Interview'A no-brainer' - Jasmine Matthews on signing a new deal with LFC Women

The popular No.6 has signed a new contract with the club and is looking forward to the third season of her second spell on Merseyside.

Having spent 2018-19 with Liverpool, Matthews played for Bristol City Women for two seasons before reuniting with Matt Beard – also her manager at Bristol City – in the summer of 2021.

After putting pen to paper, Matthews stated that she couldn’t be happier to be playing a part in what she believes is a bright future ahead for the club.

Watch or read our interview in full below as the defender sat down with Liverpoolfc.com to discuss her decision to renew with the Reds.

On signing a new contract…

I’m extremely happy. When Matt spoke to me it was a no-brainer for me to extend my deal here, so I’m really happy.

On her connection to the club and living in the city…

I really like the city. I bought a house here so I’m really settled. I love the people here, everyone is so friendly, there’s lots of nice walks to go on and the beach is not far from where I live; coffee shops, shopping, so everything you need. I really enjoy it here.

On the spirit in the squad with several new signings arriving…

I was a little bit nervous coming in for pre-season because some good people have moved on, but the new players that Matt has brought in are really nice and so lovely. I’m not training at the moment because I picked up a little knock.

We are all friends, we all get on so well. I think Matt has to take a lot of credit for that as well because the people that he brings in are just good people. I think sometimes you need, obviously talent, but if you have good people around then that speaks volumes as well. Also, the background staff as well, everyone is willing to help. It’s just really nice to know that everyone has my back.

On the Reds’ loyal fanbase…

It’s a special feeling here at Liverpool with the fans. Some of the games were really tough last season but they just really push you and get you over that line and help us to really dig deep and get the result. I don’t think we would have done as well last season as we did without our fans because they mean so much to us, I hope they know that.

On her respect and admiration for Beard…

We have so much respect for him, but don’t get in his bad books, that’s all I’m going to say! He looks after us. When we need a hug he will give us a hug and when we need a kick up the backside he will definitely give us that! Everything he does is in good will and he does it to get the best out of us. I have a lot of respect for him, he looks after me and I adore him a lot.

On whether her second spell with the club has lived up to expectations…

Yes, definitely! I think Matt has taken this club to another level. We’ve now got our training ground at Melwood to look forward to and that is going to be amazing when we go there. We can call Melwood our home and I think that is really important because we haven’t had that in a long time. Having Melwood as our home is going to be really special to all of the girls and I think that is why we are all excited because we wanted it for such a long time.

• Get your 2023-24 LFC Women season ticket here

On what this team can achieve in the future…

If you look at the signings we have made, they are young, but they are talented players. Watching training, the ball is just moving at such a good pace and I’m really excited to see where we go. Last season was our first year back in the WSL and we did so well.

I don’t know if anyone really expected that from us, so I’m really excited to see how we do this season. Matt is definitely going to have selection headaches this year, that’s for sure. Everyone is looking so sharp in training, they look strong and they look fast and the tempo of the play out there is really good. I just want to play as much as possible, stay fit and help this team as much as I can.

On the wait until the start of the 2023-24 WSL season on October 1…

I think that it’s good having a long pre-season, because it gives you time to work on what you need to work on, with Matt getting his tactics across to us and how he wants us to play and stuff like that. I think that’s only going to benefit us having that long pre-season and we can also gel as a team as well and get used to those relationships on the pitch with the new players.