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“Our team manager sent us an email that said we had been invited to the White House and to let him know if we could go. I’m really excited. The White House is quite a big thing at home, everyone knows it, but obviously, it is an even bigger thing in America. About half the team are going. I’m the only international player there – the rest are from America” Ashleigh Plumptre in 2016Or from her time at Notts County, L.A Galaxy, and her present club, Leicester City FC of England, where she was instrumental in the team’s FA Women’s championship win in the 2020/2021 season. Born on May 8th, 1998, in Leicester, England, Plumptre has featured for the youth ranks of the English national women’s football team (U15, U17, U19 and U23 levels). However, it is good news for the passionate Nigerian football fans that Ashleigh is eligible to play for the West African country and she has also expressed her desire to do so. Plumptre’s eligibility to play for Nigeria stems from the fact that her 51-year-old father, Tim Plumptre is a Nigerian. Despite having a British mother, Sharon Glover, Plumptre is more interested in playing for the Super Falcons, and an invitation from the Nigeria Football Federation would make this happen.
Plumptre’s Curiosity About Nigerian Culture
In an interview with the BBC, Plumptre revealed that the chance to play for Nigeria is one she “would happily grab” with both hands. The Leicester City star disclosed how important representing Nigeria means to her and her eagerness to learn about Nigerian culture which she believes “it’s in me.”“The idea of me being able to play for Nigeria, with that being an option, I would happily grab that with both hands. What representing something that really means to somebody is very important. Obviously, there’s a lot of things I can openly say that I don’t know about Nigerian culture but I want to learn because I know that it’s in me, and it’s in my sister and in my dad. We can only get it from my granddad, he’s the only thing that we know in terms of Nigeria.” Plumptre
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Plumptre might not have visited Nigeria before, but she has visited Nigerian relatives in America and England and is still on the journey of understanding her family heritage.
“I’ve obviously visited Nigerian relatives in America and in England. Seeing this little journey my sister and I have been on, and the understanding of our family heritage, not just that but watching Nigerian documentaries and learning about the past is incredible.” Plumptre
She Monitors The Progress Of The Super Falcons
Ashleigh Plumptre is a big fan of the Nigerian national women’s football team, hailing the quality of the team’s captain, Asisat Oshoala, who she looked up to in her teens. The 23-year-old said:“When you look around there are several Nigerian players playing at the top level of the women’s game. With the Super Falcons I have been following them and the continued progress the team is making. But one player that I remember is Asisat Oshoala. She was at Liverpool when I played for Notts County, then I was about 16 and the big thing was having Oshoala over at Liverpool. That was the big name and then she obviously went to Arsenal. And everybody knew of her and how talented she was. For me as an English person, she was Nigerian football to me”
Wilfred Ndidi And Kelechi Iheanacho As Role Models
As a key part of Leicester City’s women’s football team, the defender is a huge fan of the club’s men’s team players, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho (both players are regulars in the Nigerian men’s national team, the Super Eagles) and described them as “role models.” She is yet to meet them but is looking forward to doing so.“With Leicester, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho have been good role models for me. It’s funny we haven’t met but that’s all because of Covid but at some point hopefully, we’ll be able to meet each other.” PlumptreSources: Nottingham Post BBC Goal Featured Image Source: Goal
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