Sophie Brisland-Hancocks | Swansea City has given me so much, on and off the pitch

Playing football for Swansea City has given Sophie Brisland-Hancocks any number of special moments and experiences over the years, but none more important than meeting her wife Kate.

Midfielder Brisland-Hancocks is in her second spell with the Swans, having returned to the club from Cardiff Met last summer, shortly after getting married to Kate.

The club gave Brisland-Hancocks her first senior opportunity, the chance to win silverware and experience Champions League football, play at the Swansea.com Stadium and have her – now elongated – name on the back of her jersey.

And that last item on that list carries particular resonance given it was through Swansea City that Sophie met Kate.

“I remember the first night we met, we were training at Baglan and we were told there were two new players coming in from Cardiff Met,” says Brisland-Hancocks, who is preparing for Sunday's Genero Adran Trophy final against Cardiff City Women.

“I remember Kate and Emily Brown walking down the steps.

“A couple of weeks had gone by, and I always remember - it’s something we still joke about to this day - I went up to her and I said something like ‘my mum says I look like Nancy from Eastenders’, because I had overheard her saying that she fancied Nancy.

“I have no idea why I said it! There was a bit of a weird awkward laugh between us, but I always had that natural banter; she tells these stories to everyone.

“It was a few weeks later and I was just starting university at the time. I think it was the first night of freshers. We didn’t know where to go and Kate said that she knew some places.

“A couple of us girls had gone out with her, and from that moment on that was pretty much it for us, and now - eight years on - she is my wife.

“We were at university together, but it was the fact she came to the club that really started things off for us.

“It was something that definitely contributed to me coming back to Swansea last summer, the club holds a real place close to my heart because it is where I met Kate. 

“When I spoke to her about coming back to Swansea, she was a bit apprehensive, but she bought a shirt, had our name printed on it, and she’s been my number one supporter, so she holds Swansea just as close to her heart as I do.

“It’s the first thing we did which had our names on after getting married. We hadn’t changed our passports, driving licences… but I had my football shirt with both of our names on the back.

“I remember when I signed, I had a text asking what name I wanted on the back of my shirt, I asked for Brisland-Hancocks, but I knew that it was really long and might not be possible.

“Kate said that they would never be able to do it, and to just put Hancocks on the back.

“But when I came to training they told me there was a surprise for me and I saw the shirt for the first time. I sent a photo to Kate immediately and – again, she will hate me for saying this - she teared up and it was something that was really special, to have our married name on the back of my shirt.

“To be able to have the name on the back of my shirt when she’s not playing anymore, that is really special, and it emphasises the fact that the two of us have a special relationship with Swansea and we always will.”

While Brisland-Hancocks has Kate as her biggest fan, she also acknowledges that her wife’s experience in football means she can also expect some honest appraisals of her performances.

“It can be a weird thing to play for the same club as your partner, particularly because she’s a goalkeeper,” she says. 

“Goalkeepers get a lot of stick now and then so that was really challenging, especially in training, but we managed it really well.

“In training and in games we were very much teammates and then, outside of football, that would take a back seat and we concentrate on our relationship.

“But it’s great to have had those experiences together, we hold a lot of memories, we still have photos of the two of us playing together around the house so it’s something that is really close to our hearts.

“I still get that brutal honesty she had as a player from her now. I’ll ask her how I played and it’s always ‘well you did this and you should have done that’ and that was very much how we both were when we were playing together. 

“There were one or two occasions - and Kate will hate me for saying it - when she got lobbed and it was one of those moments when you get home and think ‘do I bring up that subject’, but we had that relationship where we could talk quite openly and honestly with each other.

“Kate is naturally a competitive person, I think that’s why we got on so well on the football side of it.”

Prior to her time with the Swans, Brisland-Hancocks’ football story started in Blackwood, Caerphilly.

Brisland-Hancocks is the daughter of former Newport County, Cardiff City and Luton Town Academy defender Karl Hancocks, and spent her childhood kicking any item she could around the family home. She has loved football for as long as she can remember.

However, like many girls’ players at the time, there was no obvious avenue for her to play and so she started off with a local boys’ team.

“I’ve always loved football,” says Brisland-Hancocks.

“I first started playing when I was six. That was because I was kicking a balloon, a ball, or anything I could turn into a ball around our house. It was driving my parents nuts, so they decided to take me to my local football club.

“My dad played so it was something that was always in the family. He played for a number of teams. He was at Newport County, he had a stint at Cardiff City as well, and did get Welsh caps at some age groups, so he had that background, and it was something that I grew up around so it was quite natural.

“I went to a boys’ team first because at the time there wasn’t any local girls’ team, I was turned down from that first boys’ club because I was a girl, then there was a club nearer to me in Pengam Boys and Girls Club.

“I wasn’t allowed to play in any of the games, I was only allowed to train with them, then I started playing games when I was eight or nine and I played there until I was 14.

“I first joined a girls’ team when I was 14 at Caerphilly Castle Ladies which was local to me, I started to play with them on a Sunday and continued to play with the boys’ team on a Saturday.

“I did that for about a year and a half to two years, and I hit that age where I had to give up the boys’ football and focus on the women’s side of the game.

“I was in and out of different regional academies from there, I had a call up into the Welsh set-up and became involved in that. I then played for Caerphilly for two-and-a-half years until I joined Troedyrhiw Ladies at the age of 15.”

Brisland-Hancocks would not be with Troedyrhiw for long, quickly catching the attention of Swansea City who would invite the 15-year-old midfielder to be a part of their squad.

Although the midfielder wasn’t able to play league fixtures until reaching 16 years of age, Brisland-Hancocks was given her first taste of women’s football as she trained with the two-time Welsh champions at the time.

“It was about 16 when I was picked up by Swansea then. I was playing for Troedyrhiw, and we were asked to come along for a training session at Baglan.

“This was my first encounter with senior women’s football at 15 years old, it was a massive shock to the system, but I signed as soon as I turned 16 and played my first game at home in Baglan.

“It was difficult because of the natural pace of the game and the increased physicality of the game, and it’s also the experience the streetwise side older players have that younger players have yet to pick up.

“It was a shock to the system, but a big positive in terms of my learning. That was huge.”

In her first spell with the club, Brisland-Hancocks would win one league title, three FAW league cups and one Adran Trophy across seven years.

She loved the experience of winning silverware, and the chance to play in the Champions League, the highest level of European club competition.

Brisland-Hancocks would travel to Romania to face off against Olympia Cluj, Hibernian and WFC Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv and, while results did not go the way the Swans wanted, it was a time to savour.

“I always remember our first cup win and those first semi-finals and finals,” said Brisland-Hancocks.

“It felt like a huge occasion. I’d been in finals previously with my old teams and won some of them, but to do it wearing the Swansea City badge, it felt really special.

“I will never ever forget those occasions, to play against quality players and quality sides, full-time professionals, it’s something that you aspire to.

“The development across those seven years, there were signs then of things coming that have led us to the position we are in now with semi-professional contracts and incredible training facilities.”

However, after seven years with Swansea, Brisland-Hancocks decided to make the switch to then champions Cardiff Met Women.

The decision to move to a side that had been rivals with the Swans for so long was certainly not an easy one for the midfielder to make, but one she felt was crucial for her continued development in the game.

Brisland-Hancocks would spend four seasons with Cardiff Met before returning to Swansea City at the beginning of this season.

It was another difficult decision for her to make in her career, but she immediately felt back at home when stepping through the doors at Landore.

“It was really nervous when I first came back, I came to Landore to see how things were and meet with the coaching staff and I was dreading it,” says Brisland-Hancocks.

“We had a quick meeting and then I was asked if I wanted to go and see the girls in the gym and I was a bit apprehensive. 

“But I went in there and it was probably one of the best things I could have done, it broke the ice a bit and they welcomed me with open arms and I hadn’t even decided what I wanted to do at that point.

“Jess (Williams), Ellie (Lake), Stacey (John-Davis), Katy (Hosford) and Alicia (Powe) all really made me feel welcome when I returned.

“The day I decided I would train and sign, it was really exciting for me. I made the decision quite quickly after that first encounter, I looked at the environment and felt that I wanted to be a part of something that is really special.

“I was aware that both Steph [Turner] and Robyn [Pinder] – who I had played with at Cardiff Met - were both potentially coming as well.

“When I realised that they were serious and they were signing, it was brilliant, it was a bit of a comfort blanket for me coming into an environment that I’d been away from for nearly five years.”

The most obvious change at the club upon Brisland-Hancocks return has been the move to semi-professional status and the Women’s team playing games at the Swansea.com Stadium.

She played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over Wrexham, and relished every moment.

“It’s been fantastic, the facilities, the staff, the support we have. Compared to my last time with the club it is so much more professional,” says Brisland-Hancocks.

“When I left, we had started getting kit, we didn’t have to pay for, whilst now we are really trying to professionalise the environment.

“If I’m honest I probably haven’t got much longer left of me playing, but the fact that I’ve gone from where I began to where we are currently, it fills me with a lot of hope that our under-17s, our under-19s. There’s a bright future for young girls wanting to be involved in football.

“It’s very different from those first days in Baglan, to now using these incredible facilities at Landore twice a week.

“I remember my first experience playing at the Swansea.com Stadium for the first time with Cardiff Met, it was a sea of Swansea fans and it was a really difficult environment to play in, I will always remember it,” said Brisland-Hancocks.

“It was electrifying, the crowd and the noise they made, the number of girls that were waving their Swansea flags, as an opposition player that was really challenging.

“But back in November when the roles were reversed and I was part of that team, it was absolutely incredible.

“I got to have my niece as my mascot which was something that made me quite tearful walking out into that stadium. We had fans either side, we had my family and Kate’s family watching, I had Poppy with me and it was just fantastic to be a part of.

“After reflecting from it, it was something that I always wanted, that six-year-old girl who wanted to play football because she was kicking a balloon around the house, she got to play in a football stadium with fans cheering our names, with a family member walking onto the pitch.

“It’s something that I will really treasure forever.

“I’ve converted my garage into a little gym and the back wall is filled with football photos, from my time at Met with different trophies, the time at Swansea winning the Welsh Cup at the Cardiff City Stadium is there, and now there is the photo of me walking out with Poppy at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“Those are the moments that I will always look back on and treasure really fondly.

“I take a lot of pride in being part of bringing things to where it is today, I’m really passionate about our league and our club.

“I think the growth and development of the league is fantastic. I think we still have a long way to go, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. We are making the strides that are needed.”