Ruby Doe has been on the crest of a wave since joining West Ham United’s women’s team earlier this summer.
Doe joined the Club from Arsenal and managed to get a spot on the substitutes' bench for the Hammers’ Barclays Women’s Super League clash with Liverpool on Sunday, while still only 19.
A member of the team's Professional Game Academy, Doe believes she is ready for a step up from youth football and is thoroughly satisfied with his start to life in Claret and Blue.
The teenage forward travelled to Perth, Australia, with Rehanne Skinner’s first-team squad, featured in pre-season matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Leicester City at HBF Park, and has trained regularly with the first team at Chadwell Heath alongside her academic studies.
Manager Skinner made reference to the fact West Ham’s Women’s League Cup fixture with Portsmouth on Wednesday will be seen as an opportunity for those that have not had much game time to get minutes under their belts, and the chance to potentially make her full senior debut at Chigwell Construction Stadium is an opportunity Doe is relishing.
“It’s been exciting. I feel as if it’s been a big change, but I’ve settled in really well, and the staff and players have been really friendly and feel like I’ve adapted really well so far,” said Doe.
“It’s been a really smooth transition. Sometimes it can be a really big jump, but I feel as if I’ve been here for a really long time, and I don’t feel as if I’ve come from a different team, which is a real positive.
“Coming into a full-time environment is something new for me, but I feel as if everything I’ve done so far has been really good and been easy.”
Doe, who was on dual-registration terms with Ipswich Town last season, was joined by Marnie Morrison and Daniella Way as part of the Professional Game Academy (PGA) programme earlier this summer.
The PGA is a revised player pathway which replaced the FA WSL Academy programme in 2023. The PGA structure provides young players with the opportunity to be selected as part of a professional club’s programme, combining football development with their education.
This pathway allows Doe to train with Skinner’s first-team squad on a daily basis, and the young forward has outlined how training alongside seasoned professionals has made a positive impact on her development and is determined to build upon her impressive pre-season performances and fight to become a regular in West Ham’s first-team squad over the course of the campaign.
She continued: “When you look at the quality of players we have got here, to be able to go out on the pitch with them when I’m at a different level at the moment, it is people I am able to look up to and believe that I can get to the level that they are at. They’ve been really supportive of me, and being able to share a pitch with them is a really good feeling.
“I think to be able to go there [Australia] with a new team was quite daunting at first, but it was such a good experience, and I got to play some minutes as well, so it was a massive positive.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be honest, and it was a big moment for me. But to be able to go out to Australia first and foremost and then get some minutes playing in front of our fans was really good.”
Having played pre-season football, Doe is now hoping that her competitive debut in Claret & Blue isn’t too far away.
She concluded: “It was really nice [to be involved in a matchday squad for the first time against Liverpool], and it was a packed crowd with a lot of supporters.
“I’m hoping to get some minutes [against Portsmouth]. It’s the League Cup, so we want to go out and want to win the game. Portsmouth are a good side as well, as I played against them last year with Ipswich Town, and hopefully I can get my first goal for West Ham.
“I think Portsmouth are a very direct team and don’t really play the ball around a lot. They’re very much over the top, very physical, and very fast. They’re a good team, and it’ll be a good challenge for us, but ultimately, we want to win the game.”
