From playing football on the street after school to scoring in the FA Cup, Veatriki Sarri has made her dream come true
âThis is my first year playing full-time footballâand thatâs something I always had as a goal as to what I wanted to do,â Birmingham City forward Veatriki Sarri tells me, âIâve enjoyed every precious moment, and Iâm trying to make the most out of it, every single day!â
Iâm speaking to the 24-year-old over Zoom, the day after she scored the opener in an FA Cup victory against Sunderland, helping to put Birmingham City club into the hat for the fifth round, where theyâve been pitted against Championship outfit Durham Women’s FC.
Itâs been a little over a year since she signed her first professional contract, moving from Sheffield United in the FA Womenâs Championship.
âBefore I signed I played part-time football,â she explains, discussing how sheâs made her way up through the divisions. Indeed, Sarriâs career has taken her to Leeds United and Fylde as well as the Blades and the Blues.
âIâd say thereâs a big difference in terms of full-time and part-time football,â she muses of her switch to the professional game. âYouâre in every day training. Thatâs the main focusâitâs been really good for me; Iâve really enjoyed it.â
Player Profile:
Name: Veatriki Sarri
DOB: 01/01/1998
Nationality: Greek
Current Club: Birmingham City
Former Clubs: Leeds United, AFC Fylde, Sheffield United
Position: forward
Role models: Lionel Messi, Kelly Smith and Kim Little
Sealing your first pro contract, and then making your debutâand scoring a last-minute equaliserâagainst your new clubâs fierce rivals is the sort of thing every new signing dreams of, but for Sarri, this was a reality. She had to wait a few months for her debut, but came on against Aston Villa with her side 1-0 down, only to equalise with a curling free kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time, prompting wild celebrations from her teammates and manager.
Career kick-off
â[Making my debut] was just something else I was really buzzing aboutâI didnât really think of it as âOh, Iâm making my WSL debutâ; I just thought Iâd get on and try and do my best and it worked outâŠI couldnât have asked for it any better.â
Her professional club career might be in its relative infancy, but at 24, Sarri is a seasoned international. She made her debut for Greece at the age of 17, something she says sheâll âalways remember and be grateful for.â
âI remember getting the call from the manager saying, âWeâre thinking of calling you up for the next qualifying gamesâ,â she explains, âI just thought: âGreat, Iâll get an experienceâI probably wonât get onâ.â She did, of course, and has since received more caps for the national team.
âI want to be a part of a team for Greece that manages to qualify for the Euros, the World Cup!â she says, âThat would be the dream and hopefully we can qualify and have a good run.â
And who better to fire Greece to these major competitions than Sarri, who started playing football on the street and at schoolâmore so with boysâand joined an academy when she was six? Of course, womenâs football has been going from strength to strength, with a much bigger profile across the world than it had during her childhood. As Sarri says herself, âI didnât know if Iâd be able to [become a footballer].â
Role models
Sarri grew up watching videos of PSGâs Lionel Messi, and also counts Kelly Smith and current Arsenal captain Kim Little among her role models. She describes making a career out of football as now being âan optionâ for young women and girls, whereas it might not have been previously: âA lot of girls are striving to become professional footballers and knowing there are teams out there that are full-time, they could actually pursue that as a job. Whereas, for me, it was more just instinct; I enjoyed it.
âNow, there are opportunities for girls; thereâs been a massive improvement. I think in the next couple of years, especially in England, itâs going to be crazy,â she says.
In terms of her own aims Veatriki would like to win silverware and be a part of a team that wins the league or the FA Cup.
She enthuses, âMy main aim is to play at the best of my ability really, and reach my full potential.â
Off the pitch: how does Sarri spend her downtime?
On top of her footballing exploits, Sarri is also active on social media. Her YouTube channel includes vlogs and analysis, providing a closer insight into the game and being a female footballer.
“Football is my number one – my main focus – but it’s nice to have other things as well. I’m hoping to grow the channel eventually, so that I’ll still have something on the side after I retire,” she says.
In addition, Sarri is owner of Trix Grip Socks, socks that help the grip of a player’s foot inside their boots to reduce internal slippage. She came up with the idea for the business during lockdown as a wearer of grip socks herself.
She explains, “I started looking into samples and how I could potentially make a business out of that. It took me more than a year to set the business up and get the final product, which is out now.“