Fran Kirby is looking forward to being part of the long-term project to make Albion a force in the Women’s Super League.
The England attacking midfielder has joined the club after nine seasons at Chelsea when she won 15 trophies including seven league titles. Now she is looking forward to an exciting new challenge, having spoken to former teammate Maria Thorisdottir about the club’s ambitions.
Kirby said, “I wanted to stay in the league and when I spoke to Brighton and obviously my old teammate, Maria, it was some really exciting conversations in terms of the ambitions that the club has going forward.
“I think you can already see that with the signings that have already been announced over the last couple of days where the club sees itself. And for me, it was just exciting to hear that kind of passion come from a football club and to be part of another project really and come in as a bit of an older, more experienced player.”
Kirby scored 116 goals and contributed 76 assists in her time at Chelsea and says she still has the competitive instincts of a born winner.
“I'm a competitive trainer, I'm a competitive player,” she added. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could keep my standards up and help bring them into another club.
“I wanted to stay in this league because I still want to be competing week in week out. And as long as I can help a team progress, that's what I want to do.
“When I spoke to the people at Brighton and they told me how behind Tony Bloom is of the women's game and how much they want to invest in it and push it forward and then seeing the facilities here, for me it was a really exciting opportunity and one I couldn't really turn down.”