Women’s first-team midfielder Sophie Bramford dissects the ‘number eight’ position before delving into the future to predict what her career, Wolves Women and women’s football could look like in five years’ time.
Positional play
Did you always want to be a centre midfielder?
It’s normally the case that you grow into that position, but even when I was a little kid, seven or eight years old, playing with the boys’ team, I was always a centre-mid, so I don’t actually know anything different. I don’t know why I gravitated to that position, but I’ve stuck with it ever since.
What is the best part of being a centre midfielder?
I quite like to attack and I’m very attack-minded when I play, so scoring goals and creating things is important to me. I like to create for the team, whether that’s getting on the scoresheet myself or assisting.
What is the hardest part of being a centre midfielder?
You have to have an engine as you don’t stop running. Because you’re in the centre of the pitch, everything is around you and you’ve always got to be constantly scanning, you can never switch off, and you have to link everything together between the defence and the attack.
What qualities are needed to be a centre midfielder?
You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable. You’ve got to be comfortable getting on the ball at all times, with your back to play and someone on you at all times, so as a centre-midfielder, you’ve just got to enjoy being on the ball because if you don’t, you’re going to struggle.
What do you work on most as a centre midfielder?
Recently, we’ve worked a lot on just keeping the ball, having the ball for longer and being stronger when you’ve got the ball. We’ve worked a lot on composure when you’re on the ball, lending it, giving it and going, and just being comfortable on the ball when you’re under pressure.
What other position would you like to play?
I’ve been asked this question before and it’s going to take a few people by surprise, but I’d be a right-back. You’re bombing up the pitch, you get the ball quite a lot and it’s just an exciting position. Either that or centre-back because they’re always facing the play and can see everything in front of them.
What is the hardest other position to play?
I don’t think there’s an answer to that question. Every position is hard in its own right and each position has its technicalities and it would be impossible to perfect every single position. I believe every position is important and a goalie is just as important as a striker.
Which other centre midfielders do you watch and learn from?
For me, it’s Georgia Stanway. She epitomises everything about a centre-mid and I love everything about her game. She’s fearless, she started playing in the England senior squad at such a young age and it never scared her, and now she’s a crucial part of that team.
In five years’ time…
Personal achievements
There’s no doubt that I still want to be at Wolves. I just want to help Wolves move up the football pyramid and personally, I want to be enjoying my football. I’m still a young footballer, I’ve just turned 21, so there’s a lot more left in me, and hopefully I’ll be at my prime – or just a bit past that!
Wolves’ future
Hopefully we will be progressing, have moved up the leagues and settled in the Championship, if not the Super League. Those are huge aspirations, but you never know, five years is a long time. We will focus on getting into the Championship and take each step one at a time.
Hopes for the women’s game
The pace it’s moved in the past few years is honestly astonishing, so I couldn’t tell you where it’s going to be, because if you’d asked me five years ago, even two years ago, I wouldn’t have said it’d be where it is now. I feel that women’s football is limitless. It’s become a sport in its own right, and the pre-assumption that people have of women’s football is changing, and in five years’ time, we don’t want people to be thinking, ‘It’s women’s football’, we want people to be thinking, ‘It’s football’.
Changes to women’s football
I hope it will one day be on TV as much as men’s football and you’ve got the option to watch both, I hope we’re playing more games in men’s stadiums, or, if not, having bigger and better stadiums which are getting filled. You would never have imagined the England women’s team filling out Wembley.
Remembering the current Wolves team
I hope we’d have left a legacy and be remembered as a team who played for the badge, and that everyone has a sense of togetherness. This team has done so well so far, going from tier four to tier three and then winning tier three, and we’re still riding the wave, but in five years’ time, I hope we can be an example of how teams can climb up the leagues and anything is possible.
This article originally featured in Wolves' official 2023/24 matchday programme. Last season's programmes are still available to purchase online through retailers Curtis Sports.
