Fly Like an Eagle

Chris Brookes talks to the Dutch winger whose league-leading nine assists have Crystal Palace third in WSL 2 with one fixture left, needing a home win over Portsmouth to guarantee automatic promotion. Weerden, February’s Player of the Month, credits Jo Potter for the freedom to attack and for an out-of-possession shape that has cut the goals conceded. She describes a sneaker collection of over a hundred pairs, a love of London’s malls, and choosing Palace over a top club because she wanted to play. Both parents were born in Suriname and she was raised in the Surinamese way; childhood friend Quinty Sabajo, now at Rangers, she counts as family.