Oxford United Women are please to announce that Ellie-Mae Richardson has signed her first professional contract with the club. Ellie-Mae has already featured for the first team four times this season, all as substitute, and has done enough to convince manager Sam Rose to get her to commit her immediate future to the club.
After signing, Ellie-Mae said: "It feels great. It's something I've wanted for a while, so to finally get it done feels good."
Ellie-Mae has been with the club since she was seven years old, playing a significant role with the treble-winning Development Squad last season.
"It's a massive family club that's always willing to develop you and work with you and so it's always been a place that I've wanted to be," she continued. "I've never felt the need to move. The jump from the Devs to the first team has been really challenging, which is what I wanted. It's a lot more demanding physically than development football, it's faster and stronger, but that's exactly what I wanted."
Rose added: "We are delighted that Ellie-Mae has committed her future to the Club. She’s a talented player who has shown us since stepping up to the senior environment that she has plenty of potential, and she has established herself as an important member of the squad moving forward.
"Ellie is part of a strong midfield unit and her continuing to play with and compete against experienced players like our Captain Leah Burridge, Jenna Legg, Kate Wiseman and Vita Budaieva will only help her continue to progress.
"This marks a moment to celebrate the work that our dedicated staff do at youth level, supporting Ellie-Mae to this point. We thank them for their continued hard work in developing the next generation of local players and we hope Ellie’s journey can be an inspiration to them and our pathway."
