O’Brien: Just The Start Of Our Journey
- LCFC Women have tied down Shannon O’Brien to a new two-year contract
- The forward impressed during 2021/22 with three goals and two awards
- O’Brien told LCFC TV she is aiming high following her maiden WSL campaign
Reacting to the new deal, which will keep her at Belvoir Drive for at least another two years, the recently capped England Under-23s international expressed her gratitude at being given the opportunity to carry on developing in an aspirational setting.
The highly rated attacker will continue working under Lydia Bedford, who also agreed to fresh terms to stay on as First Team Manager earlier this summer.
“I’m delighted,” O’Brien expressed to LCFC TV. “It’s been a long time coming for me. We’ve been speaking about it for a while, so I’m happy it’s finally announced. I’m just excited to get going again and pay back what the Club has given to me.
“Lydia [Bedford] coming in really helped to push me to know what England want from me. I obviously got that call-up after being here at Belvoir Drive with the facilities that are next level.
“That’s been the decisive factor, I think, for me. It's something I haven’t had before. Collectively, I think Leicester have just really helped me to push on that extra step.”
Over the course of her Leicester City career to date, which began in January 2020, O’Brien has lifted the Barclays Women’s Championship trophy, earning promotion to the WSL for the first time in the Club’s history, and also helped steer the Foxes to securing their top-flight status for another year.
The 20-year-old reflected: “It’s been the best time of my career so far. The first six months were a bit of a whirlwind. Obviously, I was delighted with the Championship win and then my first season in the Super League, our first season there too, it was eventful. I wouldn’t change it, because we stayed up and it’s just the start of a big journey ahead for us.
“That was the goal to begin with and it wasn’t a great start but when it mattered, we dug in and we got the points when we needed them. That was it for us, and then be able to build from there for next season. Hopefully we will do that.”
On a personal level, an impressive debut campaign at this level saw the forward produce some memorable attacking displays, plundering three goals – all scored in different competitions – and registering one assist.
Featuring in all but one of City’s 22 WSL matches, O’Brien became a key component in the side. Awards followed at the end of 2021/22, picking up Player of the Season, as voted for by the fans, as well as scooping the Goal of the Season prize for her strike against Durham – one of her three goals that made the list.
“I was really grateful, I didn’t expect to do that. It was a good night for me, I really enjoyed it and, like I said, the team was the most important, but if you win awards, it’s alright as well,” she added modestly.
“I’d like to say that I back myself, but as the season went on, I think I just got a bit more confident and started to come out of my shell a bit more. I’m happy just to help the team in any way I can and ultimately, we stayed up, which was the most important thing.
“That (winning Player of the Season) was the one that shocked me, I didn’t expect to get that, but I’m just grateful to them (the supporters). They make a big difference to us every week and I’m happy that they thought I made a big difference to the team, and I can’t express how much the fans mean to us.”
Moving focus to the upcoming season, there is a determination to ensure the team do not find themselves in a similar position again, and can look up the table, rather than down, having taken on board plenty of learnings.
“I think it’s important that we use what we went through last year to our advantage,” the former Coventry United star commented. “The teams coming up, or the teams that haven’t been in that situation before, probably don’t have that experience.
“We will (set targets) collectively as a team, but individually as well, I know what I want to achieve for next season, and hopefully we get the chance to do that. I think we’ll come back stronger, better than last season and build on where we left off. It will come good for us, I’m sure.”