How Chloe Kelly Supported Ashleigh Plumptre’s Journey to Al Ittihad and Nigeria, and What It Meant to Her
Assalamu alaykum. Ashleigh Plumptre has had to deal with a lot - the relentless Jeddah sun, and the criticism that came after her move to Al Ittihad two years ago.
Her choice to join Saudi Arabia’s growing football scene raised questions. Some people didn’t like it for cultural reasons, and others wondered why someone with experience in England’s top divisions would swap that for something new and uncertain.
But friends who knew her best, like England international and European champion Chloe Kelly, publicly supported her.
“Chloe was one of the few who, when I first made this move to Saudi, because it was controversial to many people ... she was one of the ones that voiced publicly that she was in support of me,” Plumptre says at Al Ittihad’s Jeddah training ground. “She’s always been one of my closest friends in football since we were kids, so that meant a lot. We don’t even speak that much anymore, but we’ve always been big supporters of one another in football.”
That backing mattered. It helped her keep her focus when the outside noise grew louder. She’s since committed further to the project, extending her contract with Al Ittihad until 2027.
“It’s been incredible,” she says. “The fact that I extended just shows how much I enjoy my time here. I joined here knowing it was a project, but that’s something I’m pretty passionate about because I care about the people and the place that I’m at and trying to work alongside players, staff, even management to bring sustainable success.
“And I know that doesn’t happen very quickly. The first two years, I’ll be honest, we underperformed. Our league position wasn’t so great, but I didn’t really get too caught up in it because I know where we’re heading. That’s why I’ve extended another two years because I know in a project it takes time to build. I think over the next two years we’ll start to see that.”
Al Ittihad’s women’s team, formed from the Jeddah Eagles in 2022, plays a central role in Saudi Arabia’s plan to grow women’s football. They share facilities with the men’s team, who were champions last season, and the training complex shows the club’s ambitions. It’s a place where youth players train dreaming big.
Amid that mix of tradition and drive, Plumptre says she’s found a home. “When you say, why would I come here? There’s actually a level of professionalism here that I think a lot of clubs in other leagues that have been established for a while, even in Europe, could probably learn from. And that does take time. It involves bringing the right people and having the right mindset. But yeah, we’re heading in the right direction.”
“I always say it’s nice to be seen as more than a footballer,” she adds. “I was very much treated just like a human being here. So I feel like I want to give back to the club and hopefully, when I do leave at some point, I leave it in a better place.”
Plumptre’s commitment to settle and help build something long-term reflects how serious she is about the project. The league is also attracting internationals from Brazil, Spain, France and Portugal, raising the standard and giving local players a chance to learn.
“The league is definitely getting better,” she says. “My first year, I feel like I was one of the few that had more experience in other leagues. And since then, there are players with way more experience than I have, which I think is huge for the league but also for the Saudi girls that want to learn from them.
“It’s not a one-way thing either. As internationals, we bring our experience, but we’re coming to their country to learn as well. So it’s definitely a reciprocated relationship in that sense.”
Born in Leicester, Plumptre represented England at youth levels and grew up with teammates such as Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh, Leah Williamson and Chloe Kelly.
“Probably at least a quarter of that team I grew up playing with,” she says of the Lionesses side that won a second Euros title. “Even though we’re from different parts of the UK, we were around the same age, so we’d be on England camps together.”
She reflects on how small the women’s football community is. “We don’t speak all the time, but they’re people that you know. The women’s football world is very small. So we all end up knowing each other and in that respect, we support one another because we’re all somewhat on the same journey.”
One major choice in her career was switching international allegiance to honour her father’s roots and play for Nigeria. In January 2022 she was cleared to make the change, which strengthened her connection to her heritage and broadened her identity.
At the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final, Nigeria’s comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against hosts Morocco was dramatic. Plumptre remembers sitting alone at half-time trying to compose herself.
“At half-time I just sat there by myself. I was like, I’ve got to get myself together. Because to be honest, on a personal note and even on a team note, we had a pretty good tournament. The first half of the final was a mess for all of us. I mean, me particularly, it’s probably my worst half of the whole tournament.”
She smiles as she remembers the turnaround. “That’s what tournament football is about. You always go through ups and downs and it’s how you recover from that. And I think the one thing that we have as a national team is this never say die attitude. So it didn’t matter that we were 2-0 down. We weren’t getting bogged down and it was like, okay, now we’ve just got to find a way to come back.
“For us, it’s more of a mindset thing. Like we say in Nigeria, there is a Naija spirit. There is something within you that’s very hard to explain, but it’s like being connected to something bigger than you, being connected to the country and its people. And somehow that gets us over the line when we need it.”
With a new contract at Al Ittihad and continental success with Nigeria, Plumptre’s choices are paying off. Supported by friends like Chloe Kelly, she’s now a continental champion and looking to leave a positive legacy at her club.
Wassalam.
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