The England international forward burst onto the scene in 2023-24, and is enjoying an excellent sophomore season under Sonia Bompastor
When Emma Hayes departed Chelsea last summer after 12 remarkable years at the helm, it was only natural for there to be some trepidation about the club’s next chapter. As Sonia Bompastor arrived from Lyon, where she won the Champions League as a player and a coach, fans sat and wondered whether she would be the right fit. The squad, too, shaped entirely by Hayes, had a new face to impress.
As Aggie Beever-Jones, the 21-year-old academy product who enjoyed her breakout season in Hayes’ final year, pondered what the change could mean, her mother had done some “research”. “She was like, ‘Oh, she’s known for developing young players’,” the forward tells GOAL with a laugh. So far, Bompastor has lived up to that billing, while also having not yet tasted defeat as the Blues’ boss.
Along with youngsters such as Wieke Kaptein and Maika Hamano, Beever-Jones has played a growing role in that success, already surpassing her minutes and starts from last season while having a best-ever goal return well within her sights. She has won high praise from Bompastor and made her first England start back in December, with a place in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for this summer’s European Championship well up-for-grabs.
"She has a lot of quality, she is able to score and help the team to possess the ball,” Bompastor told earlier this season. “She just needs to trust herself more sometimes.” It’s a message that is getting through to Beever-Jones as the business end of the season approaches and she looks to produce big moments for a club she admits she still has to “pinch” herself at times to believe she is representing.
Getty ImagesGreater expectations
Last year was huge for Beever-Jones. After loan spells with Bristol City, in the Championship, and Everton, in the Women’s Super League, she finally got her chance in the first-team at Chelsea, the club she joined aged nine. Despite starting just six league games, the young forward bagged 11 goals, plus two more in the cups, helped the Blues win the Women's Super League and concluded her season with a first England cap. As a result, the expectation was raised around her, though it was something that she struggled to deal with at first.
“I think at the start of this season, I kind of realised what I did last year, if that makes sense, and the achievements I made,” Beever-Jones tells GOAL. “While the whole season was going on, I was almost just engulfed in it. I never really took a step back and thought, 'Oh, I've scored 13 goals for Chelsea’, which I never thought would have happened.
“I think I got to the point at the start of this season where I was in my own head a little bit about it all, going, 'Oh, I've got to match those stats from last year or beat them'. And I had the reputation of the super-sub last year, so every time I wasn't starting and I came on, I felt that I had to score.”
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRelieving the pressure
It was a different feeling to the start of the previous season, when Beever-Jones almost had nothing to lose. Of course, there is the pressure that comes with playing for Chelsea and the pressure that anyone representing the club puts on themselves to perform. But she was a young player looking to break through; the expectation was more on the experienced heads around her.
How, then, did she shake that growing weight off her shoulders this year? “I think it was just almost taking a step back and just relieving that pressure,” Beever-Jones says. “I only put the pressure on myself because I knew what I was capable of and sometimes, inevitably, you do overthink some things. For me, scoring the West Ham goal [in January] was nice, because I felt it was almost a bit of, 'Oh, you still got it'. Sometimes when you get a few games where maybe you haven't scored or you haven't had your best performances, to get a goal back is always a nice little pick you up, almost.
“Sometimes it is just taking a step back and talking – I have such a great support network around me – and trusting those people, that they can help me out. I've been extremely lucky. For me, football is such a confidence sport. I think when you're confident and you have people that you can rely on that can really help you get out of those little ruts… I'm in a good place now and I think it's just continuing that, managing my expectations, managing disappointment, in terms of, if I've made a mistake, how do I react to that? I think that's definitely something that I've improved on massively and that has helped me out.
“I'm in a good place mentally now where it is just making sure I go out onto that pitch and I make the people happy that I need to make happy. I work hard, create things for the team, whether that's scoring or assisting, which is obviously a great bonus, but for me, it is just playing well. I think that's the main thing, focusing on my performance, and everything else will fall into place.”
Getty ImagesGrowing in stature
Things have been falling into place, too. Beever-Jones is becoming a more regular starter for her childhood club and has been included in every England squad since last May. Aiding her ability to compete for spots in two extremely talented sides is her admirable versatility, which has seen her deployed on the right wing, left wing, as a centre-forward and even in the No.10 role this season.
“I think it is just trusting my own ability and what I know in each position and being able to add my own unique bit of flair to it,” she says. “I definitely have developed that side of my game.
“I know, being at Chelsea, it's never straightforward. You have different personnel for different positions, different connections. One that springs to mind is Lauren James. When she plays on the wing, she inverts a lot more, which allows Sandy [Baltimore] or me to get around. So I think it is just creating the connections and I think at Chelsea, we're such a team, we're a team who rotate as well, so it is just managing the rotations and maybe falling out into a different position than usual.”
Getty ImagesLearning from the best
Fortunately for the 21-year-old, she is surrounded by knowledgeable people who can share nuggets of information to help her adjust, adapt and thrive. Among those are the likes of Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel and Mayra Ramirez, Chelsea’s trio of “world-class” centre-forwards who are teaching Beever-Jones about a role she has needed to understand more in recent times, or the coaching duo of Bompastor and assistant Camille Abily, who have enjoyed the highest of highs both on the pitch and in the dugout.
“For me, it is just making sure I have a good relationship with Sonia off the pitch and then trusting what she needs from me on the pitch,” the Chelsea star believes. “I think she's really helped me with some finer details. Cami as well. I really respect Cami. I think she's technically such a good coach. I know she tells me little details that sometimes might not even be that recognisable, but it's the finer margins which make you a bit different from everyone else.
"They're both so talented as coaches and I feel extremely lucky to be able to work with both of them, and I can see my game is developing. It's always nice to feel that you're developing. I'm still quite young, a 21-year-old at one of the best clubs. Sometimes it is a bit of a 'pinch me' moment. But I am really enjoying it and I think it is just not being so hard on myself and making the right people happy.”
