'Our only goal should be winning silverware'

The upcoming 2022/23 season could be the biggest yet in Steph Catley’s Arsenal career. 

Our Australia international made 34 appearances last campaign across all competitions and helped us to a second place finish in the Barclays Women’s Super League, but now she’s keen for more, and that all starts with a challenging pre-season schedule. 

Read on to find out more about Catley’s summer break, watching Euro 2022 and her ambitions for the forthcoming season. 

on how it feels to be back… 

Yeah it feels amazing, it’s been a tough first day, it’s nice to just be back with the girls, it’s been a lot of running on my own and training on my own, and that’s got a bit boring, so it’s just nice to be back with the girls.

on her summer break and what she’s been up to…

Yeah it was amazing, I’ve never really had a break like that before in my entire career, so I definitely cherished every single day, I had a little bit of a holiday with some of the girls in Spain, and then in Greece with my partner for a week, and then I got a big, big chunk of time at home in Australia which was amazing, I haven’t had that in years so nice to spend some quality time with the family.

on pre-season under Jonas Eidevall…

Yeah, I missed last years because we were at the Olympics so I actually have only completed one full day of preseason with Jonas, and it was pretty tough, it was a light session but it was still a bit of a blow, a lot of us haven’t played proper football in a while so that always gets your chest going and legs going so bit of a tough first day, we just did a conditioning circuit in the gym to finish it off too so I expect it’ll be pretty tough. 

on how difficult pre-season can get…

Yeah, that’s what preseason is for, it’s supposed to push your boundaries and get you to the fittest possible level before you start a really long and tough season, so I expect it’s going to be pretty tough by the end.

on our ambitions for the season…

We have an incredible team and last year we got really, really close to a lot of different bits of silverware and didn’t quite get there so that’s obviously disappointing for a team that is ambitious as us, so I think our only goal should be winning silverware for this next coming season, you know, we’ve got a pretty similar group, so just building on what we built on last year will be really important and hopefully we can do that

on how she’s preparing herself mentally for the season…

We’re a long way from actually getting to the start of the season. I think at the moment it’s day by day in pre-season and just getting back your touch, back your passing, your technique, and that football fitness, getting back with the girls and making those connections again, so I think it’s just day by day for now. A lot of our team is still at the Euros doing their thing, so they’ll do that and then come back, and we’ll really buckle down and get ready for the season.

on Euro 2022…

Yeah, it’s been incredible to watch, I’ve never seen anything like it this consistently with women’s football, and I think it says a lot about where our game is right now, and how far it’s come, and I’ve really enjoyed watch our girls play. I think everyone’s done really, really well, but just in general the level of the football in every single team in the Euros has been great and the attendances have been incredible, and it’s been amazing to watch. 

on watching her teammates at the Euros…

Yeah, it’s a lot of fun, I think our girls have done so well, every single one of them, it’s been really fun to go and watch. I’ve watched England play a few times, and obviously the crowds there and the atmosphere’s been second to none. Our girls have been absolutely smashing it so that’s been fun to watch them, but there's no favouritism amongst our girls, it’s just fun to watch all of them do their thing, and hopefully one of them gets to hold the trophy