When Princess Ademiluyi returned to West Ham United women’s team in January, she was given faith and confidence from manager Rehanne Skinner.
The 18-year-old had just come back from a loan spell at Barclays Women’s Championship side Charlton Athletic - the first time she had been away from Chadwell Heath since the age of 12 - where she made 13 appearances, and was informed she would be in Skinner’s squad for the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.
After joining the Hammers as a 12-year-old, Ademiluyi became the first player to come through the Foundation’s Player Pathway to appear for the women's team at senior level, before signing her first professional contract with the Club on her 18th birthday, in July 2024.
So, the England U19 international feels at home at West Ham and played like she had never left after returning from the Addicks, netting a hat-trick in a behind-closed-doors friendly before the resumption of the Barclays Women’s Super League campaign in January.
The young forward went on to make six substitute appearances in the WSL before the end of term, and provided an assist for Emma Harries in the women’s team’s record-breaking 7-1 success at Crystal Palace on Sunday 27 April.
Ademiluyi’s opportunity to tee up Harries came after she saw a one-on-one chance saved by Palace goalkeeper Shae Yanez. But despite another shooting chance opening up for her, what followed reflected Ademiluyi’s growth as a first-team player.
“When I got the ball back, usually I’d want to go for goal myself,” she said. “But instead, I set it off to guarantee a goal, rather than miss a shot. So you can see the development in my brain in terms of how I play and the person I want to be on the pitch.
“Rehanne [Skinner] has allowed me to become that player and I think I’ve progressed a lot. I think you can see I play a bit different to how I did when I was 16 or 17. I’ll only keep going from here, and next season I’ve got more opportunities and more things to come.
“I think Rehanne giving me the chances to come on at the end of games has been good for me, because, as a young player, you don’t really get those opportunities.
“When she (Skinner) said [in January] ‘I want to keep you on’, she knew that I would do my best and I’d be consistent, and it was really nice to hear. I saw in her eyes the faith she had in me. Just seeing the belief she has in me boosts me, and that’s why I’m so confident here because I know she’ll always be backing me.”
When reflecting on her loan spell at Charlton, Ademiluyi was honest and open about her time in south London.
She said: “It was definitely a big difference [being at Charlton], it was a completely different team, staff, unfamiliar faces. I don’t think I did as well as I could have, but I think that comes with ups and downs.
“Football is not a smooth path, there’s going to be moments where it’s rough, and that’s something I took on. I didn’t get myself down because of that.
“When I got back, being on home ground, it just unlocked me to be that person, I’m always going to be calm. It’s always nice to be here because it’s home ground. I’m always collected and confident on the ball.”
Following Ademiluyi’s return to east London in January, the turn of the year brought the women’s team a lot of joy, both in the WSL and in the Subway® Women’s League Cup - particularly against the league’s big-hitters - as they finished the term eight points better off than the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
The striker was sent on as a second-half substitute at home to Manchester City in March, as Skinner’s team hunted a late equaliser under the lights, and they got what they craved with one of the last kicks of the game via a strike from livewire Manuela Paví.
Post-match, Ademiluyi spoke about how overjoyed she was to get back the feeling of celebrating with her teammates in Claret and Blue, and that emotion has remained.
“I’m definitely a team player,” she said.
“I’ve been in the first team for the past couple of seasons, and I’ve seen what it’s been like when we weren’t so good on the pitch and we didn’t have the momentum. Now we have the momentum, I can see everyone in training [is] ten times happier, so it’s nice to see my teammates happy, and that makes me happy. It makes my day for the rest of the week.”
