Arsenal defender Jen Beattie says that she is proud to be on the verge of making her 50th appearance in UEFA club competitions.
The 30-year-old centre-back will hit the 50 mark if she features for The Gunners in their UEFA Women’s Champions League group match against HB Køge at Meadow Park on Wednesday evening. Beattie has made 45 of her appearances under the competition’s current identity while her other four outings came in the old UEFA Women’s Cup.
When speaking ahead of potentially making her 50th UEFA club competition appearance, Beattie said that becoming a half-centurion would be a proud moment.
“Half a century, 50 appearances, it is a lovely number to get to,” Beattie said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time. “I am proud of that.
“I’m never really one to look at individual accolades, I’m more for living in the present moment and just trying to win the next game. I’ve never really looked at numbers, stats and individual accolades but it is one that I am proud of and I look forward to tomorrow night. I am sure 50 more is a bit extreme but what happens after that I’ll look forward to as well.”
Looking back on her last 49 UEFA club appearances, Beattie highlighted being involved in a semi-final tie against Lyon with former club Manchester City as being one of her favourite moments.
She said “I enjoyed playing against Lyon in the semi-finals, we made a couple at Manchester City and to get to a semi-final was always a big achievement. Lyon dominated European football for so long and they are still doing the same even though Barcelona are coming through now.
“Definitely those games where you get to a semi-finals and it’s a huge occasion, if you want to progress in sport, those are the games that you want to be a part of.
“I’ve never made a final but obviously, I’d love to do that one day.”
The UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage match between Arsenal and HB Køge kicks-off at 8pm on Wednesday and will be available for fans to stream live on DAZN. Tickets remain on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.