EXCLUSIVE: Anna O’Leary of Oxford City on town v gown ahead of Women’s FA Cup tie against Swindon Town | OneFootball

Anna O’Leary’s graduation from her postgraduate teacher training course at the University of Oxford takes place this weekend.

She won’t be there, though, because she’ll be playing for Oxford City in their Women’s FA Cup second-round clash against FA Women’s National League Division One South-West side Swindon Town.

City – of the Southern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division – are into the second round proper for only the second time in their history.

So it’s no wonder that O’Leary wants to be part of it.

Growing up in Stoke, she first took up dancing – before deciding that football was more exciting, eventually signing for Port Vale despite being a Stoke City fan.

In fact, she’s very used to treading a fine line between fervent rivalries: she spent her undergraduate years at the University of Cambridge before switching to Oxford, and over the last year her loyalties have been split between town and gown.

“I was balancing playing for both Oxford City and the university when I could,” she tells SheKicks.net. “Then the Town v Gown fixture came along. I couldn’t really decide between who to abandon, so I did a half v half situation in that game.

“This year’s season is much easier because I’ve finished with the university! We played them last week and [I was] fully for Oxford City this time round – but it was nice to see the girls again and play against them. There are no hard feelings!”

Anna O’Leary: Oxford City has a community feel

O’Leary is now a qualified teacher and working in a school, and says that university football gave her a real insight into the game.

“It was the first opportunity I’d had at having really good coaching outside of grassroots football, and I really saw a good progression in the game. You have a lot of talented players in the BUCS league [British Universities and Colleges Sport]  who you’re able to play against, and everyone’s on board with having really good intensity at trainings and really developing tactically. That was where I really, really developed as a player, I think, for the first time since the initial start of joining a team.”

And she’s developing even further at Oxford City – which she describes as “a brilliant club” with a similar vibe to her old club Port Vale.

“Oxford City has a really nice community feel to it and that’s what I wanted – I wanted something that championed football and championed the people who were associated with it at all levels across the club, whether that’s the men’s first team, the women’s first team, the under 7 girls, the under 12 boys or the disability team or the person who volunteers their time to do media or to run the bar, whatever it might be.”

And all those people will be enjoying the occasion as they host Swindon Town on Sunday, 23rd November.

“A lot of us haven’t played this far in the competition before,” she says, “and it’s an unbelievable opportunity to be able to go up against a big team – compared to us, they are on paper, and the best side.

“But it’s the FA Cup, so anything can happen – and based off the celebrations after the last two rounds, if we go out and get the win, it’s going to be unbelievable.”