The Big Interview: Carrie Jones
The 21-year-old Wales international is getting a taste of continental lifestyle representing IFK Norrköping in Sweden, but with a first major tournament on the horizon, she reflects on her journey...
It’s the morning after the final of the Swedish Cup, with heavy favourites Hammarby beating IFK Norrköping.
But for Wales’s Carrie Jones, now a midfielder for the latter after leaving behind home last year, it’s described as a “surreal experience”. Despite coming out on the wrong end of the result, she still joins me for a chat the morning after.
Because Jones’s story is worth telling, and even she herself is taken aback when I remind her of how quickly said journey has unfolded, from making her senior Wales debut as a 15-year-old six years ago, to signing for Manchester United, joining Leicester City on loan, signing permanently for Bristol City, and now to Sweden and on the verge of a first major tournament at Euro 2025 next month.
“I’m absolutely devastated that it went the way it did,” says Jones, still just 21 years old. “There was so much hype leading up to it, it was a huge game for us, and to lose in my first cup final as a professional…that’s the highs and lows of football.”
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On her journey, she adds, “It’s crazy when you say that’s all happened in six years. It feels a lot longer! I’m grateful for all the experiences I’ve had, to play for a huge club like Manchester United, experiencing those things, even just moving out at a young age, the challenges that come with it, going on loan, it’s helped me in making that move out to Sweden.”
It feels an apt place to begin, because as she alludes to, moving to Sweden was something she’d have likely never gone through five years ago, a much shier character than she is today, even though she admits playing abroad was something she’d always wanted to do.
So, why now?
“I’ve been absolutely loving my time out here so far,” she says. “I wanted to be on the ball, test myself, the Swedish league has a very good history of developing young players. I think it’s been perfect for me, and the club have been great in getting me here. I’ve been enjoying it so much, honestly, it’s been the perfect next step for me really.”
On how the opportunity came about, Jones continues, “I feel like in my career I’ve always wanted to go abroad, and after a tough season with relegation at Bristol City, I started to wonder if it was the right time to maybe pursue that.
“When Dennis [Popperyd, Sporting Director] at IFK Norrköping came in last summer, it was a tough decision at first. You have to consider all the factors in moving abroad, but speaking to him made my decision a lot easier and I’ve had no regrets at all, I’m really glad I made the decision I did.”
After leaving Cardiff City where she was already a first team player at 15, Jones spent the next years of her career in the Women’s Super League, first with Manchester United, then Leicester City and Bristol City, so this is the first time she’s experienced a change in both football style and lifestyle.
“With professional football, there are a lot of similarities. The league is very competitive, every game is a tough game and when you move somewhere new, you’re not sure what each game will bring and it’s been like that here.
“That’s been exciting and something I enjoy, but other than that it’s similar to the UK. The technical level of players here is very good, I’ve enjoyed that so much because like I said I wanted to be on the ball and test myself in that area, but other than that it’s quite similar.”
While there’s an understandable disappointment at the result of the cup final, Norrköping currently sit 10th in the league, just above the relegation zone, while Hammarby are second and won the league and cup double as recently as 2023.
There is though plenty for the midfielder to look forward to, mainly the impending Euro 2025, which will see Wales compete at a major women’s football tournament for the first time.
“Going to United when I did was huge for me. It was very daunting, I was very shy, introverted. I was so used to just being at home on the farm…”
If all goes well, Jones should be on the plane, a regular in the squads for a number of years now, and she’s aware of how big it is for the team, particularly those who have been waiting some time for this moment, as well as the women’s game in Wales altogether.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement around it,” she admits. “Thea camp coming up will be huge prep for the Euros, we’ll focus on that first, and hopefully I’ll make the plane for that.
“It’s huge for Welsh football. It’s so special we have such a range of different ages in our team, people at different stages of their career. I think the younger ones really empathise with the older ones, and I was there for the near miss out in Switzerland a couple of years ago for the World Cup, and I was in and out of the previous Euros campaign.
“I feel what the older ones feel and even at my age to be going to a major tournament with Wales is truly special and it’s forged a really special connection in the squad because of it. I think it will be huge for the country and women’s football in Wales.”
Wales is very much where Jones calls home, despite moving to England five years ago.
She grew up in Newtown, a remote town almost smack bang in the centre of the country and a population of just over 11,000 people.
So remote, Jones grew up playing on a farm owned by her grandmother, playing football in the fields with her cousins, but says her journey to professionalism was “quite standard”, despite a unique setting.
“Wales is very rural, there’s not a lot nearby, especially near me in Newtown. I played with boys, there was no girls teams in the area and when I got into the Welsh pathway, I had to travel a lot to be a part of that pathway and train, but the dream was to play for Wales and I was very fortunate my mum and dad supported me so much.
“It was a lot of travelling, balancing school with a two-hour drive north. Then joining Cardiff, travelling to away games in London during exam season was tough, but my parents were so committed. I was really fortunate, but it took a lot of hard work and dedication, it was hard at the time. I hope we leave that pathway in a better place and there will be more girls teams all around Wales.”
She recalls fondly playing in her wellies because the fields were so muddy, but jokes aside believes Wales doesn’t get the credit it deserves for the players it has produced.
“Soph [Ingle], Jess [Fishlock], H [Angharad James], they’ve all been very underrated and I’m excited that at the Euros the world will get to see the kind of talent Wales produces. It’s exciting for us, for those players, and like I said, the whole of Welsh football.”
It was in 2019 Jones entered the English football pyramid with Cardiff City, playing in the FA Women’s National League South, the fourth tier of the women’s game.
But after just one season, Jones had attracted the attention of one of the world’s biggest sporting institutions – Manchester United.
It once again begs the question, how did it come about?
“It was kind of weird how it came about actually,” she chuckles. “I actually went on trial to Liverpool when I was 15, and Martin Ho was there. We had a good conversation, but because it was my GCSE year, Jayne [Ludlow, then Wales head coach] said I could play senior football at Cardiff or Under 16s football at Liverpool, so I stayed at Cardiff because it made a bit more sense and it was easier to stay around the Wales pathway, which was key for me at the time.
“To play senior football was invaluable too, you had to mature into your body a lot sooner, but when it came to finishing high school, it was like, ‘do I stay?’ A lot of girls went to the University of South Wales, but the WSL was getting bigger.
“I spoke to Hayley [Ladd] and she helped me a lot, Martin was also at United then, we had some conversations during lockdown and he knew of me, Charlotte [Healy] knew of me from the youth pathway, so that’s how it came about really. I have Hayley to thank quite a lot for that!”
Jones initially joined the club’s academy at Under 21s level but made her first team debut before the end of her first season, signing her first professional contract after turning 18 in 2021.
In the summer of 2022, she joined Leicester City on a season-long loan, impressing enough that when leaving United in 2023, she earned a three-year contract at newly promoted Bristol City.
But after relegation last summer, Norrköping came along and paid the buy-out clause in her contract, leading her to where she is now, but she’s clearly thankful for all the different experiences she’s gone through in quick succession, and how it’s shaped both who and where she is today.
“Going to United when I did was huge for me,” she admits. “It was very daunting, I was very shy, introverted. I was so used to just being at home on the farm, not used to the city life, and it was during lockdown as well.
“To move my life and live with a new family I found quite difficult, but the families I had were great, they made it a lot easier. But I was shy, I didn’t ask for things, I was just happy to be there, going into a team with Tobin [Heath] and Christen [Press], I’m so fortunate I got to play in a team with them. I looked up to players like that my whole life, grew up watching the USA win World Cups, those experiences at United have definitely shaped who I am today and helped me grow into the person I am today.”
She adds, “I think you’re right; I’d never have thought I’d be going abroad at 21, but leaving home at an early age definitely gave me that confidence. I was so out of my comfort zone at United, now it’s almost weird for me if I’m in my comfort zone! I wanted to test myself in the way going to United tested me and those experiences definitely gave me the confidence to do that.”
How does she reflect on it? We joke it’s easy to forget she’s still just 21 years old, but has the CV of a senior professional, and with another big box set to be ticked in the next month, she’s grateful for the opportunities she’s had.
“It’s been crazy. I still can’t believe now you said it’s all in the space of five years, I can’t believe that!
“It’s been full of ups and downs, football always is. The play-offs vs Ireland was a real turning point for us. I’m so happy we’ve qualified, but I definitely feel like all my experiences…United, Leicester, Bristol, now Norkkoping, have shaped who I am today, and I hope I can be a key person if I’m on the plane to Switzerland.”