Kate Longhurst would love nothing more than to see out the rest of her career as a West Ham United player.
The midfielder put pen-to-paper on a new contract with the Irons until 2022 on Wednesday, which will take the lifelong Hammers supporter to four years in the Claret and Blue.
Longhurst does not necessarily believe the end of her new, two-and-a-half-year deal would be when she decides to step away from football, but the experienced playmaker has her eyes set on spending the rest of her playing days representing the club she has always followed.
“It would be nice to see out my career at West Ham,” Longhurst said. “You never know what happens in football. It depends how you feel.
“I’m 30 but I think I’ve stayed relatively injury free throughout my whole career and I keep myself quite fit, and I have an attitude where I want to play football all the time. We’ll see, but it’s definitely something I would love to do.
“This is obviously a Club that is very close to my heart, so it’s a big thing for me.”
It would be nice to see out my career at West Ham. It's definitely something that I would love to do.
Kate Longhurst
Having been with the Hammers since the team’s first season as a professional outfit began, Longhurst sees a lot of potential in the squad.
Head coach Matt Beard signed a number of experienced winners and international players in the summer and Longhurst feels this team has the ability to challenge at the top end of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
To do so, the team just needs to find some consistency and show their full potential every week.
“The squad is stronger this season, but I think something at the moment, for whatever reason, we’re just not always clicking,” Longhurst continued. “It’s worked in certain games and in some games it hasn’t.
“I think we have the quality in the squad. It’s just putting that all together, and sometimes that might take a bit of time. Especially with players in a new league. But now we’ve had players here for six months, I think it’s important that we really focus on being more consistent.”
There is a particularly strong level of competition in midfield, with Longhurst competing with the likes of Korea Republic captain Cho So-hyun, Dutch international Tessel Middag, German international Julia Simic and France star Kenza Dali for regular playing time.
Longhurst knows that she has to be at her best to get into the team, but it is equally important to support her teammates and the side should she not be featuring for the Irons/
She said: “You get the best out of teams when you’ve got competition for places. There’s no point being complacent and thinking ‘yeah, I’m starting every week’. I never go into games thinking that, never go into training thinking that. You have to bring the best out of yourself and, if you’re not selected, it’s important to get behind the team as well.
“I need to be the best team player I can be for the team. Of course, you want competition, but you also want to be playing, so for me it’s about doing the best I can to give myself the best possible chance. And if I’m not playing then I’ve got to be the best teammate to support the players that are.”
With the Irons welcoming Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, before playing Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round next weekend, Longhurst is targeting a strong 2020 for West Ham United on all fronts.
“I would like us to defy the odds,” she added. “I think everyone has written us off against Arsenal already in the FA Cup. We showed last season that we could get to the Final. It would be really nice to go on another good cup run.
“I still don’t think the top four is out of reach. I think we would really have to play well and pick up a lot of points to get there, but that’s something that we still have to strive for. I think that it’s something we are capable of doing, but it’s just making sure we’re really putting the performances in on the pitch.”
