Aluko appointed Angel City Sporting Director with Serena, others behind project
Aluko represented England, Chelsea and Juventus, among others, during an illustrious playing career
For Eni Aluko, taking the easy option has never been part of the attraction.
Having grown up on a council estate in Birmingham after migrating with her family from Nigeria, she has gone on to become a trailblazer for women’s football, representing England 102 times across five major tournaments, as well as Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, during a standout playing career featuring spells at top clubs including Chelsea and Juventus.
In addition, Aluko did all this alongside training and practising as a lawyer, whilst also making regular appearances on the media circuit.
But she has now arguably taken on her toughest challenge yet.
The former striker, 35, has become accustomed to leading the way in many aspects of her life to date, and her latest role as the first sporting director of the exciting, newly-formed women’s football franchise Angel City is no different.
Based in Los Angeles, the female-led National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team boasts a who’s who of famous names driving it forward, from founder Hollywood superstar Natalie Portman, to tennis icons Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, actress Eva Longoria, singer Becky G and TV host James Corden, as well as an abundance of U.S women’s football legends including Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy.
The project is shaking up the women’s soccer scene in a bid to tackle gender inequality - and they’ve chosen Aluko to build their team… from scratch.
“It’s been super busy, relentless really,” remarks Aluko, now a year into her post stateside. “Relentless, but it’s fun.”
In that time Aluko confesses to having had “sleepless nights” as she was handed a blank canvas on which to start from, since appointing a manager, Freya Coombe, and signing a whole roster of players to the team, including star striker, USWNT legend Christen Press.
So far it’s going well, with Angel City winning three of their opening five games in the NWSL season. But Aluko will be the first to admit it’s not all been as plain sailing.
“Up until about March it was relentless,” she says. “In terms of recruitment, contracts, negotiations, transfer deadlines, presenting to the board, bringing in staff, talking to Japan for days on end trying to get transfer deals over the line, talking to people all over the country, agents, presentations for players, dealing with the league in the U.S which has loads of different rules.”
Aluko had already gained similar experience in her previous role as sporting director at Aston Villa following her retirement from playing, though concedes it was a very different set-up.
“At Villa it was different as it was a pre-existing team that had just been promoted and it was about staying in the league. But the whole time I was at Villa I was thinking how good it would be to work with players who were the best in the world.
“Villa just weren’t at that point, but it gave me a lot of experience and understanding around building a strategy to help stay up, survival. So when the Angel City opportunity came up, LA, huge names involved, I thought this is the time and opportunity to build the global team I wanted and dreamed of.”
Despite her admission that a successful playing career does not necessarily make you a good sporting director, on paper at least, Aluko’s legal background combined with her experiences in football and a UEFA masters degree make her an ideal candidate for such a role.
“I’ve played with those players, or against them, so from a recruitment standpoint it really does help to be able to analyse those abilities, and also through my punditry work I’ve analysed football at the highest level so again when you’re recruiting you’re watching loads of players, your eye just becomes more trained.”
But during our chat it’s clear that the real motivation for someone who has been a huge influence in the growth of women’s football already, is taking it to the next level and beyond. “I’ve always been someone who looks at the status quo and thought I can be part of changing that.” Aluko opened up on how she considered quitting football to become a full-time lawyer after the 2012 Olympics “because I just didn’t see any pathway to doing what I wanted to do and was always struggling for money”. That year in London proved to be the catalyst for women’s football in the UK to start heading towards fully professional status.
Yet even with women’s football now the most popular and lucrative it’s ever been, Aluko wouldn’t swap the journey she has already been on. “I feel like I’ve been part of that sea change to where the game is now. And ultimately even though I’m not playing on the pitch I’m still part of the new women’s football, I’m shaping it and I feel really lucky to be apart of that too.”
