Rosa Serra, the goalkeeper, came over from Barcelona after being promised work by the club and somewhere to live. Conchita Sanchez, also Spanish, came in from the Italian professional league. Several of the current first team were successful in other sports before turning to football. Sammy Britton, a tigerish midfielder, represented Yorkshire in netball before switching to football and eventually coming south. Yvette Rean played lacrosse for England before giving it up to concentrate on football.
Football comes as a secondary thing.
That's probably right. He stresses, though, that while some might consider that a shame, the girls themselves are entirely realistic. They would like to have a professional league, probably, but some of them won't ever see that. The players are amateurs, which means they have to hold down day jobs as well as making a huge commitment to the team. Some work for Arsenal itself, which helps, but the rest have to fit their work around the demands of football, which can be difficult.