiving enquiries from multiple clubs in Europe.

“There were more clubs interested and, to be honest, with better offers than Liverpool,” Batlle Y Font claimed, “Not the kind of project Olivia wanted. This once more demonstrates Olivia’s incredible sanity.

Her debut season in the WSL saw her score seven goals in 20 games for Liverpool, as well as being named the PFA young player of the year. It was her third club in three years when she first joined Arsenal this summer.

Speaking to reporters in the pre-season, Smith said, “I definitely think it’s uncomfortable, but you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” And it’s been quite tough for me personally, not knowing what’s going to come next.

I never anticipated leaving after one season, especially last year, after spending one season in what I believe is the best league in the world before moving here.

But Smith will always be the player who was the first to breach the seven-figure mark, like Trevor Francis in the men’s game in 1979, and that comes with its own, unique pressure.

“It’s definitely an honor, especially coming from Liverpool,” said the new Arsenal player.

I believe they see my potential and my mindset when I come with such a high price tag for such a young player as myself.

“I’m hungry, I’m driven, I want to learn, I want to grow, and I want to win things, ultimately.

And I believe that was a significant component. However, I don’t really care about it because of the money.

For those who have worked with her, they believe this money will be justified with her performances on the pitch and that she will use the price tag as motivation.

She simply had everything, according to Beard. Without a shadow of a doubt, she will be the world’s best player.

Wilson added:” It’s an amazing mentality and some players when they get there, they stay on that limit. She constantly tries to push boundaries. She is consistent, but it’s challenging to be consistent.

And for Arsenal, they should have the luxury that Penn State, Sporting and Liverpool were not able to have – more than a year with Smith in their side.

Because she has risen to the top of European football, “we knew that she would be]at Sporting], and now Arsenal know that they can have her for quite a while,” said Batlle y Font.

She will continue to push, despite only becoming Champions League winners, without a doubt.