Ellie Roebuck: Sheffield football star's fear she wouldn't play again after suffering stroke at 24-years-old
An FC Barcelona and England goalkeeper from Sheffield has shared difficulties she faced after suffering a stroke at 24.
Ellie Roebuck, now 25, started playing football at grassroots level with the Beighton Magpies, went on to play for Manchester City and was part of the Lionesses squad to win the 2022 Euros and reach the World Cup Final in 2023.
Speaking to the BBC in Spain, Ellie discussed her amazing comeback to football after discovering she’d had a stroke in early 2024.
She said: “[The club doctor] sat me down and was like, 'you've had an infarct in your left occipital lobe'. I asked 'what's that in English?' And then he said it was a type of stroke.
“My first question was 'am I going to play football again?'"
It was a worrying time for the goalkeeper, who was still in the Manchester City squad at the time but had just signed a pre-contract with European heavyweights FC Barcelona to join the following summer, the footballer told the BBC.
The discovery that she’d suffered a stroke, originally thought to have been a concussion sustained in training, meant Ellie couldn’t exercise or other forms of physical activity for a number of weeks.
It was a lengthy recovery requiring multiple hospital visits and an operation - Ellie was understandably a little nervous going back to football.
"After coming back from having a brain injury and then saying you've got to dive at someone's feet, it's not the prettiest. But I had to get through it,” she said to the BBC.
“Barcelona showed trust in me and for me, that was more important than anybody saying you can have a starting role. It's the fact they showed confidence in me, and they wanted me here and they want to improve me,” she added.
Ellie made her debut for the legendary Catalan outfit in a 4-1 win over Real Betis in December and is now competing with Spanish keeper Cata Coll for the starting spot.
She said the experience made her realise life isn’t all about football and she began planning for life after she puts down the gloves and hangs up her boots.
The former Sheffield United prospect has started her own coffee roasting company.
She told the BBC: “I didn't know if I was going play again so it was just a great way to channel my energy and have that focus to distract myself. It's a perfect way to start and eventually hopefully one day the aim is to have a coffee shop.”