By Rachel Cohen
It may seem a relatively low-key event – the renewal of the third keeper – but Eleanor Heeps’ new contract says a lot about how Spurs are resourcing development in the Women’s team.
1. Resourcing Development
Heeps joined Spurs from Liverpool at age 18 in 2021 on a three-year deal. She then went out on loan first to Blackburn (for 2021-22), then Coventry (for 2022-23) and Sheffield United (for the first half of 2023-24). At various times across the first two and a half years Heeps trained with Spurs first team, but since January this year she has been full-time with the squad. And in this week’s press conference Robert Vilahamn praised the steps that she has made this season.
“From the first weeks, you didn’t know which level she could be, but after working with Perry, the goalkeeper coach here, she has taken big steps, and I would say she’s competing with the other two goalkeepers to be in the matchday squad now and that’s quite good development in this short space of time.
Notably Vilahamn refers here to Perry Suckling as did Heeps in her re-signing video. Suckling’s involvement with Spurs Women only began August 2023. He had previously worked with Spurs (men’s) Academy and First Team. So his appointment was a clear sign that the club were starting to move resources (in terms of staff expertise) directly between the men’s and women’s teams.
And this investment is clearly bearing dividends, not just in terms of Heeps’ progress – but also with first keeper, Becky Spencer, enjoying her best season between the sticks for several years.
2. Longer Contracts
What is notable about Heeps new contract is that it lasts over three years (running until 2027). In previous seasons Spurs have typically renewed players for a year, occasionally two (Ashleigh Neville’s three-year renewal in Spring 2022 and Eveliina Summanen’s two-and-half year renewal in October 2023 were rare exceptions). We have, however, seen contracts for new signings getting longer (Bethany England’s three-and-a-half year contract was the first, but others have followed: Bizet was for three years, Wang, Vinberg and Grant all for two and a half).
Vilahamn spoke about the importance of Spurs signing players on longer contracts and how this makes it worthwhile to the club to put in the necessary resources to develop players. “I think the good thing [we did at] Häcken when I worked there was to sign long contracts with young players because then you have time to work with them and develop them. And if somebody want to buy them, they need to pay quite a lot of money. And we want to do the same here.”
“If we have young players with long contracts, we know that we’re going to work with them for a long time. So we can invest in them a lot – with time, with staff members and everything. And then we also know that if somebody want to buy them, we can we get a return off the investment.”
He also noted that it means that players themselves have to make a longer-term commitment to the club because you end up with “players who want to be here for many years.”
And he confirmed that we will “absolutely see more long contracts” at Spurs.
3. Heeps’ Progress
Returning to Eleanor Heeps, it is clear that she is a player who enjoys being at Spurs, who in Vilahamn’s words “wants to be here” even while she is not yet had any first team minutes. “Everyone backs each other.” She said. Whether you’re starting every week, or just training. So I think it’s a really good environment to be in.”
And she talked about learning from Spurs two senior keepers, Bara Votíková and Becky Spencer. “They are both amazing and they have different styles of playing so it’s kind of nice that I can learn from both of them.”
Meanwhile, Vilahamn hinted that Eleanor is close to making the team: “Eleanor is very keen to train and learn a lot and, I think, the next step for her will be to compete, try to break into the squad and get minutes – that’s what we want in all positions.” In terms of what may be needed for her to take that step Heeps points to the importance of “sorting out my feet quickly. I think that is the main part I want to improve on.” since “that’s a big part of Robert’s playing style.”
Here’s hoping she sorts them out and we get to see Eleanor in goal for Spurs in the near future.
Meanwhile if you want a little extra reading, you can ‘get to know’ Eleanor Heeps.
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