For Jill Roord, even after winning the Bundesliga title and getting to a Champions League final, eight years on from saying goodbye to FC Twente, there is simply no place like home. The 107-time capped Netherlands midfielder is this summer returning to the club where she began her career and, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian, she explains why the opportunity to move back closer to her family and friends was irresistible.
“It had nothing to do with City. My time with City was really good,” says Roord, as she explains her decision to leave the club after two years. “I have been away for eight years playing abroad and it becomes tough being alone for that many years. In the past few years I lost my fun and my happiness in football a little bit because of being away, travelling a lot and not being able to be with family and friends, and with busy summers every year I never really got a break. I just felt like now I needed to move back home, enjoy life and enjoy football again, so that’s the main reason.”
The former Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Wolfsburg player was Manchester City’s club-record signing when she arrived for a reported fee in the region of £300,000 and she started in outstanding form before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury. “City is such a big and fantastic club, the whole environment of the club was really nice, it’s really nice to train there with all the facilities,” she said. “The league is amazing. In my first season [we were] unlucky that we didn’t win it.
“In the second season, we started really well but then we got many injuries and we didn’t end the season so well, obviously there was a switch of coaches so it was a bit messy but I really enjoyed training every day with such amazing players at such a professional club. The fans of City are always very energetic at games so I really enjoyed that for two years.”
The desire to leave was simple – the lure of home, familiar sights and a desire to spend more time with her niece, and more time in the region where she grew up. It holds a place in Dutch football history too because FC Twente’s stadium in Enschede hosted the 2017 European Championship final, where Roord was part of the squad that won the title. “This is going to sound basic, but even stuff like the Dutch supermarkets makes me really happy,” she says. “When you’re a footballer from abroad you don’t really have a social life; you go from training to training, game to game and you don’t know anyone other than your teammates.”
Instead, FC Twente is deep-rooted in her family. Roord’s father, René, is FC Twente’s technical director, and Roord recalls being excited when she was an “eight or nine” year-old first joining FC Twente’s Under-13s girls team, and on returning, she says: “The reaction I got from the club and the fans was maybe a little but unexpected, it was quite overwhelming, in a good way. It is really nice to feel that everyone is very happy that I’m back.”
Having broken through at Twente in her teens, now she returns at 28, aware there will be expectations for her to act as a leader on and off the pitch, adding: “That’s definitely a little bit new, but it’s the right time for me and it’s good for my development, so I’m excited for that [responsibility]. I’ve never felt that responsible at a club so this is a good thing for me, something for me to work on and get better at.”
Before that club reunion, a major tournament in Switzerland in July. The Netherlands’ most recent international camp saw them suffer a 4-0 loss in Germany at the end of May before a 1-1 draw at home to Scotland on 3 June, when Roord opened the scoring. The Oranje Leeuwinnen then had what Roord feels was a much-needed two-week break, before starting their official Euros preparation camp on Thursday 19 June. “I think that [rest] was necessary, the past two games we played wasn’t really good from us,. We were mentally and physically tired after a long season, so it’s nothing to worry about. We needed this break and now we’re going to get ready for the Euros, we’re all excited.
“I’ve been playing with the national team since I was 17 and of all the squads I’ve played in across all those years, this one has maybe the best team. The level in training is very high. If we all do really well and if we’re all fresh and fit, we can get far.”
The 2017 champions begin their campaign against the tournament debutants Wales before facing England and France, and discussing the difficulty of Group D, Roord added: “It is obviously a bit unlucky to get a group like that but I’m sure all the other teams like France, England and Wales will say the same. Nowadays in women’s football there are many teams that are on the same level so it’s difficult to get far, for every team. Sometimes, when you have an easy group you can grow into the tournament – we don’t have time for that, but that’s the same for England, France and Wales, so it’s an exciting group. If we want to get far, we have to beat these teams.”
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It will also be the final tournament with Andries Jonker as the Netherlands’ head coach, before he will be replaced by Arjan Veurink, who is now Sarina Wiegman’s assistant coach with England. Veurink previously coached Roord at Twente. First she wants to see Jonker have the best-possible send-off, adding: “I hope for Andries that this will be an amazing tournament for him and for ourselves. He’s been very good for us, I’ve really enjoyed working with him and I hope for him and for the team that we can do really well.
“When I grew up playing for Twente, Arjan was the coach so I know him very well and it’s nice to have him back, he’s a very passionate coach and he’s tactically amazing, but he’s also very good at managing a team.”
It was with Veurink that Roord won her first senior titles in 2013 and 2014 – when the Belgian and Dutch leagues temporarily combined – before two more consecutive Eredivisie titles. Discussing her hopes for what she can achieve with the club this time around, she said: “The women’s team’s history is that they have won quite a lot, when I was there but also after I left, still, so next season I want to continue winning the league, cups, qualify for the Champions League and hopefully maybe surprise people a little bit there, but we’ll have to see.”
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