‘Immensely proud’ - South Yorkshire wonderkid footballer wins seven trophies in one season
Promising defender Maisie Wibberley won seven trophies with three different teams last season
Winning one trophy in a season is an impressive achievement. Winning two or three is incredible. But taking home seven trophies in a single season?
That's the kind of accomplishment that turns heads, with 14-year-old Maisey Wibberley enjoying a season that she’ll never forget.
Maisie, who hails from Treeton in Rotherham, has been playing football since the age of three and is going from strength to strength in terms of her development.
Like her father Reece, she is a fan of her local club Rotherham United.
Her favourite Millers player is tough-tackling defender Richard Wood, a Sheffield Wednesday academy graduate, who spent seven years at Hillsborough and almost a decade at the New York Stadium before also having stints at Chesterfield and Doncaster Rovers.
Reece told The Star: “Like Richard Wood, Maisie plays as a defender. She normally starts as either a centre-back or as a right-back.
“She’s an aggressive defender, very determined when she plays - and especially when she’s against boys. She often gives them more grief than she does against girls.
“It all started for her when she was about three-years-old when she started training at Treeton Terriers. She has twin brothers who love football and wanted to start doing what they were doing.”
Maisie formed part of the Treeton Terriers team which won the B Division League and Cup.
She also won a league and cup double with another of her teams, Handsworth.
And at school level for the Rotherham School Select Football Association, she captained the girls team to a treble which included the National Girls Cup - which she got to lift at the Bet365 Stadium - the home of Stoke City football club.
“I’m immensely proud of her,” Reece added.
“Probably the proudest moment this season was for Rotherham Schools Girls. All the girls were there at New York Stadium and she got voted as the Players’ Player of the Season. It meant a lot as she’s playing with some of the best young footballers in the area, and they are all really nice and they picked her out of everyone. It brought a tear to my eye.”
Maisie’s performances this season haven’t gone unnoticed and she’s earned herself a spot at Rotherham United’s Emerging Talent Centre as a result of her stellar displays.
Reece added: “She just loves playing football, it's what she’s always done. I wouldn't say she’s aspiring to be professional just yet. She just loves playing. Likes the friendships that she’s made along the way and the camaraderie. I’m immensely proud of her.”