Ben Gilby continues his series profiling our Glory A-League Women’s squad with a feature on recently-capped Football Ferns striker, Kelli Brown.
New Zealand international attacker Kelli Brown has had a whirlwind month.
A return from injury, a first call-up to the senior New Zealand national side and then hitting two of Glory’s three goals in a superb win over Western United.
“It’s been wild for sure,” she said.
“I think that’s the beauty of sport though; anything can happen.
“Injuries obviously suck, but I’m grateful for the people around me that helped me get back to playing which means I can do cool things like play for my country and score goals.”
Brown spent the February international window in Costa Rica with the Football Ferns and earned her maiden senior international cap, which was the fulfilment of a lifetime ambition.
“It was so much fun!” she reflected.
“I’ve been playing football for a long, long time with my dream always being to become a Fern (NZ international), so to be able to do that was super humbling.
“The set-up is incredible and everyone there is like one big family which is always nice to step into, especially being my first time.”
That first international cap at the age of 24 was the culmination of a long battle for Brown who had to clear numerous hurdles to reach the level she now performs at.
“I started playing when I was four-years-old, so a long time ago now,” she said.
“I grew up in the country in New Zealand, so we only had one team and played against other local schools which was heaps of fun.
“When I was about nine, I joined a team in Hamilton to play at a higher level.
“I was the only girl in the team, but that didn’t bother me at all.
“I’ve always been super-competitive, so I worked hard to make sure the boys knew I was just as good as them.
“I think that helped me to become a better and more physical player.
“I played representative football for Waikato from, I think eight-years-old as well and I continued my journey through the different teams from there.
“When I went to high school, I wasn’t allowed to play in the boys’ league anymore, so I moved into the women’s League.
“It was a tough adjustment, not being as physical, but I was still able to play and that was most important.
“I played for the New Zealand U17s and went to the World Cup where we won a bronze medal and that has been a highlight of my career, for sure.
“I then played for the New Zealand U20 qualifiers which earned us a place in the World Cup, but unfortunately, due to COVID, it got cancelled.
“I played my first season of professional football in the 2021/22 A-League for the inaugural Wellington Phoenix team which was exciting and now I’m playing my third season in the league, this time for Perth Glory.
“The journey is not over yet!”
Brown admits that relocating from New Zealand to live and play in Western Australia has been far from easy at a personal level, but she has gradually adapted to the change in circumstances as the season has gone on.
“I won’t lie, it has been tough being away from home and in a different country, but I guess that’s part of life,” she said.
“The people here are lovely and there’s some cool things to do and see around WA, so keeping busy is good!”
The tenacious forward’s time at Wellington Phoenix prepared her well for the challenges of regular long-distance travel faced by the Glory squad and she feels that those geographical factors help foster an ‘us and them’ mentality at both clubs.
“I think the isolation is definitely similar, having to travel so far for away games,” she said.
“I think there’s other perks too that people don’t think of a lot.
“Like here in Perth, its super-hot but we train and play in it every day so it gets a little easier for us.
“In Wellington, it’s often windy, and being in that environment every day, you start to find that easier to play in too.
“I don’t see these things as excuses though, I think it’s just things that exist in life.”
One of the other challenges that Glory have had to come to terms with this season is a seemingly never-ending injury list which has particularly impacted the club’s attackers, Brown included.
She admits that the experience has been tough, but believes it has brought the team closer together.
“I think it’s been challenging, but I think it’s probably been good for us as players and as people,” she said.
“Resilience has been a big part of this season and I think collectively we have done well to keep working hard and building each week.
“I think that’s the important thing about team sports; being able to work with whoever it is on the pitch.
“That’s obviously been a huge thing for us this season, but I think we have managed it well and that’s reflected in our goal scorers.
“We have a number of different people with goals to their names and I think that’s almost cooler than having just one person getting all the goals themselves.”
With the season approaching its final four rounds, Brown is determined to help Glory end the campaign on a high.
“It would be cool for us to take these last few games as an opportunity to do better than we did against each of the teams when we played them the first time around,” she said.
“I also hope we can score lots of goals and win some more games.”
#ONEGlory
