Phil SumblerClaire Skinner is an international goalkeeper and yesterday made her debut for the Swans ladies in their 5-0 win over Aberystwyth at Llandarcy. She signed for the Swans back in December but due to the pausing of the season she had to wait more than three months for her debut.
Joining from Cardiff City she spoke during her time there about her career to date and her work whilst at University and how representing the country she qualifies for due to her grandfather against Italy was one of her best experiences with Wales.
Claire on becoming a goalkeeper: “Being from Guildford, I ended up joining Guildford Saints. I just kept enjoying and loving football there and played as a striker but went in goal once when our goalkeeper was unavailable and enjoyed it, discovering I was alright. I then went to a Chelsea Foundation summer camp and they told me that I was quite good in goal, so I ended up trialling, before playing for Chelsea U12 side that season.
“I’ve been all over the place, from Chelsea, Fulham & Reading at youth level to playing for Cwmbran Celtic and Cyncoed in the WPWL, before Aston Villa and Oxford United. Although, through injuries and competition, I wasn’t at a good enough standard to play regularly at some of those clubs, so there was no point in me staying because I needed game time to improve.”
Claire on playing against Italy: “Playing against Italy for my country was incredible: one of my best experiences with Wales and it’s been my goal over the past couple of years.
“The adrenalin stopped me from feeling the cold and I just wanted to get on, but looking back on it, it was fully snowing and definitely a different experience.
“They changed the colour of the lines to red and the ball to yellow, but the football was picking up snow, as if it was being rolled into a snowball. To keep warm, we had underlayers, tracksuit bottoms and big padded coats, so before going on I had to take all that off and made sure that I kept warm.”
Claire on a training regime: “I train for three hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, doing hill sprints and continuous runs also and on Fridays I train for two hours. I do bits in my room like core workouts, resistance work and things like that, but I don’t have weights, so use objects like tubs of protein as weights, bands for resistance and throw tennis balls against the wall.
“When I started university, I didn’t think like I do now because I was interested in other things that really weren’t worth it. If I knew what the cost would be, not being able to play and losing the feeling of going on the pitch, I would’ve done more.”
Claire on her debut clean sheet: “It’s amazing to make my debut so long after signing, and what a way to start with a 5-0 win, it is brilliant.
“It wasn’t a bad way to start and to keep a clean sheet was the most important thing for me.
“I haven’t played for a long time, so getting the rustiness out of my performance straight away was good.”
