Ultra Mag | Issue 14 - Isobel Dalton

For the latest in our Ultra Mag series we caught up with Lewes FC midfielder, Isobel Dalton. Like many female footballer's Isobel has already lived all over the world at just 24, with football taking her from Brisbane to Bristol, Napoli, Lewes and who knows where next.

We chat all things women's football, living in Naples, and her future. 

Hey Izzi, how are you? welcome to Melbourne, sorry about the weather!!

Hey yeah good thank you, yeah I mean its a lot similar to England, its not fabulous is it? Its a bit warmer at least, I've been at the beach back in Queensland while everyone else has been in hoodies & jackets. 

What have you been up to? What're you doing in Melbourne? Any exciting news to tell us? 

Bit of a secret, but no just exploring Melbourne for now, having a look around, I'm only here for a couple of days so just seeing what its like really. 

So you're living in Lewes now? Can you tell us a bit about the area? 

Yeah so its not too far from Brighton & its a quirky little town to say the least, its really individual - not a big city at all the population is probably only a couple of thousand people. 

How's the football there? Can you tell us about the club's ambitions and your personal ambitions at the club? 

Yeah I think Lewes is a growing club, its not got a huge men's backing because its obviously not part of a big EPL team, so in that sense its growing - its always going to be growing no matter what. The league in general - the championship is so competitive, going over there I didn't know what it was going to be like but getting there you can see the level that these girls play at. 

Is the club able to attract players with the same values based on its unique stance? 

Yeah definitely, even when they recruit now, they don't look for just anybody, they look for good people and try to source various opinions on players before they sign. 

How much does the World Cup being in Australia excite you? As someone who's seen how the system works down here. 

Yeah definitely, I think its huge that we've even got it in the first place, it should give a significant boost to the A-Leagues and should help attract the big name players again. 

Can you tell us a bit about your Napoli experience? 

It was insane haha, it came out of nowhere, Immediately I wanted to go. I got to Napoli and they were like; this is the worst place to come in Italy for your first time but I loved it. I went to Venice & Roma and Napoli was still my favourite, playing in Serie A against the likes of Juventus & Milan was a great experience. 

Any advice for younger players in the same situation? 

I think the biggest thing for me is just don't be afraid to say yes, wherever I have been everything has been so different, the culture, seeing new things, the languages, I could barely communicate in Napoli but I still loved it. 

Can we talk about some of your personal goals? 

I love playing in England, Ideally I'd like to be in the WSL & Liverpool would be the dream but apart from that I'm quite open to anything. When an opportunity presents itself & feels right I'll go, no matter where it is. No set ambitions I guess, just playing at the highest level I can. 

Can you tell us about common goal? 

Yeah I found it through Alex Chidiac, it ties into Lewes with equal opportunities and giving women and girls the opportunity to play football, so I think I joined common goal for that reason, to give girls the opporunity to play who usuaully wouldn't.