From international tours on the tennis circuit to striking goal after goal in top division football, Lucy Gonzalez has an incredibly accomplished athletic resume.
Words by Liam Cook
After scoring twice in round two of the 2023 competition, the Leichhardt Saints striker is now the all-time goal scorer for the Grace Martin Trophy.
The feat is made even more remarkable by Gonzalez’s lack of a footballing background, something she acknowledged upon her history making milestone.
“I was pretty proud when I heard as I’ve only been playing football for 11 seasons,” Gonzalez told Football Canterbury.
With goals only being recorded for the previous eight seasons, the competition may be selling the striker at least a few short of her current tally, 82.
Starting in 2011, the Gonzalez family drew her into a relatively unknown world.
“My sister was playing football for Balmain at the time and was like, ‘why don’t you come play?’ and I loved it,” she said.
“I’ve watch the sport all my life: I’m a big Real Madrid fan but I didn’t have time to play growing up.”
While the rest is history since joining the competition, arriving there took a starkly different route to most.
Dedicated to her tennis from a young age, Gonzalez plied her trade successfully for many years.
“I played lower world ranking tournaments and I was ranked in both singles and doubles. Singles was about 800 and doubles was 280-something in the world.”
Putting the racquet down in 2009 and lacing up in 2011 came as a major relief.
Lonesome tours took a personal toll on Gonzalez who thrived once she joined a team environment.
“Football is so different to tennis because you’re travelling on your own and playing one versus one or two versus two and it’s very, very, very individual,” she said.
“Whereas in football you have a team around you. If you make a mistake in tennis you lose a point but in football mistakes aren’t going to necessarily lead to goals.”
Her father and sister were both passionate supporters of the beautiful game yet tennis was the sole focus of Gonzalez’s youth.
Football was a source of comradery and a chance to connect with her sister after spending much of their childhood pursuing different sports.
“It was very different to what I had growing up being such a team sport and having the girls around you: I fell in love with football.”
“My sister and I weren’t competitive at all: when she scored I was happy and when I scored she was happy, it was a great way to spend time together.”
Score Lucy did though, with the current tally at 82 times from 109 Grace Martin Trophy Games.
While hitting the back of the net with incredible regularity is fulfilling, when you score so frequently it’s hard not to want teammates to share the joy, too.
“It really isn’t about the goals because I like assisting as much as scoring. I don’t go into games worrying about scoring, I just want the team to come first and if everyone around me scores that’s awesome.”
Of all the 82 occasions she has hit the back of the net, the Saints star can still pinpoint the one strike that she holds dearest.
“One that sticks in my memory was playing Marrickville in 2011 or 2012, it was 0-0 and we needed a win to secure the league premiership.
“I ended up scoring very late around the 80th minute and not only we did secure the premiership, but I it meant I won the golden boot for that season which was nice.”
Normal goal scoring service is sure to resume come Leichhardt Saints A’s next game, and there is little doubt the all-time leader will be as productive as ever.
Football images: Photographed with Love
