Leeds United Women was the only team for me, admits Skye Kirkham

The 21-year-old keeper, who joined the Whites at the start of this campaign, has impressed so far, conceding just two goals from the 19 on-target shots she’s faced.

Kirkham recently relocated to Leeds following her graduation from the University of York this summer. She is wasting no time putting her degree in Sociology and Politics to good use, as she will shortly be starting a new role for a charity helping ex-prisoners and addicts return to employment and training opportunities.

On moving to the city, Kirkham was clear about where she’d be investing her footballing talents. She said: “There are other teams I could’ve joined, like Brighouse and Bradford, but Leeds is the one I wanted to be a part of.”

Kirkham’s interest in football stems from childhood kickabouts with her brother in the garden of their home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. After developing with her local side, she played a couple of seasons of open age football with Lincoln City before joining her university team, with whom she won the BUCS Northern 1A league in her final year of study.

“I’ve always played in goal. I don’t really know why. When I was primary school age, I played in a boys’ team and I was the keeper there, so maybe that was it – to prove a point that you’re strong enough to be in that team in that position.”

She cites former American goalkeeper Hope Solo, World Cup winner and Olympic gold Medalist, as a key inspiration. Kirkham said: “She was always the one that I wanted to be like.

“I like Dean Henderson at the minute, and when I was younger it was van de Sar.”

While her heart remains with her hometown side, the Mariners, Kirkham harbours a guilty secret. “This isn’t very good for a Leeds player, but I’m actually a Man United fan as well,” she confessed, “I’m not a fan of de Gea, though.”

Luckily for Leeds, Kirkham has outperformed the Reds’ keeper so far this season; in three appearances each for their respective clubs, the Lincolnshire shot-stopper has kept two clean sheets to de Gea’s none.

Kirkham misses the chance to add to that tally tomorrow after Leeds’ first FA Cup tie of the season was pushed back a weekend, the second postponement in as many weeks for Leeds United Women.

She said of the disruption: “Training is still good, it’s still sharp, everyone’s doing well and keeping fit. Not much has changed. It’s the uncertainty of the league that’s frustrating. Thinking you’re playing one day, and then you’re not. We never know what’s going to come next.”

Leeds hope to kick off their FA Cup run next weekend away at Stockport. Their planned league fixture against Brighouse Town on October 25 makes way for the tie, and will be played at a later date.