Jade Rose Talks Fashion, Footy and Firsts With the WSL Champions
Jade Rose is one of the best young players in the world, and with a league title in her first professional season, she’s one to watch.
When Jade Rose joined Manchester City Women at the beginning of the season, she could’ve never predicted winning the Women’s Super League title. Ending Chelsea’s spell of dominance in the league with a string of dominant performances of her own, the 23-year-old defender lit up England in her first professional season.
Going from Toronto to Boston and now Manchester, Rose has been a bright spark in every team she’s played in. Already a regular in Canada’s national team as well as one of the best women’s sides in Europe, her story is only just beginning. More than just a soccer player, though, Rose is bridging the gaps between fashion, beauty and sport, bringing some of her own style and flair to the WSL through manicures and matching sets.
Celebrating a landmark WSL title win, the team is celebrating in style with a Homecoming party this Sunday, bringing its Manchester community together to commemorate a special season. If there’s anyone we want to party with, it’s Rose.
We talked to the rising soccer star about her debut season, Manchester’s fashion scene and her goals for the next few years. Keep scrolling to read the full conversation.
This is your first professional season, and it has been one for the books. What were your goals at the beginning of the season and how have they changed?
I came in at the start of the season and I said that I wanted to win every single competition that we were in as a team. And I think that throughout the season my goals have just gotten more specific. There’s a lot that you don’t know about professional life until you’re in it, and with that, obviously your goals shift and they get shaped to cater towards the position that you’re in.
If we look back to the start of the season, like I started in the Chelsea game, I then got taken out of the lineup for a couple of games. Having to really fight for my starting position and solidify myself within the starting 11 and within this team then became a massive goal of mine. It was always a goal, but I think that off the back of the Chelsea game, it became really apparent to me how much of a fight it was going to be to get in the starting 11. So I think for me, it was just having that daily goal of showing up every single day in training and never really taking my foot off the gas.
What made you choose Manchester City?
I think that there are multiple things that factored into it. I wanted to be in one of the most competitive environments. I didn’t want to be somewhere where I was going to be able to kind of waltz into a starting 11. I wanted to fight for it. I wanted that competition, that daily competition in training. I wanted to be surrounded by the best players in the world and to compete against the best players in the world. And I think that our environment, our daily training environment, is exactly that. After I got to visit Manchester and speak to the staff here, it honestly felt like home. So in the end, it ended up being a decision I made with my heart as opposed to my head.
You’re already a regular in the WSL this season so far. How does it feel to play such an important role in the team so early in your career?
To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it in that way. I guess I would say that it’s an honor to be in such a dominant league, surrounded like I said, by incredible players. To have my place within the 11 and within the wider roster, I think is a truly special position to be in. When I look back to my younger self and all the work that I had put in throughout my career to be in the position that I currently am, it’s really special and like you said, it’s only the start of my career and there’s so much more to come. So I’m happy with the starting position but I’m so excited for every future season to come.
What is your favorite thing about the club?
The people. I think transitioning from college into professional life, you hear a lot of horror stories about teams not having the best environments or people being cliquey and stuff like that, and City is so far from that. So yeah, I definitely say that the people make the place.
Your sense of style is one of the best in the league. Any thoughts on the fashion scene in Manchester compared to Boston?
I’d say it’s very different, that’s for sure. Boston is very New England coastal and Manchester is very similar to Toronto, where I’m originally from, that has such a wide range and diversity of style. I think that it’s really cool to be in the city or even in a coffee shop and just see all the different styles that walk through the building. I’m definitely drawn to the diversity because it also helps me with my personal style, seeing things that I had never seen before or seeing pieces that really pique my interest, which I think in Boston didn’t happen as much just because it is kind of just one style. It’s really exciting.
How do you like to express yourself and your style on the pitch?
I tend to get my nails done very often and to get cool funky styles. I think it’s a fun way to express a little bit of me and to bring the fashion that I love so much off the pitch, on the pitch. It tends to be quite difficult obviously because we have a uniform and we’re meant to all look the same, but having my nails makes me feel like I’m bringing in a little bit of me.
Apart from you, who do you think is the most stylish player on the team?
See, I don’t want to get in trouble with my answer. I think I could give you three. I think that Ayaka Yamashita has some pretty cool pieces. She wears a lot of Japanese-inspired pieces which I think are really cool. As well as Grace Clinton and Alex Greenwood, I think they have pretty cool style.
With your first WSL season ending soon, what do you think the next five years will look like for you?
I think to just continue building off of this season. When I take a step back and I look at it from a bigger lens, this is just one stone or one step that’s placed in the totality of my career. Especially looking forward to next season where we’re going to have the Champions League, that’s going to present a whole new set of challenges and I think looking forward to competing against other clubs in Europe and competing on an even bigger stage than what I’ve experienced this year is something that I’m looking forward to.
