Lois Roche signs with CF Florentia

Lois Roche, the former Arsenal and Reading attacker, has joined CF Florentia on an 18-month contract, with the ambition to drive the Club into Serie A.

After several seasons at Arsenal, where Roche graduated from the Academy to join the senior squad, the 24-year-old later joined Reading and played a key role in winning the WSL2 title in 2015. After playing a year in WSL1 in 2016, Roche explored opportunities abroad at the turn of the year, joining Åland United of Finland for the 2017 season.

With an interest to experience life in Southern Europe, the forward travelled to Florence, Italy in November to experience first-hand the ambitious project of CF Florentia. After consecutive promotions to Serie C and then Serie B, the Club is now pushing to reach Serie A for the 2018/19 season, where they would compete against Brescia, Juventus and local city rivals Fiorentina. Half way through the season, CF Florentia remain undefeated and are leading their Serie B group by 3 points. Lois will be eligible to play in their next league game on Sunday 07 January 2018 against mid-table Grifo Perugia, alongside Jenny Hjohlman, who has also joined Florentia after leaving Sweden’s Damallsvenskan league.

Speaking about the exciting opportunity, Florentia’s newest signing said: “Becoming a professional soccer player with Reading was a dream come true, and now I’m achieving my other big dream: playing abroad for a great club! Italian football is much more similar to my style of play than the Finnish one; in Italy it is both physical but also very technical and I look forward to supporting the team to reach the goal we have set ourselves. I’m settling in very well with my teammates — they’ve all been very helpful and welcoming!”

Founder of ignite, Ashley Brown added “I’m really happy that Lois has joined CF Florentia. Although a Serie B team currently, the Club have an impressive ambition for themselves and, more generally, for women’s football in Italy. I really enjoyed seeing the project first-hand, and the professionalism of the structure makes me convinced they can achieve their goal to reach Serie A for next season. Visiting Florence, it was great to see how far they’d come in such a short space of time, meet the personalities around the Club, and equally experience the incredible sights of the city and surrounding Tuscan landscapes. The move allows Lois to live in a beautiful environment, bring her experience to the team and write her own future on the pitch. I’m looking forward to watching the progress over the next few months!”