Jill Roord announced just over a week ago that she will leave English top club Manchester City for FC Twente. She understands the surprise about her transfer. “But I want to go back to the Netherlands.”
“I fell off my chair,” said Andries Jonker last week when he heard about Roord’s transfer. The national coach did not expect the 28-year-old midfielder to leave the absolute world top to return to the Eredivisie.
“I understand that. More people were surprised,” Roord tells NU.nl, among others. “I also expected many people to react. But I must say that I have had quite a few nice reactions.”
There was great understanding for her remarkable step. The Oldenzaal native left Twente in 2017 at the age of twenty for her first foreign adventure, at Bayern Munich. She then played for Arsenal, VfL Wolfsburg and Manchester City, where she lost the joy in football.
Roord: “I have been abroad for a long time. I have played for fantastic clubs and given everything for eight, nine years. I have been completely alone all those years. That made it more difficult. I am now at the point where I miss the pleasure and happiness. That’s why I want to go back to the Netherlands now.”
‘Need to go home for a while now’
It was a well-considered decision, says Roord. “It has been a difficult choice, which I have not made in the past month. In recent years I sometimes thought about the fact that I would like to go home and play in the Netherlands. At one point that feeling became stronger.”
A key moment in her decision was the cruciate ligament injury Roord suffered in January last year. The 107-time international recovered rapidly, but had a difficult time. “After that I thought: I don’t know if I can keep this up for much longer this way.”
According to Jonker, Roord’s transfer is a “signal” that too much is being asked of players. “You can’t always keep playing. Not physically, but also not in spirit. Jill’s pipe is now empty,” says Jonker, who speaks of a “wise decision”.
Roord does not explicitly mention the burden as a reason. “It could have played a role. You travel a lot, especially with all the tournaments. You keep going and going and going. It could be that it plays a mental role, but in principle it is mainly what I just said: I need to go home for a while now.”
It is a necessary return for her. Roord does not rule out playing for a foreign club again.
Roord has ‘no idea’ what to expect from Eredivisie
Roord is taking a big step back in terms of the level of the competition. The English competition is considered the best in the world. Not only for the men, but also for the women it is now common to play for thousands of supporters in large stadiums.
The Dutch competition, on the other hand, is mainly seen as a stepping stone to abroad. The clubs are developing, but often see top talents leave at an early age. For example, Wieke Kaptein and Veerle Buurman have already made the move to Chelsea before their twentieth birthday.
Roord has “no idea” what to expect from the level. “I think that football in the Netherlands is technically very good. In terms of competition and competition, it will not be the same as in England. But well, that is the case with many competitions. That is also not the case in Spain and also less and less in Germany.”
At ten-time national champion FC Twente, Roord hopes not only to find her football happiness again. “I come from Twente and am attached to the club. I still have ambition and want to play an important role. I want to get better and win everything.”