Poppy O’Keeffe is a history-maker after just one Melbourne Victory outing.
The 17-year-old midfielder made her Victory bow in the second half of Sunday’s success away to Western Sydney Wanderers in the Ninja A-League, playing the closing stages as the Women’s First Team completed a 1-4 win in New South Wales.
To many, this senior debut, which does not threaten the Club’s 10 youngest ALW appearance makers, would pass without comment.
But for Victory and their 17-year-old midfielder, who is the latest Melburnian to play this season, it was a landmark moment years in the making.
O’Keeffe, in crossing the white line at Wanderers Football Park, became the first player to progress through the entire Victory Academy pathway, earn a First Team contract and play in the A-League Women’s.
“It felt pretty surreal, to be honest. It’s something that I’ve been hoping for and working towards for a long time now, so to finally get out there, it just settled the nerves a bit.
“I was waiting for the ball to go out. I’m standing there, just wanting someone to kick the ball out, but it was great.
“I’ve been through a lot with my family to get here, so it was great they were watching on TV – I just know how excited they were. And then with Jeff (Hopkins), I’ve known him and Johnno (Clemente) for ages now, so it was pretty surreal to get to experience that with them.”
O’Keeffe joined the Club as an 11-year-old after junior football experience with the Mini Roos in her native Wangaratta, and first trained with the senior squad at the age of 14. However, her association with Victory goes back much further and runs far deeper. Since birth, she has bled blue.
Immediate family first forged the strong connection before she was inspired by her second cousin, who twice represented Victory in the A-League Men’s, and then was driven to succeed as the Australian footballing family united for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“I’ve been playing since I was five, but I’ve been a Victory supporter since birth basically.
“My cousin, Sebastian Pasquali, was playing for Victory at the time I was 10 or 11. Watching him [influenced me], he played the same position and style that I play, so I just looked up to him, went to his games, and that’s when I really realised that I wanted to be like him.
“I went to all the games at the World Cup, and the atmosphere there was crazy, and just feeling that, imagining what it felt like on the pitch, that just drives me to want to experience that.”
O’Keeffe’s next opportunity for game time comes in Victory’s home opener at the Home of the Matildas on Saturday, November 15, kick-off 5pm AEDT.
As fate would have it, the opposition is Central Coast Mariners, cueing up a Grand Final rematch in Round 3.
“Everyone’s pumped up. We have got to go out there and show that we could have won the grand final. All of us are ready for it, and I’m feeling good for it.
“I want to keep getting close towards the pitch and just trying to get on the pitch as much as I can, and just be in and around the team and get as many opportunities and make the most of them.”
