Durham Women are delighted to confirm that goalkeeper Anna King has signed her first professional contract with the club.
The 22-year-old has put pen to paper on a long-term contract at Maiden Castle – having first joined the club at 14.
King started out in the Durham under-16 side before progressing through the club’s pathway which has resulted in her representing our Professional Game Academy under-21 side over the last two seasons.
The stopper has put in a number of eye-catching performances in the PGA League, while also gaining valuable experience of senior football with Durham Cestria in the FA Women’s National League.
She has also trained regularly with the first team in recent years, working closely with our senior goalkeepers and coaching staff.
And after agreeing her first professional deal, King has paid tribute to the club’s pathway for aiding her development.
“It feels brilliant,” she said.
“I’ve been here since I was 14, starting in the RTC and I built and moved up.
“Every step has taught me something new and I’ll take that into the season and hopefully learn some more as well.
“When you play for the club you support the club, and being here for so long and watching it grow has been brilliant.
“Being a part of the journey has been really special and getting a contract here makes it even better.”
King’s remarks on training with the first team: “The goalkeepers that have been around over the last couple of years, they’ve really taught me a lot.
“They’ve taught me what acting and being like a senior goalkeeper is like – how you present yourself on and off the pitch.
“Brassy has been absolutely fantastic. He believed in me when I probably didn’t and for him to put his arm around me and push me has been really good and I appreciate that.”
King on becoming a professional footballer: “I had a conversation with my Dad the other week and he said ‘you’re a professional footballer now’ and I was saying he was silly!
“I think when you get to the line in pre-season and you have to do that first run, that’s when it’ll sink in!
“When you play for the club you support the club, and being here for so long and watching it grow has been brilliant.
“Being a part of the journey has been really special and getting a contract here makes it even better.”
King on aims for the 2024/25 season: “Individually it’s just to carry on growing and learning and pushing whoever is ahead of me.
“I want to push and help whoever is ahead of me as much as I can.
“For the team, we want to finish as high as we can and get as many clean sheets as we can.
“We want to be that solid defence we know we can be, and then score as many goals and win as many games as we can.”
King on the Durham support: “They’re brilliant and even through the Pathway you can see that.
“They go to Academy games, Under 16 games and that shows that the fans are here not just for the players on a Sunday but for every single member of staff and player in the whole club from first team to under-10s.
“Them as a group, there’s no-one like it really.”
With thanks to Durham WFC