Hearts winger Katie Rood opens up about her unique career journey and how she ended up in Edinburgh

From New Zealand to the UK, with a quick pitstop in Italy in between, Hearts star Katie Rood has had far from a straightforward career path.

The winger joined the Jam Tarts in the summer, becoming one of the first-ever full-time players for the club. Now only seven months into her career at her new club, she has already made a name for herself in the Capital, memorably scoring two wonder goals past Hamilton in a 5-0 demolition in December. Born in England, the 30-year-old was raised in New Zealand since she was three months old. However, playing football abroad was what she was always destined for with her first major career breakthrough coming in 2017 for Juventus.

“That was a wild ride”, she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “I got offered a trial while working full-time. I thought it was a prank initially – how does this opportunity come to someone like me? But before I knew it I was on the plane and heading over there. It was a whirlwind of an experience and there were so many challenges in it as a footballer, especially a female one with limited resources although it was still pretty good there.”

It was the first time the Old Lady had ever had a women’s team, buying the license off Cuneo to compete in the Serie A. Juventus would go on to win the league on goal difference, winning all but two games. “It was the first time they had a team, so they didn’t really know how to accommodate their international players”, Rood recalled. “I feel like going abroad to a foreign country is like five years’ worth of experience. I learned a lot in that time and to come out with the Italian Championship was a pretty cool endeavour.

Katie Rood has won 15 caps for New Zealand. Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie

“I was on Duolingo every day. We had the markets nearby was I would just haggle with the banana man to get as many as I could. I had a good friendship with the date man, he followed our scores all the time but he didn’t speak any English so we had to communicate with hand gestures and pigeon Italian. But we got by, there were a few girls on the team that could speak English and the coach could speak a reasonable amount. It's just about trying to immerse yourself into the culture and get adjusted as quickly as possible. It’s defiantly a big challenge to take on for any player.”

Her time in Turin didn’t last long and she was soon on the plane again, returning to England. A short stint at Bristol City was soon followed by a spell at Championship side Lewes in East Sussex. “Lewes is a gorgeous little town and a community-focused club”, she explained. “They do a lot, it's not just about the football, it’s a society and that community, ensuring they do the right things by the players and the people around them. I really enjoyed my time there although it didn’t go quite as I imagine it. It was a wonderful experience to be part of the community and to get to see the power that football can have.”

Before moving up north to Edinburgh, the New Zealander would give the English leagues one last outing, joining Southampton in 2021. She helped the Saints reach the Championship, with her penultimate game for the club being the FAWNL promotion play-off, beating Wolves 1-0.

“It was good, I had a successful season at Southampton,” she added. “It was always the ambition when going there to get promoted to the Championship. It was pretty crazy how the league split is done with the North and South and the winners of both going into a playoff. Personally, I believe the WSL needs to be extended and the Championship could probably be extended too. To have that whole season penned on that one game, was a lot of pressure. I felt pretty sorry for Wolves to be honest, it would have been pretty hard to be on the end of that. But I was ecstatic to get that result.”

In the summer of 2022, she got the call to move up to Edinburgh, officially joining Hearts at the end of June. Life at the Jam Tarts couldn’t have started better for the winger with the club sitting fourth in the SWPL1. She recently helped her side to a historic draw against champions Rangers.

“I’ve always had a little fascination with Scotland,” she said. “Coming from New Zealand, there is something there that is familiar. Every Scottish person I’ve met has been delightful. I’ve always wanted to come and visit, then I was talking to Eva Olid and there was an opportunity here with the ambitions of the club, the training complex. Sean Burt, the assistant coach, is quite the salesman. I figured it could be a pretty good fit. In England too there are talks about how much the Scottish league is growing and getting more competitive. I thought it would be a cool opportunity to be a part of that. My career has not been straightforward, but it's been full of adventures and it's cool to now experience that in Scotland too.

“I came in without too many expectations. I was open to whatever would happen. In our first game against Rangers we played really well and we actually surprised ourselves a little. We were like ok we are capable of competing against these teams. The progress from then to now has been phenomenal. Especially the younger girls, the way they are working, everyone is just improving day by day. We are getting more use to knowing each other on and off the pitch. I hope we are now starting to hit our stride. There is a lot we still want to work on and achieve but we’ve got good momentum at the moment and hopefully, that can continue.”