Arsenal legend Kim Little was mistaken for another player’s ‘pal’ before club debut

Nowadays, there is absolutely no mistaking the skill and talent of Arsenal captain and penalty specialist Kim Little.

But the Gunners legend was perhaps not always quite so well-known.

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In the early days of her career, the Aberdeen-born midfielder made the move from Hibernian all the way down to Arsenal in 2008.

At the age of just 17, she joined a club filled with many of the biggest stars in the women’s game, especially as Arsenal had just won a historic quadruple the season before.

One of those players was fellow Scot, Julie Fleeting, who ended up winning no less than 17 major trophies with Arsenal during her nine years at the club.

Fleeting joined talkSPORT’s Women’s Football Show where she caught up with former Gunners teammate Lianne Sanderson to reflect on their time together at the club.

And one memory that stood out to the quadruple-winners was the first time that the young Little had arrived at Arsenal, ready to make her debut.

However, the rest of the team had not been made aware of their new signing – something which ended up leading to some amusing scenes indeed.

Fleeting explained to talkSPORT exactly how the confusion had arisen.

She said: “It was so funny because she was still a young player so not many people would have known who she was. She travelled in the car, I think it was an away game. I had travelled down in the car that morning and Kim and her mum had come with Colin (Julie’s husband) and I.

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From a making her debut as a 17-year-old…[/caption]

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…Little is now a veteran and much-loved captain for Arsenal[/caption]

“And she was obviously just in normal clothing because she hadn’t got her kit or anything yet. She came into the changing rooms and I remember everyone looking at her – I was just assuming that Vic had said we’d signed a new player. She’s come in, it’s her first game at the weekend.

“She’s in the changing rooms just dressed in normal tracksuit. I remember you being like ‘Who’s your mate?’ “You guys know that she’s a signed player? And everyone was like ‘No.’

“It was once he finished his team talk and left, and she still stayed in the changing rooms, I could see people looking at each other going ‘Why is Fleets’ mate just hanging about for the team talk? What is she doing here?’ And I remember you were just thinking I brought a pal!”

And Sanderson could not help laughing as she recalled her own confusion at seeing Little in the dressing room for the first time all those years ago.

She said: “Kim Little, one of the best ever players – still playing now – I remember she came with you and we were thinking ‘Why has Fleets got her mate in the dressing room?’ Kim at that time was about 17 years old. We thought ‘Oh, Fleets has brought a family member’.

“Vic (Akers) is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had – top guy – but he’s not the best communicator sometimes. And he just did the team talk and we’re thinking, Fleets has got her friend here – and afterwards she was getting changed!’ And it was Kim Little!”

Little played for Arsenal until 2013, before making the move to American club Seattle Reign.

She had huge success in the USA too, going on to win two NWSL Shields with the club, before also winning two titles during a loan spell at Melbourne FC in 2016.

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Fleeting is an Arsenal legend in her own right[/caption]

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Little has previously admitted she is keen to lift even more trophies with Arsenal[/caption]

But the Arsenal hero eventually returned to North London, and has been an indispensable member of the squad ever since.

The 33-year-old also scored 59 goals in an impressive 140 appearances for Scotland, before announcing her international retirement in 2021.

Calm, collected and an excellent leader – Little’s skill has always shone through on the pitch.

Indeed, Fleeting went on to describe how all the dressing room-confusion about Little before her debut turned into sheer delight as soon as the midfielder played her first minutes on the field.

She recalled: “She was on the bench and I remember her coming on – just a young girl. Whoever got taken off must have been like ‘I can’t believe I’m getting subbed for Fleets’ mate!

“She didn’t lose the ball once, just a young girl with bags of confidence on the pitch, knocking the ball about. And after the game, I remember the players being like ‘By the way, your mate can come back!’”

You can tune into talkSPORT’s Women’s Football Show on Mondays from 7pm on talkSPORT 2.