Wolves Women goalkeeper Shan Turner has described playing in front of over 36,000 fans for her country as a ‘surreal feeling’.
The shot-stopper has just returned from international duty with Northern Ireland, where she collected her third and fourth caps in competitive Nations League fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Albania.
Although the bragging rights went the way of the Republic of Ireland following a 3-0 victory, Turner has spoken about the ‘incredible’ atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium before heading back to Belfast for her first home fixture and clean sheet, which came courtesy of a 1-0 success over Albania.
Turner has also described the process of being selected for an international camp, while touching on the story behind her inclusion in the 2022 European Championships squad and the ambition of wanting to be Northern Ireland’s number one.
On her first competitive caps
“It was my first actual competitive caps so it was a little bit nerve wracking. The first one being against Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
“I was a little bit nervous but not as nervous as I was the first couple of times. It wasn’t the result we wanted against them, but we bounced back and got the three points on Tuesday night (against Albania) so it was good.”
On the atmosphere against Republic of Ireland
“It was just incredible. The minute you went out for the warm up it was starting to build-up and get even more. Then you went out for the national anthems and everything like that – you couldn’t hear anything.
“You couldn’t hear each other on the pitch, you couldn’t hear anything. We didn’t have as many fans there but you could still hear them over the 33,500 Republic fans which was good.”
On whether she ever expected this
“Absolutely not. I think the most I played in front of before was when I played Wales and that was about 10,000 so to hit 36,000 people, which is bigger than Molineux, you think it’s never going to happen in your life. It was a surreal feeling.”
“You think it’s never going to happen in your life. It was a surreal feeling.”
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) September 29, 2023
Shan Turner reflects on playing in front of 36,000 fans after returning from international duty.
🧤🗣 pic.twitter.com/ABqO572VEk
On keeping her first international clean sheet
“It’s something I definitely wanted and needed. My first three caps have been against Scotland, Wales and Republic of Ireland, so they’ve been the local ones.
“It was nice to play against a country (Albania) where we went into it a little bit more positive and thinking we could get a result.
“Especially with it being at home and my first game in Belfast, it was really nice to get a clean sheet and the three points.”
On whether she keeps her shirts
“I’ve got both of my shirts. I like to keep them. International shirts are something you want to treasure quite a lot – especially the one from my first clean sheet and first home game. It’s a nice one to keep.
“I’ve already got some shirts framed – I’ve got some Wolves ones and another Northern Ireland one, so I’ll get some of them framed and then I’ve got a collection of them all that I’ll keep with my caps I’ve got from when I was younger and caps I’ll get from these ones.”
On how you get told you’re in the squad
“We get it through email. We get an email two weeks before and you know when it’s coming, so you sit there for the 24 hour period refreshing your emails and thinking ‘when’s it going to come?’.
“That gives you two weeks to fully prep and prepare for what you’re going to go away for and whether you’re at home for it or travelling for it.”
On getting told she was in the Euros squad last summer
“I went away for two weeks. It was two weeks after the play-off final. I got an email asking to go and train full-time with them for two weeks.
“I was in Greece at the time and then I got the email. When I was there, there were quite a few keepers that had been involved and I’d not been involved for that long so didn’t expect anything.
“I’d fell asleep on the Sunday and was having a bit of a nap and I got a phone call from the manager at the time. It was like ‘I just want to tell you you’ve been selected for the Euros’.
“It’s one of those moments where you feel like you want to cry but you’re in so much shock you don’t know what to do.
“I hadn’t even had time to go downstairs and tell my Dad or anything and I’d had another call saying it’s top secret, you can tell your parents but that’s it. I’d not even taken it in yet that I was going and it wasn’t until you land, you’re there, you have the charter flight, you land in Southampton and it was like ‘wow’.”
On wanting to be Northern Ireland’s number one
“Absolutely. I want to keep going. I got the chance to get my first cap with Jackie Burns unfortunately getting injured which you never want to wish on anyone, but I’m hoping I can take my chances and it can push on and I can keep getting as many caps as possible.”
On getting back into club mode
“The minute I land is the minute I’m back in club mode. I came straight in yesterday, did some recovery and straight back into training today.
“It’s that balance of once I land I know I’m back in and the focus is on my club and the game at Forest on the weekend, while focusing on what I can do to help.”
