Isabel Hodgson will become just the fifth player in Adelaide United’s history to reach 50 Liberty A-League Women’s games when she takes to the field at Coopers Stadium tonight.
Hodgson admitted achieving the milestone will be a tremendous honour and one that is made extra special while captaining the team.
“I’m super proud of that achievement,” Hodgson reflected.
“It’s probably not something you think you’ll get to as a player, but obviously I’m super privileged to play for this club for that many times.
“To be able to wear the armband and reach 50 games at the same time is a dream come true.”
The 25-year-old made her Reds debut during the 2013/14 season and later spent four years in the United States playing with East Tennessee State University.
During that time, she did return to the club twice on loan in the 2015/16 and 2018/19 campaigns.
Now into her seventh season with Adelaide, a lot has changed in the A-League Women’s competition since then – not least the professionalism.
Hodgson said the biggest difference she has noticed in addition to the above is the squad’s objectives and mindset.
“I think it’s changed dramatically,” Hodgson explained.
“Obviously back when I started the league wasn’t professional yet, we weren’t treated like professional players compared to now.
“The standard is a lot higher and also us as a team our expectations are a lot higher.
“We’ve obviously stated that before, we’re now a team that’s here to win it, not just make up the numbers.”
The Reds take on newcomer Wellington Phoenix for the first time tonight, needing a win to stay in the top four.
Hodgson said they cannot afford to underestimate their opponent despite its winless start.
“I think a team who has nothing to lose is actually a pretty hard team to play against,” she said.
“So I think the most important thing is to not be complacent.
“I’ve seen some of their games and they really should’ve picked up some (more) points.”
“… I think if we play our best football, we’ll get the win.”
Hodgson stated one key area of focus for the team was to try and deliver a complete performance across the entire 90 minutes.
“I think it’s just consistency for 90 minutes,” she said.
“Last week our first 45 was outstanding, we know that as a team we played really well.
“And we know that we dropped off in the second-half, I think what’s important for us is to play for 90 minutes and when we have a good run of play to put goals away – we struggled with that last week.”
