Published 10 July 2024 4 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Anna Moorhouse on call-up and her journey to England duty
The Orlando Pride goalkeeper reflects on her career to date and her first England call-up
Anna Moorhouse became the latest new face to join the England squad this week, as the Lionesses prepare for their final two EURO 2025 qualifying games.
The Orlando Pride goalkeeper arrived in camp at St. George’s Park earlier this week, having spent the last four years playing her club football overseas with Bordeaux in France and with her current club in the USA.
And while she revealed the call-up didn’t come entirely out of the blue, following a visit from goalkeeping coach Darren Ward recently, she’s looking forward to the week ahead.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it was going to be this camp,” said the 29 year old.
“Darren came out to a game and I met him then and he told me they were looking at me so to just keep going.
“That was a week before I got the call, but I didn’t expect it to be this camp.
The Orlando Pride goalkeeper arrived in camp at St. George’s Park earlier this week, having spent the last four years playing her club football overseas with Bordeaux in France and with her current club in the USA.
And while she revealed the call-up didn’t come entirely out of the blue, following a visit from goalkeeping coach Darren Ward recently, she’s looking forward to the week ahead.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it was going to be this camp,” said the 29 year old.
“Darren came out to a game and I met him then and he told me they were looking at me so to just keep going.
“That was a week before I got the call, but I didn’t expect it to be this camp.
“I then had a call from an English number, so wondered who that was and I actually missed the call at first so I called back and it was Sarina who told me I was picked. At first, I thought it was one of my club coaches pranking me!
“I knew a couple of the girls from playing for Arsenal when I was younger but I hadn’t seen them for so long and it’s been nice to catch up with them. It’s been really welcoming though and everyone’s been really good.
“For me, just coming in having not been a part of this set-up, I’ve just been getting used to the culture and how things run, enjoying training and learning how the team plays, how they defend and how they want to play out.
“I think the squad has to be confident. We’ve come off winning the EUROs and getting to the World Cup Final, so confidence is high in the squad and I’ve only trained once but you can see when a squad is confident and when they’re not.
“The girls look confident and we have two big games coming up so we’re looking to win both of them.”
Moorhouse’s maiden international call comes on the back of a career which saw her work her way to playing in the Barclays WSL before making the move abroad.
Growing up in her hometown of Oldham, where she featured for a boys’ grassroots team in Chadderton Grasshoppers before joining Chaddy End Girls and also representing Oldham Athletic.
A spell in the development centre at Manchester United followed before she made the move to Everton, where she played alongside former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown and eventually moved on for stints with Durham and Doncaster Rovers Belles.
In 2017, she headed to the capital and joined Arsenal where she spent a season before moving across London to West Ham United.
“I knew a couple of the girls from playing for Arsenal when I was younger but I hadn’t seen them for so long and it’s been nice to catch up with them. It’s been really welcoming though and everyone’s been really good.
“For me, just coming in having not been a part of this set-up, I’ve just been getting used to the culture and how things run, enjoying training and learning how the team plays, how they defend and how they want to play out.
“I think the squad has to be confident. We’ve come off winning the EUROs and getting to the World Cup Final, so confidence is high in the squad and I’ve only trained once but you can see when a squad is confident and when they’re not.
“The girls look confident and we have two big games coming up so we’re looking to win both of them.”
Moorhouse’s maiden international call comes on the back of a career which saw her work her way to playing in the Barclays WSL before making the move abroad.
Growing up in her hometown of Oldham, where she featured for a boys’ grassroots team in Chadderton Grasshoppers before joining Chaddy End Girls and also representing Oldham Athletic.
A spell in the development centre at Manchester United followed before she made the move to Everton, where she played alongside former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown and eventually moved on for stints with Durham and Doncaster Rovers Belles.
In 2017, she headed to the capital and joined Arsenal where she spent a season before moving across London to West Ham United.
After two campaigns with the Hammers, her former Arsenal boss Pedro Martinez Losa offered her the chance of a spell on the continent and the opportunity to enhance her career.
“At the time, I was at West Ham and we hadn’t done too well that season so I wanted a fresh start and challenge and to put myself out of my comfort zone in a country where I didn’t speak the language,” she explained.
“It came about through Pedro, who is the manager of the Scotland team now and I played for him at Arsenal, so he asked if I wanted to go to France and be a part of that.”
At the time, thoughts of an England call-up weren’t necessarily at the top of her priorities, with the move more about experiencing something different in life and her football.
“I didn’t think it would be completely off the cards, but I thought I’d have less exposure to it in France,” she added.
“But I also needed to play, and I wanted to play in the Champions League. I thought that wouldn’t have happened in England so it was a step that I had to take to get to where I am right now
“I thought maybe I wouldn’t be as noticeable going to France [in terms of an international call-up] as the league there probably isn’t as good as the BWSL. You have PSG and Lyon as the top teams and a couple of other teams challenging them.
“But I really enjoyed France and the USA came calling so I thought ‘why not?’”
Moorhouse headed across the Atlantic in 2022 to join Orlando Pride, where she’s now a regular in the NWSL.
“It’s definitely a lot more fast-paced,” she revealed. “There’s a lot of transition, which was hard to get used to at times, because every single player is an athlete. You have college track athletes playing football, so it’s very fast.
“But it’s been good to experience that, both the transitional game in America and the technical game in France and I feel like England is a hybrid of those two styles.
“It’ll be nice to experience football in England again this week though, as I haven’t been in front of English fans for five years now.
“The game’s massively grown since I’ve been away and I’m looking forward to seeing that growth in person.”
“At the time, I was at West Ham and we hadn’t done too well that season so I wanted a fresh start and challenge and to put myself out of my comfort zone in a country where I didn’t speak the language,” she explained.
“It came about through Pedro, who is the manager of the Scotland team now and I played for him at Arsenal, so he asked if I wanted to go to France and be a part of that.”
At the time, thoughts of an England call-up weren’t necessarily at the top of her priorities, with the move more about experiencing something different in life and her football.
“I didn’t think it would be completely off the cards, but I thought I’d have less exposure to it in France,” she added.
“But I also needed to play, and I wanted to play in the Champions League. I thought that wouldn’t have happened in England so it was a step that I had to take to get to where I am right now
“I thought maybe I wouldn’t be as noticeable going to France [in terms of an international call-up] as the league there probably isn’t as good as the BWSL. You have PSG and Lyon as the top teams and a couple of other teams challenging them.
“But I really enjoyed France and the USA came calling so I thought ‘why not?’”
Moorhouse headed across the Atlantic in 2022 to join Orlando Pride, where she’s now a regular in the NWSL.
“It’s definitely a lot more fast-paced,” she revealed. “There’s a lot of transition, which was hard to get used to at times, because every single player is an athlete. You have college track athletes playing football, so it’s very fast.
“But it’s been good to experience that, both the transitional game in America and the technical game in France and I feel like England is a hybrid of those two styles.
“It’ll be nice to experience football in England again this week though, as I haven’t been in front of English fans for five years now.
“The game’s massively grown since I’ve been away and I’m looking forward to seeing that growth in person.”
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