‘My housemates don’t understand why an FC Utrecht player lives in 12 square metres’

We meet them on a Tuesday, the heaviest weekday for the FC Utrecht players. There are two training sessions on the schedule – first on the field, then in the weight room. There’s time for studying too: one seminar is scheduled right in between the two sessions. 

But a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved, as four of the players are taking the same course. After training with weights, they share more study time at home and finish the day attending a lecture at 5:00 pm. 

The five players are the students of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (ISS) Julia Wattilete (20), Joni Paliama (19), and Lotje de Keijzer (21), as well as the Sociology student Lena Mahieu (19) and the Economics & Business Economics student Amber Visscher (21). They slowly trickle into the players’ house. The ambience is pleasant, they joke around and make tea for each other. Laptops are being prepared for what looks like a study session. Joni and Julia are a little late, but that’s not unusual. “They’re earlier than they usually are,” Amber jokes about the situation in the dressing room. 

Football dream
It isn’t surprising to have such a pleasant atmosphere. After a good start to the season, the FC Utrecht debutant in the premier league is in fifth place. The team seems to be losing its touch a little these past few weeks, after losses against PSV, Ajax, and Twente, but they’re still hopeful. 

The team from Utrecht isn’t exactly a beginner. FC Utrecht used to participate in the premier league until it went bankrupt nine years ago. But its position in the ranking is remarkable because there were no high expectations for this brand-new team. This is the first job in the premier league for Lena, Joni and Amber. 

“There are more and more names coming up, and that’s when you realise that we can achieve great things with this team,” Lotje says. “But it’s not like I assumed we'd be at the top of the rankings this summer. You have to remain realistic in your first season.”

The fan day 
When they discuss their idols and favourite players, most of the names mentioned are of men. “We grew up with the Barcelona of Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, and that was awesome to watch,” says Lotje. “Your idols are usually from your childhood.”

Dutch women’s football has developed rapidly these past few years, especially after the 2017 European Championship. The Dutch team is performing well at international tournaments, and Ajax surprised friend and foe in the Champions League by beating PSG. The five players are now dreaming of becoming the idols of future football players someday. 

The idea alone ignites a spark in them. They love it when there are many young people in the stadium, asking for photographs and to take pictures with them, like on fan day. It makes the five players feel popular. “But when you’re wearing regular clothes one metre away from the Galgenwaard stadium, you're grounded pretty quickly,” observes Amber. 

Just another student
They don’t talk a lot about their positions at FC Utrecht when they are at university. “To be honest, we’d prefer not to say anything at all,” reveals Julia. 

“We’re not just our sport,” Lotje adds. “We’re regular people and we want to study like everyone else. We’re not talking about football all day.”

“Sometimes, it’s unavoidable because, sooner or later, the topic of what you do apart from your studies will arise,” Julia adds. Amber agrees: “I once talked to a guy about his plans for the weekend. When he said he was going to watch FC Utrecht women’s match, I had to tell him I’d be on the field…”

The university helps them a lot because they have a special status as professional athletes. Lecturers are informed of the presence of athletes in the class, and they’re helped by their study advisors as well. They can plan things according to their schedules.

UU also has a professional athlete coordinator that they can talk to. Lotje: “A while ago, it was still uncertain whether a class we’d be taking would be recorded. We then e-mailed the study advisor, who took care of it. If it's not taken care of, we can go to the coordinator but that’s rarely ever necessary.”

Football, studying, jobs? 
Although the popularity of women’s football is clearly on the rise, none of the five are considering quitting their studies. “I know in the back of my head that after my football career is over, I’ll need to do something to earn money,” Lena says. 

For now, it’s a harsh reality of women’s football: they can’t get by on their salary, let alone save money for an early retirement. “But that’s not why women are doing it anyway,” Julia says proudly. She’d like to get a job next to her busy schedule to be less stressed out financially and be able to do fun things. 

Lotje: “It’s not like we want to earn 100k a month. Just enough, so we can support ourselves.”

The wage gap between them and their male colleagues isn’t just noticeable to them. “My two housemates said: ‘It’s rather odd that an FC Utrecht player has to live with us, in a 12 square metre room,” Amber recollects. 

When asked what’s more important – football or studies – their answers vary. Lotje, Lena and Amber think that both are equally important. For them, the FC Utrecht adventure just happened to coincide with the choice to study in Utrecht. “I just thought Utrecht was the nicest place to study and, a month later, my manager said that FC Utrecht was interested in me,” Lena says. 

It’s different for Julia. For her, studying is “something on the side, if I can manage but also something that is costing money.” Joni nods in agreement. “When I was injured, my only focus was on getting back to the field again. I didn’t care about bad grades.” She even changed cities because of football. “It wasn’t realistic to keep commuting between Amsterdam and Utrecht.”

Student life
They go out sometimes but none of them has a wild life as a student. Fourth-year student Amber is the most experienced one when it comes to nightlife as she already lived in Utrecht before joining FC Utrecht. “Back then, I would sometimes go out on weekdays too. I can’t imagine doing that now.”

She doesn’t miss it but her non-football friends are still partying. “Sometimes, I’ll leave early from a party, but they’re getting older too and don’t party until quite as late anymore.”

Julia only goes out when she has time to recover from it - during holidays, for instance. “But there are different ways to go out,” Lena notes. “You can stop going out completely or choose not to act too crazy.” They are going for the latter: “Just dance and then go home.”

Youth international Lena Mahieu (19) is from Tilburg. She started playing football at TSV NOAD. Via RKVV DIA, she ended up with Jong PSV, where she became the team captain. She is a centre-back and her favourite player is Antoine Griezmann “because he’s French but also because he can play football very well.” She studies Sociology at UU and dreams of playing for Olympique Lyon. She says it would be great to play in France because she’s half-French and Olympique Lyon is the best club in that country.

Julia Wattilete (20) was born in Bemmel, Gelderland, and started playing football at the local club. She ended up at FC Utrecht via Achilles ’29 and then the premier league clubs PEC Zwolle (where she debuted as a premier league player) and Fortuna Sittard. The centre-back appreciates the smart tactics and beautiful passes of Daley Blind – “although he’s a bit old now” – and the leading and defensive skills of Virgil van Dijk. She studies Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. If she were to leave for a foreign club, she’d prefer Barcelona or Valencia. “I just really like the city of Valencia.”

Joni Paliama (19) started playing soccer as a child in Almere, after which she joined Jong Ajax and eventually ended up at FC Utrecht. She’s gained experience in numerous national youth teams. This all-round midfielder is a fan of Frenkie de Jong. She would love to play for Barcelona because she's always been a fan of the club. She’s studying Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.

Amber Visscher (21) is from Zeewolde. This centre-back was transferred to FC Utrecht from SV Saestrum in Zeist. If you ask her about her position, she starts laughing, because she has been playing outside left these past few weeks. She summarises it as “everything on the left side”. She likes watching Lionel Messi and Kevin de Bruyne for their insights and the assists they give. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that Barcelona is her dream club, but she’d also like to join a team in the English competition. She’s currently a fourth-year student of Economics and Business Economics.

Lotje de Keijzer (21) is perhaps the most experienced one when it comes to football. She was born in Leusden, started playing football for Roda ’46, then switched to PEC Zwolle – where she debuted in the premier league – then to FC Twente, RSC Anderlecht in Belgium, Excelsior, and finally ending up with FC Utrecht. The biggest inspiration for this student of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences is Chloe Kelly, who plays for Manchester City. That’s why she would like to play in England herself: “It’s simply the best competition, with the best opponents.”