England international, Sandy Maclver has signed a new two-year contract to stay at Everton Women until June 2023.
Maclver previously played for the club’s youth academy before re-joining the club in January 2020 after three seasons playing for Clemson Tigers in USA, going on to become a key part in the Toffees team and won Player of Match in November’s Women’s FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester City after extra time.
MacIver’s decision to sign a new contract in the latest of moves by Everton in recent months which began with Willie Kirk’s contract extension as manager just before Christmas.
The 22 year-old described Kirk’s decision to stay and ambitions for coming seasons as a huge reason behind signing a new deal herself, seeing his action as a sign of ‘intent’ following loan moves for Jill Scott and Alisha Lehmann in January.
Maclver also spoke of her progress at Everton as an important step in her development, saying: “Being at Everton has been pivotal in my progression over the past year. Working with the coaching staff and a goalkeeper like Tinny [Korpela] – we push each other every day in training – has helped me so much.”
Champions League football though is MacIver’s aim for the future with the youngster confident that Everton have ‘foundations’ in place to achieve that as well as cementing the club as a top team in both Women’s Super League and Europe.
Last month saw Maclver make her international debut for England but that hasn’t stopped the 22 year-old from dreaming big and knocking Ellie Roebuck off the No.1 spot for the national team, commenting: “On a personal level, the ultimate goal is to be England’s No.1.”
Kirk echoes MacIver’s ambition as he believes that she ‘still has lots of development’ within her to climb to the top, aided by Ian McCaldon – Everton Women’s Goalkeeping Coach who Kirk hopes can ‘maximise’ her development.
On MacIver’s qualities and how future experience will benefit her further, Kirk added: “She is very much a modern goalkeeper, in terms of her physique, speed and distribution skills – and over the coming years she will gain crucial experience which will aid her decision-making.”
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