During her 17-year career, Gilly Flaherty established herself as one of her generation’s best defenders, a commanding centre-back who helped Arsenal win the quadruple in her first season.
The trophies kept coming throughout her career, with spells at Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool coming after her ten-year association with the Gunners came to an end in 2013. Flaherty – who FourFourTwo ranked at no. 98 in our list of the top 100 women’s footballers of all-time – would win 22 trophies during her career, and nine caps for the Lionesses on the way.
After hanging up her boots in 2023, Flaherty has moved into the media as a pundit and has looked back at the games that changed her life with FourFourTwo.
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The games that changed Gilly Flaherty’s life
Arsenal 3-0 Birmingham League Cup, 2006
“My senior debut for Arsenal as a 15-year-old, coming on in the League Cup against Birmingham. I remember thinking, ‘Whatever you do, don’t give the ball away’. This was my introduction to senior football and it holds a lot of special memories – my family was there to watch.
Most people would expect me to choose the game in which I scored the first WSL goal, but I haven’t. This is the game where it all started for me. Without it, I couldn’t have gone on to experience the things I did later in my career. It will always be a very special day for me. It seems like a whole lifetime ago now.”
Arsenal 2-1 Sunderland FA Cup Final, 2009
“Beating Sunderland to lift the FA Cup is a game that sticks out more than most. I had been on the bench a lot, but when Faye White and our other starting centre-backs got injured, I had a run in the side. It came to the FA Cup final, and Faye returned just in time. I thought, ‘I’m going to lose my spot here’.
“I expected Faye to come in and take back her spot as she was club captain, but Vic Akers trusted me and stuck with me. I had been involved in previous FA Cup finals on the bench for Arsenal, but this was my first start for them in a final. To go on and win the match 2-1 was the icing on the cake.”
Chelsea 1-0 Notts County FA Cup Final, 2015
“This was the first Women’s FA Cup final to be played at Wembley. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it was Chelsea’s first ever FA Cup triumph – so special. Playing at Wembley was huge for us as a club. It is such an iconic venue and I had always loved the FA Cup since I was little. I remember being in Arsenal’s youth teams, watching as a fan on BBC Two, when Julie Fleeting scored a hat-trick in the 2004 final. Fast-forward to 2015, that match was also televised and played at the main stadium. It was the game you look forward to as a player, that opportunity to get on TV and walk out at Wembley.”
Manchester City 3-0 West Ham FA Cup Final, 2019
“For West Ham to reach the FA Cup final in our first year as a professional club was huge. I’d also won the FA Cup the year before with Chelsea, but as an unused substitute. I knew I was leaving Chelsea at the end of that season and all I wanted to do was hit 100 club appearances – to do so, I knew I had to come on in the final. I remember sitting in the bar afterwards and telling my family, ‘I’m going to come back to Wembley with my new club. And not only that, but I’m going to lead them out’. The next year, I stood there at the front of the tunnel and thought, ‘How mad is it that I called this?’”
