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Aston Villa Women have made their fourth signing of the summer – German international and European Champion, Lisa Weiß.
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Aston Villa Women have made another huge signing this summer, in the form of 32-year-old goalkeeper Lisa Weiß from French and European Champions Olympique Lyonnais Femenine.
Lyon are widely considered to be one of, if not the strongest side in Women’s European football, and for newly-promoted Aston Villa Women, the signing comes as somewhat of a coup despite Weiß’ role at the French giants being a back-up.
Weiß made a name for herself at SGS Essen in Germany between 2007 and 2018, making 169 appearances and earning four call-ups to the German national team. She made her debut for the German Women’s side in 2010 against North Korea, as a 17th-minute substitute.
Vastly experienced in top-level football in Germany and France – despite only making four appearances for Olympique Lyonnais Femenine, Lisa Weiß will likely battle for the number one shirt with the current sole goalkeeper at the club, Sian Rogers, who will surely be able to learn a thing or two from the new signing.
The experience is something that Weiß believes will be beneficial to her new team-mates at Aston Villa.
“I want to give my experience to the team and help the team improve on their success.
The main reason for me joining is that I’m still looking for an adventure.
I want to play. I want to be on the pitch.”
In the last two seasons at Lyon, Weiß has been involved with five trophy wins, whilst also being an European Championship winner on an international level with Germany back in 2009.
Weiß’ lack of playing time with the French side plays a part with her arrival at Aston Villa Women – admitting that the experience was good but moving to England was always a dream of hers.
“I’ve always thought about playing in England, it has always been a goal of mine.
I’m coming from France, which was a good experience but I didn’t play much.
In Germany with Essen, I was in my comfort zone for 11 years – I needed something new, a new step in my life.
In England, there a lot of great teams, I’m looking forward to it.”
Speaking to club media, head coach Gemma Davies expressed her delight at bringing Weiß to the Midlands, stating that the ‘keeper will bring many qualities both on and off the pitch to compliment the existing squad.
“She knows what it takes to be successful at the top level, both on the international stage and domestically.
We’re hoping she can help us as we embark on our first season in the FA Women’s Super League.”
