Maria Thorisdottir’s football journey has been far from conventional. “When I look back on my story, it’s quite weird really,” the Brighton defender admits in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports.
The diversions and challenges are consistent throughout her career – a two-year break to pursue handball. A total of eight years spent on the sidelines with injuries, some career-threatening. Never quite nailing down a consistent position in her club career.
For the latter, there is a tinge of regret and reflection. “I wish I could have played more in one position and you imagine ‘how good could I have been?’. The same sentiment applies to her injury absences.
But despite her unorthodox journey, Thorisdottir has finally found a home at Brighton. She has started in every WSL game so far and played regularly as a centre-back.
The message from the club has been of building a project under Melissa Phillips that will allow the Seagulls to compete in the years to come. “If there is a club that can do it, Brighton is definitely one of them,” Thorisdottir says.
And she is proving to be a vital part of its beginnings, with experiences only enhancing what is now the best period of her career.
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‘I’ve rarely played at centre-back for clubs before’
Thorisdottir is the epitome of a versatile player. Despite now playing at centre-back for Brighton and having been signed as such for various WSL teams, she has rarely been used in that position by her clubs – although she has often played in central defence for Norway.
“I really liked playing as a holding six, that was my favourite position, and I played there for Klepp [her first club in Norway],” the 30-year-old says of her first experiences of positional changes.
“Then I played for the youth national team and they needed a centre-back so they just put me there. So for the national team, I’ve always been a centre-back but then in clubs, I’ve normally been a holding six or an attacking midfielder.
“It was in my last season at Klepp that I played at centre-back really, then I moved to Chelsea. I was brought in as a centre-back, played my first game there – probably the best game I had for Chelsea as a centre-back – but then after that, I didn’t really play much there.
“I got moved everywhere else so I had a different position every day – full-back, midfield, wing-back, but not at centre-back. But at the same time, I was centre-back in the national team so it was also a bit hard when you don’t play it in your team regularly. Sometimes when you’re versatile, you just have to accept being moved a little bit.
“Then I moved to Man Utd as a centre-back, but played at right-back. I was bought in as a centre-back with Casey [Stoney], but then Marc Skinner took over and things changed. I was more of a full-back there, although I played to centre-back for one of the seasons.
“I have literally played everything else than centre-back for clubs, so, right now, I’m very happy and playing consistently in one position here at Brighton.”
I think Melissa is doing a great job and it’s an interesting project that we’re building. It’s a big challenge for her as well to have so many new players. You don’t build a team over a few days so it will take time. This season, we are trying lots of new things so it will go up and down and it has. I feel like when we do play well, it looks very good so I think there is a bright future.
‘Handball warm-up made me miss football’
Since she was young, Thorisdottir has played multiple sports. While football often took priority, it was in 2012 when she decided to focus more attention on another passion – handball.
But it was the reminder of football that saw her return to the sport in 2014 as she rejoined Klepp, although that was also not the initial plan.
“I played both handball and football professionally until I was 18, plus I had sports school, so the total amount of training was a lot. Football always came first because I was selected for the youth national team before the handball national team so that was always the priority.
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Highlights from the Women’s Super League match between Brighton and Bristol City
“We went to Japan for the U20 World Cup and I remember coming back and I was just so tired of football. I was like ‘nope, I don’t want to do this anymore’ and I really wanted to give handball a chance.
“I played handball for two years, then unfortunately, with my history from when I was young, I got a patellar tendon issue in my left knee because of overload. That is still with me today and it’s nothing I will get rid of.
Thorisdottir spent two seasons with Man Utd, having joined from Chelsea
“That then made me stay more on the sidelines because handball is a lot of jumping and things on a hard floor. And the funny story is the warm-up for handball is actually football and everyone loves it, but I remember I always looked forward to the warm-up instead of the main handball session.
“I started to realise that I really did miss football, so I decided to move home after two years away and I wasn’t planning to play football at that time. I was thinking ‘I’m going to have a break now and let my body rest’, but then Klepp hired an Icelandic coach and he really wanted me to come and have a session.
“And here I am. I never looked back.”
‘Imagine what I could do in those eight years of injury’
But a succession of injuries has arguably stalled Thorisdottir’s career at times. She estimates she has spent a total of eight years on the sidelines.
“When I think about it, eight years is a lot. Imagine what I could do in those eight years,” she reflects.
“I’ve been very unlucky with injuries I’ve had because almost every one has put me out for a year.
“I had one very bad one that kept me out for two years from 2015 until 2017, which was a Lisfranc injury in my foot with complications with stress fractures and other things that threatened my career.
“That put things in perspective and I really learned a lot about myself at that time, because you go from being a team player to suddenly be alone. It’s never nice to be injured but, at the same time, it’s a good opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and use it for something positive.
“I’ve been working a lot on my physicality and being strong is one of my strengths. My mentality as well is very strong from being injured.”
I haven’t spoken to her yet, I’m going to have a conversation with her in a few weeks. I’m really looking forward to it – hopefully she picks me [for February internationals]. I’m very excited to get to know her, I’ve heard a lot of positive things. It was time to get something completely new into the team so we can start with a fresh page. Hopefully she can bring something good and we can have a good future.
‘I never thought Chelsea interest would happen to me’
Thorisdottir first arrived in the WSL when she signed for Chelsea in 2017, although she also had the option of joining Arsenal.
It followed on from her eye-catching performance for Norway at Euro 2017, despite the country crashing out in the group stage without picking up a point.
“For me, I’ve always just played because I thought it was fun. I also loved staying at home, I had the club [Klepp] five minutes away from my house and I’m a very home person, so the thought of moving out never entered my brain,” Thorisdottir explains.
Thorisdottir first caught the eye of WSL clubs during Euro 2017
“When I played in the 2017 Euros for myself, it went well, but for Norway, it didn’t really go so well in that tournament. But I suddenly had an agent calling me saying Arsenal and Chelsea were interested. I didn’t really think that would ever happen to someone like me from a little farm town in Norway. How could people see me?
“I actually went to Arsenal to have a look at the training ground and I was shocked because it was such a different world to what I was used to. But then I started to feel like ‘maybe I am ready to take the next step and challenge myself’.
“Then I chose Chelsea and I’ve never regretted that choice. So it was a big move and also a big change professionally and everything from back home.”
‘I now feel important at Brighton and can express myself’
Last summer saw Thorisdottir join her third WSL team in Brighton, signing from Manchester United after two years with the club.
The defender now has the right tools – the club, the position and hopefully a lack of injuries – to flourish and she wants to express herself in a way she has not been able to so far.
“I’ve loved it since the first minute and it is something about feeling important. From the first conversation I had with Mel [Phillips], you felt that they really wanted you and that’s a feeling I haven’t felt in a while because when you don’t play regularly, you’re a bench player, you don’t feel important. You never do, even if you should – that’s just how it is.
“I think every player will know what I’m talking about – when you play regularly, it does something to you and you feel confident. It’s easier to play well when you have the consistency.
“If you have something like I did at United where you get one game there and then four games out, then that one game there, it is so hard to get the consistency and actually do well because if you don’t do perfectly well in the game you actually get the chance to play in, then you’re out again.
“So it is really hard, but I have enjoyed all my years in England so far. It’s challenging, but right now, I am loving it.
“I feel like I haven’t been able to express myself fully yet and I really feel like it’s coming now. I still feel that I have a lot of years left, even if I’m 30. I really feel like the years that have passed, I’ve built something I really want to get out and I feel like I’m starting to get it out now which is really good.”