Adelaide United’s Lucia Leon reveals what led her to sign with a club she had never heard of before

Lucia Leon had never even heard of Adelaide United when an offer was put in front of her – and then a Google search changed everything.

Lucia Leon has been pivotal to Adelaide’s revival in the A-Leagues women’s. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images

When an offer to sign with Adelaide United was put in front of former WSL and La Liga F footballer Lucia Leon she had to pull out her phone and open google as she had never heard of the club before.

Google told her Adelaide had finished bottom of the A-League’s Women’s table, had never won a trophy and had only once played finals.

“I wasn’t sure what to do, but my gut was telling me that it was going to be a great one so I just followed through,” Leon said.

Lucia Leon has been a revelation for Adelaide United. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Now nine months later Leon, who has played at Tottenham, Watford and Real Betis, has delivered one of the best seasons of her career and is gearing up for finals and looking to extend her contract another season.

The Dominican Republic national team player was a key part of Adelaide’s revival this season – where they finished third, with 14 wins from 23 games.

“I’m so glad I made this decision, I have zero regrets, I would have regretted it if I didn’t come, that is for sure,” Leon said.

“I’ve never finished this high up in the other leagues I’ve played in before so it’s exciting.”

Leon had no issues settling in – scoring five goals and three assists.

The defender said there were a few differences between the ALW and the leagues she had played in overseas but the competitiveness and level of competition was on par.

Lucia Leon says the A-League women’s competition is on par with overseas leagues. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“Here the players are more athletic and not necessarily technical,” Leon said.

But Leon said it was Adelaide’s clever recruitment that had made them so dangerous this season.

“I feel what has made us successful is that we’ve had a little bit of everything in our team,” she said.

“We have a lot of athletic players, a lot of technical players and then we have a few experienced players that lead more into how we can tactically hurt the other teams.

“We just have a really good balance and another reason is we have really good communication between all of us.”

Leon said being so readily welcomed by the team and community had made it easier to perform on the pitch.

She said she wouldn’t be surprised if more English based players looked to transfer to the ALW in the future.

Lucia Leon in action during the season. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Adelaide United will take on Western United in front of what is likely to be a record crowd for a women’s game at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“I trust my team 100 per cent, we know what we need to do,” Leon said.

“We just need to carry on being aggressive in attack. I think we probably have one of if not the best attacking four or five in the league, we are up there with City. We just have to be disciplined in defence and make sure we finish off our chances.

“We need to carry on with the confidence but also make sure we keep the hard work and discipline, we can go all the way to the grand final.”

All A-Leagues’ Womens games will be on 10Play. While initial plans were to have one match broadcast on free to air chanel 10Bold schedule issues made that not possible. Both games will be given extra treatment though with pre, half and post match shows. There will also be eight cameras in use for all finals matches, with 15 locked in for the grand final.

Adelaide United will take on Western United at Coopers Stadium at 4pm on Sunday (AEST).

Originally published as Adelaide United’s Lucia Leon reveals what led her to sign with a club she had never heard of before