EXCLUSIVE: Ocean Rolandsen of Barnsley on the case ahead of big New Year clash with Boldmere St Michaels | OneFootball

Ocean Rolandsen (Barnsley FC)

During the week, she’s a detective – during the weekend, she’s a crucial part of Barnsley’s promotion-chasing team in the FA Women’s National League Division One Midlands.

Ocean Rolandsen first caught the eye as a teenager at London Bees, moving on to Watford before heading further north to Sheffield United, then to Scotland to represent Hearts. After a break from football when she reassessed her priorities and realised how much she missed the game, she returned to action with York City – and she signed for Barnsley this summer.

They sit in third place going into the winter break – and the defender declares the squad “happy – but obviously we’re not overly happy.”

“There has been an expectation made that we should be getting at least the top two,” she tells SheKicks.net. “Our goal is to be top two and obviously for us to be in third position, we are happy about that, but we know that we can improve on our position, but then also our performances as well.”

Rolandsen: It’s inspiring to know you can play football and succeed in the police

Rolandsen was initially attracted to the club via a conversation with captain Serena Clarke, a good friend of hers. She had already settled in Yorkshire after her time at York City, and had moved to Leeds as she began her new career in the police – as a detective.

“You do your initial training as a PC [police constable], response officer in uniform, and then you learn the legislation and then you learn scenarios: how to deal with people, certain situations.

“You learn skills as you go along: the police system, case files, how to run an investigation, a complex investigation – and then it gets a lot more complicated! When you become a detective, you then go on a six-week course, learning the more complex investigations and what to do, what to not to do and who you can reach out to.”

Ocean Rolandsen (Barnsley FC)

There’s a long and decorated tradition of female footballers in the police, going back many decades, with some women making that career decision just to give themselves the chance to play football when there were few opportunities elsewhere.

“I know so many women in the game who are police officers, or who have retired [from football] and become police officers,” confirms Rolandsen. “At Barnsley, we have a few.

“So it is pretty inspiring to know that you can play football, but then you can also have a career in the police.”

Ocean Rolandsen: Barnsley know what to expect

Rolandsen will be working over Christmas, but will also be preparing for Barnsley’s first game of 2026 – a crunch clash at home against top-of-the-table Boldmere St Michaels. The two teams last met back in August, when Boldmere grabbed a late winner in a 5-4 thriller.

And Barnsley will be looking to bounce straight back from a disappointing end to the first half of the season as they lost 1-0 to Worcester City in their last game before the break.

“We know it’s going to be a big game for the club in terms of improving where we left off because obviously we had lost our most recent game before the Christmas period,” she says, “so we know that there’s many things that we need to put in place to improve that.

“But then also knowing the opposition of Boldmere, already playing them, we know that it’s going to be a really physical game. We know it’s going to be very mentally exhausting, because they do try and get in your heads, but we know that we’ve got the technical ability to win the game. I just think that when we played them last, we maybe just switched off in the last moments of the game.

“I know that the girls are working really hard, especially during the short period that we’ve got for Christmas, but we also know the expectations of what we should be bringing to the game and knowing what we can do to win this time.”