Photo: Skip Fulton
South Melbourne FC captain and newly-contracted Melbourne Victory defender Alex Cheal believes her W-League selection can help her fly the flag for regional football.
The Echuca local joins the squad on the back of her fourth consecutive season at Lakeside Stadium, skippering a new-look side as one of a handful of first team players to stick with the club through their State League One campaign in 2016 after missing out on an NPLW licence.
Cheal struggled to contain her excitement after achieving W-League selection for the first time in her career.
“I am absolutely stoked and am so grateful for being given the opportunity to represent Melbourne Victory in the W-League,” Cheal said.
“This has certainly been the one goal that I aspired to achieve for the last five or six years now, in which I’ve been trialling but never made that final step into the playing squad. I guess it just goes to show what you can do if you focus, work hard and never give up.
“I can’t wait to be apart of an elite team of professional women footballers and play at the highest level in the country.”
The 23-year-old has been on the Victorian football scene for almost a decade at the top level, making her league debut as a 14-year-old for the Bendigo Vipers in the 2008 WPL season, announcing herself with 18 first-team appearances that year and totalling 38 games across her three seasons with the club.
She joined the Victorian State Program system in 2011, featuring 16 times in the top flight for VCL Country and playing with the EAP/NTC program in 2012 before joining South Melbourne ahead of the 2013 WPL season.
The centre-half made 63 top-flight appearances for South Melbourne, and was one of the youngest captains in the league, leading her side to consecutive WPL Championships in 2014-15 after falling at the final hurdle the season prior to Sandringham SC.
Cheal spoke glowingly of the talent hiding away in country football, and that she is proof that the chance is there to play at an elite level for those that are willing to work towards it.
“I never thought I would see myself here, particularly coming from a small country town,” she said.
“I hope this news can demonstrate to all those kids living in rural areas that there are no limits to what you can achieve if you set your mind to it.
“Although it may be more difficult to access the best standards of the sports and passions they love, country kids are just as capable of reaching these elite pathways as any other person.
“The country football league help shape the player I am today and enabled my passion for the game to grow. There is huge quality and potential in the country system and it will only continue to improve.”
Jeff Hopkins and the Victory are in the latter stages of finalising their squad for the upcoming domestic season with 12 players having already been officially announced, and two more international spots to fill.
READ MORE: Victory secure Victorians, return of Natasha Dowie (courtesy of The Women’s Game)
An official announcement from the club is imminent with their league season scheduled to begin on the 6th of November away to Adelaide United.