Everton midfielder Izzy Christiansen is a rare example of a footballer who has won every competition that she has competed in at club level.
However, when she steps out onto the pitch at Wembley this weekend, facing former club Manchester City in the Women’s FA Cup final, she will be an underdog in a showpiece game for the first time in a long time.
It’s just over two years since Christiansen left City for Lyon having won the Women’s Super League, Women’s FA Cup and the Continental Cup during a four-year stay in Manchester.
In France, she’d repeat the trick, winning every domestic competition as well as the Women’s Champions League – albeit, not in the manner she would have hoped.
Injuries limited the impact that the England international would have on the biggest club in the women’s game, with a broken leg among the setbacks she suffered.
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Christiansen admitted in an interview with the Telegraph earlier this year that she had even considered quitting the game during the darkest days but she showed her strength of character by recovering from a tough start to finish her time at the club with her head held high.
“I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I left without being satisfied,” she said. “In myself, I was. That’s all I care about.”
After leaving France in 2019, Christiansen joined Everton in December and has been showing the form that earned her the PFA Women’s Player of the Year award back in 2016, pushing herself back into the England picture in the process.
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No player has created more chances in the WSL this season than the 29-year-old, who has two goals and three assists to show from five unbeaten outings.
In the Women’s FA Cup, she was key to Everton’s comeback against Chelsea in the quarter-finals, while it was her pass that played in Simone Magill for the first goal in their 3-0 win over Birmingham in the semis.
"When I signed for Everton the first objective was to get to Wembley,” Christiansen said afterwards. “There's obviously a big, fat tick next to that now."
It’s just over three years since she played a key role in Man City’s first Women’s FA Cup title, haunting one of her former sides on that occasion with a goal in a 4-1 win over Birmingham City, whos benche she had been on when they lifted the trophy back in 2012.
On Sunday, Everton will be hoping she can repeat the trick.
For a player who started her career with the Merseyside club, it would be particularly meaningful if she could help them end their trophy drought by winning the FA Cup for the first time since 2010 – a year after she had moved on.
“She was a young girl here, she left to go and further her career. She did that very successfully, notably at Man City and Lyon. She's now come back and she's just as excited as players that haven’t won the tournament before,” Everton manager Willie Kirk said this week.
“She's desperate to play a major part in this club being successful again and people like Izzy are absolutely essential to what we're trying to grow. We're trying to grow a group of winners. We're trying to be successful ourselves.
“Izzy has been there and done it, and her experience on a day-to-day basis is huge for us, never mind on a one-off occasion like this.
“Sunday can be a launchpad for us to go on for future success over the next three, four or five years. People like Izzy are really important in developing that mindset.”
Christiansen has been part of some fantastic teams over the years – from the City side that won six trophies in six years, to Lyon’s winning machine.
Everton are hoping that they will be added to the list.
