“She will bring a cutting edge to help us achieve big things this season.” That is the message from Melbourne Victory head coach Jeff Hopkins after the reigning A-League Women champions signed Young Matildas star Jessika Nash.
Nash – who has already been capped by the Matildas – makes the switch from rivals and Liberty A-League Premiers Sydney FC for the 2022-23 season.
The 17-year-old defender played for Australia at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, where she featured in all three group matches.
“We’re incredibly pleased to be able to have Jess as part of our roster for our second title defence in a row and we believe she will play an influential role for the coming season,” Hopkins said.
“We’ve followed her incredible trajectory from a young player into a senior international and we believe she will bring a cutting edge to help us achieve big things this season.”
Nash is Victory’s first signing of the 2022-23 pre-season, joining the already contracted list that includes Kayla Morrison, Melina Ayres, Amy Jackson, Paige Zois, Alana Murphy and Maja Markovski.
In 2021-22, Nash played 11 ALW matches as Sydney topped the regular-season standings.
Nash, who made her ALW debut as a 15-year-old for Canberra United, was an unused substitute in the Grand Final, which the Sky Blues lost 2-1 to Victory in March.
“This is an incredible opportunity for me to join Melbourne Victory and work with a coach like Jeff to continue to develop my game and bring titles to the Club,” Nash said.
“Victory is always a formidable opponent to come up against and to now be on the team and working together to achieve the ultimate success is something that drives me to do my best every day.”
