Aberdeen Football Club has played a big part in the life of AFC Women’s striker Lauren Gordon.

The 19-year-old forward has gone from attending matches at Pittodrie with her Dad, to working in the club shop and now she is leading the line for the first ever Aberdeen FC Women’s team.

“I used to work in the club shop, that was my first part-time job. I worked there while I was studying at college so the club has been such a big part of everything, from working there, to my development when I was younger and now to play for the first women’s team. It’s been such a big part of my life in so many different ways”.

Lauren’s love for the game started at an early age, as did her connection with AFC.

“My dad first introduced me to football and we would have a kick-about in the garden and he used to take me along to Pittodrie to watch the games. I grew to love playing and from a young age I stood out a bit as I played a lot with the boys. I went to the advanced centres at Aberdeen and Jim Crawford, who is still at the club now, had a big part in my development”.

Gordon’s talent was recognised at a young age as she was selected to represent Scotland at under-15 level. “At under 15’s I was involved in the camps but didn’t actually make the squad. I went back the following year and got picked for the 16’s. Our first trip was to Portugal where we played against Spain and Germany and other top teams, I had such good experiences with the youth squads”.

Lauren then moved up to the under-17’s where she was involved in a higher level of competition.

“The 17’s were more competitive; we were in the European Championships and we got through to the elite round which was in Norway. It was such a good experience overall, just being part of the squad being chosen to represent your country, there’s nothing better than that. Even though it was only at youth level, it’s still something you can say that you’ve done and not a lot of people get to say that”.

After playing with Aberdeen Ladies from an early age Lauren was excited at the prospect of the being involved in the first AFC Women’s team.

“I think coming into this season and being brought under Aberdeen’s wing really gave the girls a lot of confidence as a team. All the girls get on really well with Emma and Harley, they couldn’t have picked two better people to be the managers of the team”.

“The professional side of things has been good too, training has been a lot more professional and with the extra gym work on a Wednesday, everything gets recorded and it feels like you’ve got some sort of value and that they actually care about how you’re getting on. Just being in and around the club is a great environment to be in”.

Gordon says she is already feeling the benefits of the new regime.

“I feel like at the start of the season I wasn’t at my fittest but now that we’ve got training two times a week and a gym session, every training session has got a purpose and that definitely makes a difference. Emma and Harley deliver training so professionally and everyone knows what the session is about and what the focus is on. It’s good to know that we’re running within the structure of the club and that every team in the club are going by the same rule-book, it’s good to be part of that”.

The hard work off-the-field is clearly paying off on a matchday and the team’s high-scoring start to the season has raised competition for places.

“It’s so competitive to get a place in the team, you go to training through the week and you don’t know if you’re going to play at the weekend because everyone is working so hard. Scoring goals is your job as a forward player but this season I feel that I’ve not really scored as much goals but I’ve assisted the team in different ways. Being a number nine people ask you how much goals you’ve scored but it’s not as simple as that. If I can contribute to the team and help them score goals then that’s me doing my job just as much than if I score myself”.

Lauren balances football with a full-time job but she is still finding time to put in a little extra fitness work. “I work full-time in administration for a recruitment agency called Team Recruitment, so it can be long days training after a day at work. I’ve also now got my own personal trainer out-with Aberdeen, so I’m doing my own work on my fitness to give myself every advantage”.

Her commitment to the cause is shared by her team-mates as they aim for promotion back to SWPL2. “We all know that we’ve got common goals that we all want to achieve and we know what we need to do to do that. We know what level we think we should be playing at, so it’s all about making the right decisions and training every week to make sure we get Aberdeen back up to where it belongs”.